Sophomore year of high school will always be an extremely memorable year for me. I remember being 14 years old and having the privilege to travel on the road with my dad throughout Europe; all while being home- schooled on a tour bus. I had a completely new style and personality when I finally came back home. I remember thinking I was fully happy with myself and all my friends I was reconnecting with, but the transition back into public school was hard. There were a lot of distractions for me and it made it hard for me to concentrate on my school work. Then I met Diego...

I didn't expect to fall for someone like Diego. He got my attention by just being himself. The first day I talked to Diego was at my friend Vincent’s house. I came over with one of my girl friends and as soon as the door opened I saw a bright blue shirt, and the most attractive man with the deepest brown eyes I’d ever seen. I smiled at him, and he smiled back at me and we just stood there in the doorway for a good minute. I felt an instant connection. From that day on we started texting each other across the room at parties, making sarcastic comments about things that would happen to us or other people on the daily, and finding any excuse we could to be around each other. We would always see each other after school at Subway; that was our usual meeting spot. I can honestly say that we had a solid friendship before we started dating.

After a few months we decided to stay friends and nothing more, but that eventually became hard for us; especially with our inner friend circle constantly trying to bring the two of us together. Diego asked me to my junior prom and from there on we officially started dating our senior year of high school. After graduating we both moved to Los Angeles to pursue our dreams. His being a pro audio engineer in music studios, and me becoming a certified makeup artist. We eventually moved back to Phoenix and continued doing what we love while maintaining our relationship. I consider him my best friend. Truly. I can tell him absolutely anything and I love the bond that we have built. We will have been together 8 years this July. I love this man with all my heart and cannot wait to share more adventures with him.

Sonora came into my life in high school. Though we had brief interactions freshman year, we didn’t really get to know each other until sophomore year. All my friends had already built friendships with Sonora in middle school, so her name was something that grew familiar in my ears. Her name was the first sign to me that she was meant to be in my life. I was born in Guadalajara, but I was partially raised in Hermosillo, Sonora; My mother’s birthplace.

Around this time, Sonora had just gotten back from touring the U.S. with her father and were on break before starting the European leg of the tour. We would all get out of class head to the subway and Starbucks on 44th Street and Indian School Road, where Sonora would come meet up with us after school. I remember sitting at a table with Vincent and Shaq (her boyfriend at the time) when she came in. Sonora came in wearing a cool leather vest jacket, jeans and her hair all done and recently dyed. Total rockstar, mini Calico. She immediately caught my attention, I was sort of mesmerized. I proceeded to do what I did best and I tried to make her laugh. We hit it off right away.

It was a couple weeks of the same subway interactions after school, and it was obvious something was blossoming. Everyone saw it and naturally, our friends pushed us closer. I was shy when it came to girls, so I would restrain myself and deny the accusations. All my friends were not blind to the fact; they would always try to make plans that involved getting us together. We began talking non stop, on all platforms. Myspace, text, phone calls, etc.

I had a gut feeling she liked me, but I couldn’t be sure. I recall it being Friday, and we were all at Subway once again. We decided we would all try to go catch a movie, but being 14-15, we would need to catch a ride. That was the first time I met Sheryl. She picked us up in her suburban, and hauled 7 teens to the mall to watch a movie. I remember as we were getting dropped off, Sonora introduced all of us one by one to her mom. When she mentioned that I was Diego, her mom smiled ear to ear, looked at Sonora, and whispered abruptly loud into her ear, “is this DIEGO”?!” Sonora turned levels of pink and red and exhaled “MOM!” The rest is history.