If you came here looking for one of those love stories straight out of a cheesy rom-com, stop scrolling now. If you came here looking for a love story about 2 shy teenagers that knew nothing about love, stay tuned.

When I was 16, I got my first job working at McDonald’s, like many other American teenagers who are starting to learn responsibility and make their own money. I worked there with some of my best friends from school so while I was trying to prove to my boss I was a responsible young lady, I was also having fun with my friends.

I don’t know how long I had been working there, but at some point, I started noticing this guy who worked in the grill area always staring at me. That sounds bad but let me explain. I would just be doing my normal job, and I would always catch this young kid looking over at me and when I would catch him, he would quickly look away in embarrassment. It was so noticeable that I remember telling my 2 best friends I worked with that he was creepy 😂

I don’t remember ever officially introducing myself to him because we were both shy, but I must’ve known his name was Ryan, simply from the fact that he was a coworker of mine.

I worked a lot during high school, sometimes being there until 11pm, so I would bring my homework to work and do some during my 30-min lunch break. This one time I was doing some homework during my lunch break, and Ryan came into the break room for a brief moment, probably just to drop a coat or bag off or something, and I don’t exactly remember what I said but I think I mentioned something about having so much homework but hoping that school would be canceled the next day because we were supposed to get a bad winter storm that night. Ryan was so shy that he kinda giggled and smiled and walked out. Later on that night, we got a terrible snowstorm, and I open my Twitter dm’s to a message from the Ryan kid I worked with that said “you’re canceled 😄”, meaning Southmoreland canceled school for the next day, and that was where it all began…

We start messaging over Twitter, then we eventually exchange phone numbers where we begin texting daily. My best friend I grew up with and I worked with at McDonald’s happened to be talking to Ryan’s best friend at the time, so our first date ended up being a double date at Applebee’s. We were both so nervous. We sat beside each other and barely talked to each other and barely even looked at each other. After the date was over, I asked him for a hug and he luckily gave in 😂 We continued to talk though and he wanted to see me again so our second date was another double date but this time we went bowling. We were starting to warm up to each other at this point. We went to Applebees again after bowling and in the parking lot, on March 9th, 2015, is where Ryan asked me to be his girlfriend 😚

I was so excited but still so nervous. We start dating and I was still getting used to having a boyfriend that I was literally nervous to hang out with him. We hadn’t hung out just the 2 of us, so my friends had to convince me to actually hang out with Ryan to which I would make up excuses that I had something to do or I had too much homework 😂 We went to 2 different schools so it usually was hard to see each other after school.

As time went on, we became more and more comfortable with each other, to the point where we were pretty much inseparable. We celebrated each other’s high school graduations, both got new jobs, and I went off to nursing school. I would spend time with him at his parents’ house a few days a week until the wee hours of the morning because I couldn’t bear to be away from him. I graduated nursing school and got my first nursing job while Ryan got his first adult job. At this point, we had been together over 4 years and had already been through so many life changes. We continued to see each other as much as possible, or as much as our busy lives would allow us, while we both still lived at home.

Fast forward to March of 2022, we move into our first apartment together, just a few days after celebrating our 7 year anniversary. On September 23rd, 2022, Ryan proposed to me at the top of the bicentennial tower in his favorite place in the world: Erie, Pennsylvania, with both of our families there to celebrate the special moment. We decided to have a long engagement, and I knew I wanted to get married in the fall, so now we are awaiting our October 2024 wedding. In March of 2025, we will celebrate 10 whole years of being together! We practically grew up together, and I am so excited to grow old with my best friend 🥰

Who knew that 2 little shy teenagers working at a fast food joint would eventually fall in love and create a beautiful life together? So for any guy out there who is nervous to shoot their shot at a pretty girl, just send the message because who knows how it could change your life forever 🫶