Lauren and Max

Max Smolic and Lauren Ellis (12) have been dating for about two years. They met for the first time when a mutual friend invited them both to their house.

“I feel like he compliments me very well,” Ellis said. “I’m more introverted; he’s very extroverted and kinda opinionated, where I’m not really [extroverted or opinionated],” she said.

The couple said that they both enjoyed watching the series “Game of Thrones”, as well as reading and watching “Harry Potter”. They also enjoy spending time watching “Star Wars”, “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “The Lord of the Rings” movies together.

“We watch movies basically every time we hang out, and we play Lego Harry Potter,” she said. “We’re both pretty nerdy, but I love that about him.”

Smolic smiled and agreed.

“It’s just like hanging out with my best friend,” he said.

Dennis and Johanna

Johanna Trockenbrodt (12) and Dennis Gromov (12) have been in a relationship for a year.

“One of my friends liked her, and so I added her [on Snapchat] as a joke to make fun of him for it, but we ended up becoming really close,” Gromov said.

Their friendship soon blossomed into a close-knit, meaningful romantic relationship.

“She used to hate me; she thought I was a stuck-up know-it-all,” Gromov said. “Now, she likes me, and knows that I’m not stuck-up, but I’m a know-it-all.”

Trockenbrodt listed off her some of her favorite things about him: He does magic, plays guitar and writes books and songs. Gromov smiled and began to answer what he liked about her.

“Where do I begin?” he started. “Her personality … pretty much what I fell in love with.”

The couple has attended two VHHS dances together, one of them being last year’s homecoming. Instead of attending a conventional dine-in restaurant before the dance, as most attendees do, they opted for a cult-favorite alternative: the fast food chain Chick-fil-a.

They then watched a movie and attended the dance after.

“As a couple, we’re cliché, like as in movies, but at the same time, we’re not. We’re pretty real,” they agreed. “We tell each other everything.”