We met in 2018 at a student org at the University of Texas, but didn't speak much until we both found ourselves in Austin the following summer on break from our internships. We decided to finally grab lunch at Zilker Park and get to know each other. What was initially supposed to be a short lunch ended up as a three-hour conversation about everything from our childhoods to our biggest hopes and fears. For the rest of the summer, we texted and facetimed constantly.

When the semester started, our friendship continued to grow into something deeper with Wednesday morning tacos and chai, movie nights, and more constant texting. Our friends watched from the sidelines and wondered whether we'd ever actually get together. Neha's feelings grew, but she was too nervous to say anything. Rey mostly remained clueless. When Rey's feelings finally started to catch up, Neha's began to fade. We thought our friendship was over - a combination of poor timing and bruised egos.

In March 2020, we were all sent home from school because of the pandemic. Nostalgia about college graduation, isolation due to quarantine, and frequent Zoom hangouts led us to rekindle our friendship. After our (virtual) graduation, we had a heart-to-heart and realized we both weren't ready to give up on each other, and decided to give our relationship a real try. The rest is history!