"Es tu novia?"

"No, no todavía."

In three years of taking the elective in high school, all three of my Spanish teachers routinely asked me the same exact question whenever I'd pass them in the hallway:

"Is that your girlfriend?"

"No, not yet."

And each time, they would meet me with the same knowing smile.

Lauren and I met in 7th grade, connected over a roller coaster project (which we earned a C on) and became best friends by 8th grade. We would eat lunch together, roam the halls together, poke fun at one another, and often have our regularly-scheduled-one-sided crying sessions. (I’ll let you guess who did all the crying.)

Throughout the years leading up to our high school graduation, "Not yet," or "Ew, gross" became sarcastic mantras the two of us would share with any and all who commented on our obvious closeness. We feared the risk acknowledging any romantic feelings we may have had would have posed to our friendship. Friends, teachers, acquaintances, and a handful of jealous significant others all noticed an undeniable chemistry between Lauren and I, but we routinely denied it anyway.

As high school came to pass and our personal ambitions in the following years took us both on our own paths, my messages with Lauren became fewer and farther between. Daily chats turned into six-month check-ins; the connection remained but, naturally, it took a backseat for the moment.

In 2020, Lauren and I were back home in Fremont due to the lockdown. Bored, lonely, and having nothing better to do, we messaged each other and accidentally rekindled a closeness comparable to what we had once shared as teenagers. As irresponsible individuals, we pulled several all-nighters just catching up, reminiscing, and recognizing the growth in each other we had not noticed during the past few years of surface-level conversations. Things got pretty deep, I caught feelings fast, and it was not long before we decided to meet up for the first time in person and exchange Christmas gifts with each other at the park.

Stocked with hand sanitizer and sporting facemasks, we met with each other for the first time in several years on some giggling, blushing, and kicking our feet nonsense. What started as a socially-distanced, six-feet-apart hangout ended with a quick and awkward kiss (sorry everyone, lol) and we knew we were about to begin a journey that hopefully would last a lifetime.

In the years since, Lauren and I have finally actualized the potential others had seen in our connection all along. We have become deeply embedded in each other’s family and have continued to grow both as individuals and as partners. Lauren has softened me up over the years and now, I too, cry occasionally. Conversely, I’ve convinced Lauren to manage her own fantasy football team – making her a cooler person as a result. As we both continue to grow and find our place in the world, Lauren and I maintain the youthful exuberance from which our connection was initially forged.

We are beyond excited to begin our lives as husband and wife and would love nothing more than to share the culmination of this sappy story with you.

Let’s start at the very beginning, shall we?

Jacob and I met in our 7th grade honors pre-algebra class. No, we didn’t start talking in math class. I had no business talking to the short, nerdy kid in that class since I already had my best friends from elementary school to hang out with during lunch and passing periods.

Fast forward to the winter of 2010, I was invited to a scavenger hunt in Downtown Pleasanton with my friends and their middle school church group. It was a group of us from elementary school along with Mike (Jacob’s twin brother) since he was friendly with the others in my group. I got onto the bus to go to Downtown Pleasanton and there was that short, nerdy kid from my math class sitting in the row in front of me. I immediately asked him, “Hey. Aren’t you in my math class 5th period? Mrs. Fields?” He smiled, said, “Yes” and that was the end of that conversation.

I want to tell you every single detail of how we really started to get along and how our friendship sparked but I honestly don't remember LOL. All I know is that ever since I started to notice the short, nerdy kid in my math class 7th grade, he was the number 1 person I started to go to for everything. I went to him for boy advice, my family drama, literally anything I wanted to vent about. He was the first one I’d text.

Our timing has never been our strength. Jacob and I had moments throughout 8th grade to our sophomore year of high school where one of us would confess feelings and the other would awkwardly and politely reject the other, and vice versa. It wasn’t until our junior year of high school where we decided to try to take things a bit more serious. He walked me to the parking lot where I would get picked up, he would walk to buy me a bottle of Sprite during lunch when my stomach was upset, we would sit in the hallway and finally be an “us.” We were never officially together but everyone knew that we were an item. The back and forth questions of “Will they? Won’t they?” were finally answered…

Until I got too eager and Jacob got scared away LOL. Maybe asking the boy you’ve had the biggest crush on when he would tell his parents about me wasn’t exactly the best move to make in the moment. I lost my high school best friend junior year but we still kept in touch with the usual “Hey how’s life?” and “Hope you’re doing well” messages throughout our early years of college.

It wasn’t really until COVID-19 hit. My cousins and I loved playing online group games and it was the best thing to do while in quarantine. Jacob and I had our regular “Hey how’s life?” conversation in October of 2020 so I figured that we could invite Jacob to join us in a few games of Among Us. We were both struggling a little since we had both gotten out of relationships months prior and had been stuck at home. Our regular check-in and one game session of Among Us became a week-long conversation. We stayed up late talking to each other on the phone and Jacob would be the first and last person I talked to. I broke down crying to him later that week telling him that I didn’t want to keep talking to him unless he was serious about me since he had been a bit flirty with me ever since we started texting again. Ever since that night, we haven’t stopped texting each other.

It got pretty serious a couple of months later. I drove to Meyer Park where we had our unofficial first date, re-met each other in person, and exchanged Christmas presents. We invited each other over a few days before and after Christmas to hang out with our families. He even told me he loved me before he asked me to be his girlfriend, what a simp, huh? We officially became girlfriend and boyfriend in January 2021 and ever since then, we’ve been inseparable. We’ve gone on trips, spent holidays with each other’s families, and have done everything with each other.

Here I am years later, planning a wedding with the kid I had THE biggest crush on in middle school. I wouldn’t say that we had the best or the easiest journey to get to where we are now, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.