?? In the year 1996, Alex Kim and Tony Ebare were born.

  ?? 2001, the summer before they started kindergarten, Tony and Alex met as little kids at a summer camp then enjoyed going to elementary school together as friends.

  ?? Summer of 2004, Alex came out as Transgender (she/her) and Tony was one of the first people to know and was one of her main sources of support as she socially transitioned.

  ?? 2006, when Tony and Alex were in fifth grade, Tony changed schools. The two lacked the information needed to have stayed in touch.

  ?? 2011, Alex ends up transferring to Pasréel High School, same as Tony, so they see eachother again, but they only ever SAW each other. Even by Graduation day, they don’t make it past “waving in the hallway”. Tony was dating another girl anyway.

  ?? August 31, 2014, Alex and Tony see each other again at the University of Alberta. Tony is single again (just didn’t work out) and Tony realizes Alex is here when he hears her distinct singing voice from the Drama Department. They reconnect as friends.

  ?? Tony asks her out on Christmas Day 2014 and Alex says yes.

  It’s been a few months since Tony and Alex have begun dating

  ~ ~ ~

  “I actually brought something for you.”

  Happy as she is, Alex always has mixed feelings about Tony spending money on her. “What? You didn’t have to”

  “Eh, but I wanted to.” He holds up a bag. “They’re sour Lemon Heads.”

  “Aww, thank you Colton!”

  He looks a little shy as he admits, “I was at a gas station before I came here. I saw those and I remembered you like sour candy.”

  That was just something Alex mentioned in passing!

  “You remembered me saying that?”

  There’s a sweet and tender light in his eyes as he says, “Of course, Lemon.”

  The young woman pauses and looks at him with amused confusion. “Lemon?”

  Tony’s face heats up a little. “It was a nickname you gave yourself. In kindergarten?”

  “Wait… oh yeah! I remember!” Alex cringes. “Ugh, and it was because I said I wanted to be like Lemon Meringue… from Strawberry Shortcake.”

  “I believe your exact words were ‘I wanna become pretty like she is’ and I mean…” Tony looks at Alex shyly. “You definitely accomplished that.”

  The Asian rolls her eyes with a small smirk, mostly because being told she’s pretty is nothing new for her (not that she minds that)

  Alex gasps. “Didn’t I try calling you Lime ????? ?”

  Tony laughs, recalling this clearly. “Yeah, I didn’t like that.”

  “Why?” Alex draws out the word.

  The blonde sits up. “Because limes are gross! I still stand by that.”

  “And I still love lemons and Lemon Meringue.”

  “Yeah… do you remember how weird the teachers thought we were? I called you Lemon and the teachers had no clue who I was talking about.”

  “It only got worse when you started referring to me as a girl and other people were like ‘what are you talking about? Alex is a boy!’ … I’m pretty sure people thought we were just playing a weird game of make-believe.”

  “I mean that’s how it started… you were pretending to be a character and I went with it… but thinking of you as a girl just made sense. Well I mean- you are a girl.”

  “Yeah… aww jeez, and I remember after I came out to everyone, you already knew and you went absolutely feral making sure people used the right pronouns.”

  Tony’s face heats up a little. “I did not go feral!”

  “I clearly remember- in gym class- you threw a dodgeball at Nick’s head because he called me a boy.”

  “Well, you were my friend too. Still are. Of course, girlfriend kinda adds onto that.”

  Alex snickers. “Just a little.”

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Going back down memory-lane, Tony adds, “I’m pretty sure the gym teacher made me sit out for the rest of the game for that.”

  “She did? I didn’t realize! You didn’t have to do that.”

  Tony almost snorts. “It’s too late to say that now.”

  Alex laughs. Then she asks, “Do you remember when… oh god- I think it was first grade. We were told the class was gonna get gifts and when we all got little thesauruses, I got disappointed it wasn’t candy or something and you said I was being ungrateful.”

  Tony tilts his head. “I mean you kinda were. Thesauruses are great.”

  “Nerd… and I was six! I didn’t know what gratitude was. But I sure as heck knew what candy was.”

  “That’s for sure! I remember during the Christmas party they did in elementary, they had to cut you off from the candy because you ate so much!”

  “I was so offended when they told me I was addicted to sugar. And it’s funny because I probably didn’t even know what that word meant. But I definitely took it as an insult.”

  “Didn’t I sneak you one more piece of candy?”

  “I think you did! I thought you were the best human on earth in that moment.”

  “Do you remember- before your transition- when Ryder made fun of how long your nails were- and I told him he’s just jealous because he’s too busy biting his nails off?”

  “I do! Even the teacher thought that was epic!” Alex gasps. “Oh! Third grade, I think, you didn’t believe commence was a real word and I had to pull up the dictionary for you!”

  “You did the same thing with the word maudlin and you knew that because you were one of the laddies from… ugh… what was the play with the 67 trombones?”

