I can’t ever remember not having a crush on Gaudas. I used to refer to him as the “blonde Clark Kent in my nursing class”. Of course, I was never outgoing enough to even entertain the idea of approaching him. I remember being in skills lab with a broken ankle, and desperately wanting to sit down. I like to think that Gaudas noticed because he quietly pulled up a chair for me, assuring me it was okay to sit down. The nerves from that tiny interaction just about killed me. We didn’t see each other for years after that, both of us ending up in different nursing classes. During my junior year of college, Gaudas and I randomly matched on bumble, an app that neither of us normally used. We went on our first date shortly after, and I immediately knew I was a goner. Later, we exchanged similar stories about it being a done deal as soon as we saw the other on the app. And, as they say, the rest is history.

McKenna and I noticed each other from afar sophomore year, during the first proper nursing lecture for our group at Bradley University. She sat near the front of the lecture hall, with all of the best students, whereas I sat in the back, near all of the people who were funnier and more social than me. McKenna stood out to me. We had never talked with one another, but I still did my best to remember her name. I noticed whenever she was absent; I silently laughed at her when she had to roll into class on a scooter after she broke her ankle. Beyond lecture, we only ever interacted once or twice in our first nursing skills lab, where we were learning things like how to wash our hands bright and early at 0700. While we were waiting for things to start, I did my best to make small talk with her without putting my foot in my mouth, while she was trying not to panic because I was talking to her. What followed was a few years of dating other people, discovering and ironing out toxic traits, and occasional thoughts of what happened to one another. The next time we crossed paths was during my senior year, when we both independently found the gumption to endure the psychic damage that comes with sifting through Bumble. I was floored that I found such a pretty and familiar face smiling at me to begin with, followed by the feeling of pressure to not fumble the opportunity. We matched, and after she showed she was able of holding a real conversation (something I learned was a rarity), we stumbled into our first date. She told me she was cramming for an exam, but let slip that she had not eaten anything that day. I mandated that she come with me to the McDonald's drive thru for some fries, at ten in the evening. I wore my best Taylor Swift shirt, strictly ironically of course, so that she could see I wasn't being deathly serious so she could relax. I'd say we ended up liking one another's company.