It all started with Tony. Tony and I used to party at Stanford, he was gay and an amazing dancer, so naturally we became friends. I was his party hag. After graduation we both started working at Facebook, where we became better friends. In June of 2007 he tells me that he has just moved in to a new apartment with some really fun roommates, and that I HAD to meet his one roommate, who was “super hot and super single.” I wasn’t necessarily looking for a relationship at the time (I was having fun being single!), but Tony showed me his picture on Facebook (duh!) and he seemed okay so I agreed to come over and meet him that weekend.
Friday after work I followed Tony home and met Matt, indeed super hot, and super nice, but just not really my type. I didn’t feel any sparks. I was only slightly disappointed but always happy to meet cool new people, and it turned out all 3 of the roommates were hot, single, straight guys who loved to party and play video games- I loved to party and play video games, too! Remember, we had all just graduated, I was enjoying being boy crazy, and what twenty-something boy doesn’t like a girl who plays video games?
I’d been playing video games and flirting with one of the guys late that night when a new, fourth roommate walked in the door. I immediately noticed him and everything seemed to stop for a minute. Tony said this was their other roommate, Justy, who had been out at a party all evening so that was why he hadn’t been hanging out with us. Justy waved, said hi, then went straight upstairs to his room. I was sad that I couldn’t talk to him and flirt with him, but I figured if he wasn’t interested in talking to me then I was just going to keep flirting with the other guy who WAS paying attention to me!
I ended up crashing on their futon because I was having so much fun hanging out with them all, and when I woke up the next day we went straight to playing more video games. I was in Heaven. I realized I should probably go home and shower when the boys starting talking about the party they were having that night. Party? I immediately invited myself: “What party?” “It’s Dan’s birthday, we’re having more guys come over to get drunk and play Smashed Bros.” “What’s Smashed Bros.?” “It’s where you take a shot every time you lose at Super Mario Smash Bros. Or win. Something like that.” “AWESOME! Can I come? I’m going home to shower and then I’ll be right back! Don’t start without me!”
I had already fallen in love with all of these guys so much that after one night of hanging out I felt fine telling them what to do, lol. I really did go straight home, shower, change, and go straight back, where I met more cute boys to flirt and get drunk with. Meanwhile, Justy always seemed to be in the background. He never approached me, talked to me, or even flirted with me. I honestly didn’t notice him all night, I was getting so much attention from so many other guys.
After Smashed Bros, after Kings Cup, after hot tubbing and making out with one of Dan’s friends, I spent the night again on the guys’ futon. When I opened my eyes the next morning, incredibly hung over, Justy was standing over me, a cup of water in hand, asking if I was okay and did I want some water? He was like an angel. I suddenly realized that he was someone special. He was taking the time to take care of me, after I had spent the last 24 hours flirting with all of his friends, and he genuinely cared. His eyes were stunning, I couldn’t get over how handsome he was and how caring. I spent the rest of that Sunday nursing my hangover with him watching over me, while I tried to figure him out since my normal flirtation techniques obviously didn’t work with him. I ended up inviting myself to go to the movies with him and some other friends, then kept inviting myself back to hang out at that apartment. Eventually, I was just over there all the time.
By 2008 I was feeling my biological clock smacking me over the head, but my head was strong and I was way too young and so not ready for a baby so I decided I needed to get a dog. This led to Justy and I getting our own place which was dog friendly. Around the same time I realized that I was ready to go back to grad school to get my Master’s, and the unfortunate timing had me move back home to Texas just a few months after getting our new place and dog, Starbuck (named after the tv show Battlestar Gallactica). Starbuck moved with me for three years in Texas, but Justy came and visited us at least every month. It was horrible, despite how lucky I knew I was to have him come visit so often. I hoped that I could convince him to move to Texas, but it turns out Californians are just not built for Texas heat- I hated seeing him melt before my eyes, so I agreed to move back to California instead.
We now own a house in the Bay Area and have been together for almost 7 years. We still play video games, and even though some of those roommates are now engaged or married, we still get to have them come over and hang out. We are loving life. =)