While I absolutely loved my job as an apartment coordinator at UCLA (it’s actually still my favorite job I’ve ever had by far), I was glad that I wasn’t on duty that night.

I was on my laptop (probably browsing Reddit) when Tim asked if I had a spare vacuum bag. I must have recently visited the supply shop since I actually had a few to spare along with batteries and all the other essentials that we had to have. I was the type of person who dreaded the thought of getting called out for a beeping smoke detector and not having batteries.

About half an hour later, there was a knock on my door. Tim was getting ready to move out, and I was definitely a bit bummed by it. He was the first person I saw when I moved into the university apartments, who helped me with my paperwork, and ended up becoming one of my good friends. Well, when I opened the door, my spirits were instantly lifted.

Super cliché, but it was almost like one of those movie moments, where the protagonist first lays her eyes on the most handsome man in the room, and the scene gets all bright and you know the deal. So yeah, Tim introduces me to his best friend, his brother from another mother, Paul. And I don’t remember the last time I stood so close to someone so tall (6’5″), it made my reaction towards him even more ridiculous. Turns out Paul just landed into LAX that very night. He was gone for a couple months for EMT training in Phoenix, and he was only here to help Tim move out. Tim introduced me, noting I was the girl who played WoW. Paul perked up at that, asked me a few questions (possibly to confirm that I actually played), and I couldn’t believe it. I honestly thought he some surfer dude, probably a frat guy too, and someone who just wouldn’t have mutual interests with me. I later (~2012) admitted this stupid thought to him, and he just laughed, also conceding that he didn’t exactly believe my love for gaming.

The rest of my night was going to be absolutely uneventful, filled with more Reddit lurking, instant ramen, and if I was lucky, a good book. So I said screw it and asked if they’d ever played Settlers of Catan. Both of them hadn’t, and I told them we HAD to play!… even though Tim was literally moving out. They surprisingly agreed, and I changed out of my indoor dress into a red jacket and my yellow UCLA sweatpants.

Unfortunately, my memory gets a little hazy from there in terms of the exact order of events. I know we had to make a pit stop at Ralphs. We were looking around, trying to figure out dinner. I walked through the frozen aisle, trying to keep up with Paul, and he ruffled my hair, calling me shortstack. I grinned inside… maybe outside, too. Ralphs wasn’t looking too promising, so we decided on Subway.

It was about a 15 minute walk away, 20-25 if you really wanted to take your time and get to know someone. I wish I could remember all the things we talked about that night. It’s always funny looking back at the way you conversed with someone when you first meet them vs. how you talk with them now, especially if you’ve only gotten closer as time went on.

We get to Subway, and I order an oven roasted chicken breast footlong. Tim grabs a footlong, and Paul decides to go with a salad. We finally head over to Tim’s apartment in Landfair. He still has his apartment coordinator board up in front of his door. There’s a picture of him with all his friends, and Paul’s in it. A random tenant decided to draw a penis on it. I never noticed it before — the picture, not the penis.

We all take a seat and start diving into our food. I remember being absolutely ready to devour my sandwich. I hear Paul take a bite out of his salad and curse — says it’s the worst salad ever and he wishes he stuck with a footlong. I happily offer him half of mine, something I don’t normally do with just anyone. I was on a tight budget back then, and whenever I could afford to splurge just a little bit on “good” food, I made sure to appreciate every bit of it.

Settlers of Catan begins, rules are explained, and we end up playing for hours. I use an action card to obtain all the ore in players’ hands, and Paul was not happy about giving up at least 4-5 of his cards. Tim takes his time on every single turn, thinking out every possible move. And before we know it, when the game is over, the sun is getting ready to rise. I pass out on the couch, and Paul carries me to Tim’s bed.

They pack up and do everything necessary to get Tim moved out. I wake up a bit later, and they drop me off back to my apartment. Paul and I connect on Facebook about 3 days after. We start messaging and getting to know each other. The next time we hung out, I made the initiative to give him my number. I was sweating inside, hoping he’d actually accept it.

Before I knew it, we started having conversations until sunrise. Breakfast on the beach. South Park nights. and much, much more. It’s now been 5 years from that first day of meeting him, and I just can’t imagine how terrible my life would have been today if I didn’t have that vacuum bag.