  “The play was Music Man, the song was 76 trombones, and they were the pickle-a-little ladies. And I was the most needlessly stuck-up Mrs. Squires ever.”

  Tony is amazed. “Why do you still remember this? That was like 5th grade!”

  “I loved Music Man. It was such a fun play to do. It was easy, too- I already saw the movie.”

  “Not for me! I was the con-man and had ten thousand paragraphs! And there’s a movie?”

  “There’s a movie of almost every musical by now… except WICKED. Someday they have got to do that.” Alex leans forward. “Anyway, you were an adorable Harold Hill.”

  “My soul was suffering the whole time.”

  She knows Tony had participated in the elementary school’s mixed-group theater program only because he thought it’d make his mom happy as she is an accomplished woman who's been in countless shows by the Toronto Theatre District.

  Regardless, Alex lets out a small scoff. “So was mine! My microphone wasn’t working! I had to just project naturally! Good thing I had the lungs for that!”

  “Oh please, you’re great onstage no matter what. I remember one time you got stuck backstage and missed a whole scene but that didn’t stop you.”

  “Alice in Wonderland! I was the Cheshire Cat’s tail! The tail AND the body got left behind and the head had to do the first scene all alone. I remember we had to ad-lib why there’s suddenly three of us in the next scene.”

  “And you did great with that! The crowd loved your quip.”

  “I also had the flu that night but yeah.”

  “See? Meanwhile, I was just clinging to whatever advice my mom gave me.”

  Thinking of the word advice and clinging…

  Another memory comes to Alex’s brain.

  One that weighs on her mind a bit more.

  Glancing at the ground, Alex’s tone becoming softer and more serious. “Do you remember… when you said one of your biggest flaws is that you’re never satisfied?”

  “Uhh…” Noticing the change in Alex’s voice, he’s less sure what to do. “I don’t remember it clearly but I’m sure I’ve said that many times.”

  Alex looks at him. “Does that still hold true for you?”

  Tony thinks for a moment. Then with sure-ness, he nods. “Yes. I’ve been told before I’m a goal-oriented person, and I agree with that.”

  “This may be dumb to ask, but… would you… not feel satisfied with me?” She backtracks a little. “Actually, forget that. I shouldn't be worrying about that.”

  “No, it’s fine.” Tony leans back, thinking of how to explain what he feels.

  Gazing at the snow outside, the blonde starts with: “We met back in August, eh? That was the first day. It’s been six months since classes started.”

  “Counting this month, it’s seven.”

  He looks at Alex. “Except that wasn’t really when we met. When we first met, we were in kindergarten.”

  “Actually, we met at a summer camp that was the summer before kindergarten, if I’m correct.”

  “Okay… and that was a long time ago. I spent- I think- six years with you in school, right?”

  “Yeah, it was six years.”

  As much as she loved attending Pasréel High, Alex’s time with Tony at Feuille Elementary holds some of her best memories.

  Little does she know, the same is true for Tony.

  She lets out a small laugh of nostalgia. “With the same homeroom teacher.”

  Tony moves a little closer to her. “Well, for the six years and the six years I’ve known you, I’ve learned this for a fact: you’re never satisfied either.”

  Alex almost laughs because he said years twice, but she’s focusing on what he’s saying now.

  “I mean it. I’ve seen it. Uhh… Remember when you spent a whole week figuring out how to sing the high notes from- what was it- the King of the Night?”

  “Queen of the Night, from the Magic Flute.”

  “Even your mom said you probably couldn't do it, right? But you worked hard until you reached those notes. You’re like that with everything. And then you move onto the next thing. And you’ve told me about highschool! About the Drama Club and how you proved yourself to that teacher.”

  “I’m sorry, you lost me.”

  “My point is… I could never be unsatisfied with you. Even with this relationship, you and I are already working on ways to make it even better and better for us. Like those nonverbal cues we made for eachother last week.”

  “Yeah, that makes sense…”

  At some point, Alex and Tony started holding hands, sitting closer together than they already were.

  Tony holds her hand securely. “In a word: NO. I will not be unsatisfied with you.”

  Alex looks down at their hands. “That’s a pretty big claim. It’s only been a few months.”

  “Six months and six years.”

  “But only a few months of you dating me…”

  “Well, I’ve never been more sure of you and me… of us.”

  Tony picks up Alex’s hand in his and gives her a kiss on her knuckles, making her blush a little.

  She looks away. “Well… I have a rebuttal for your argument.”

  “Hit me.”

  “What? I’m not gonna hit you!”

  “It’s just an expression…” Tony teases her, “You haven’t changed.”

  “Hey, I’ve changed majorly over the course of the half-decade we were apart! And all I wanted to refute is that you said years twice when talking about how long you’ve known me.”

  “I did?” Tony actually blushes a bit, which surprises Alex, but she’s amused.

  “You’re cute when you blush.”