His Side

One note left on a binder can change the course of three years. This one note, left by this one girl, to this one boy, on this one day in seventh grade has changed these two people’s lives.

On Oct. 21, 2012, sophomore Maggie Cox left a not-so-anonymous note on sophomore Isaiah Bryant’s binder. A yellow note with pink writing that read “I like you” with a heart underneath. The two have been dating for three years.

“She left a note on my binder and I found it after class,” Isaiah said. “ It didn’t say it was from her, but I knew. I asked her out after that but it was because of the note.”

The two met in late August of seventh grade. Maggie had just moved from Arizona to Missouri, and they ended up having five classes together, one of which was band.

“We played the same instrument,” Isaiah said. “And we started talking because instruments have to collaborate.”

Isaiah asked Maggie out after the note passing, and they went on their first date with friends to the movies.

“He seemed pretty chill about it, like he wouldn’t know what to expect since it was his first actual date,” Isaiah’s friend Daniel Gordon said.

Through the years, Isaiah and Maggie have grown up together. They have gone from middle to high school, and it has been a happy surprise for Isaiah that they have stayed together for this long.

“I wasn’t expecting this,” Isaiah said. “But I’m glad it happened though.”

Friends who’ve seen the relationship from the start are just as happy as the couple to see that they’ve stayed together.

“I think they are really good together,” friend Caty Arnold said. “They are just a really good fit for each other.

Not only do their friends support their relationship, their parents are glad the two are together. Over the past three years the two families have grown close as well as the couple.

“Our families are completely for the relationship,” said Isaiah. “ They have become super close.”

One note, two people, three years. The littlest things can change a life, and help a relationship grow into something much bigger.

“We started to realize that it is more than just a crush,and we can really trust each other more,” Isaiah said.

Her Side

The middle school band room buzzes with chatter as students assemble their instruments. Among the students are new-girl Maggie Cox and french horn player Isaiah Bryant, who met just at the beginning of the school year, but would begin dating that October. Suddenly, seventh grade becomes sophomore year and three years later, they are still together.

“He was and is my first real relationship,” Maggie said.

After moving from Arizona, Maggie found herself at Barnwell Middle School for the start of seventh grade. Maggie and Isaiah shared multiple classes, but truly met in band where they belonged to the french horn section.

“We would talk everyday since we were two of the four people in our section and got to know each other,” Maggie said.

During the time they spent getting to know each other in band, Maggie developed feelings for Isaiah.

“I wrote him a note saying I liked him but I tried to make him think it wasn’t me who sent it,” Maggie said.

According to Maggie, Isaiah assumed it was her who sent the note despite the anonymity and they both admitted that they liked each other.

“He never really asked me, but I guess you could say that I technically asked him through the note,” Maggie said. “It was like a mutual agreement that we should date.”

The two met at the movies for their first date after being dropped off by their parents. According to Maggie, she was nervous beforehand, but ended up having fun. They were already dating at the time, but Maggie didn’t tell her mom of their relationship until three months later.

“I was a little suspicious because I was wondering why she was on the phone so much,” Jane Cox, Maggie’s mother, said.

When Maggie moved to Missouri, she joined the same volleyball team as sophomore Caty Arnold and they became friends throughout the season. Caty was unaware that Maggie liked Isaiah until she revealed that they were dating. Caty is now a mutual friend of Maggie and Isaiah.

“I think they’re a really good fit for each other,” Caty said. “They make each other better people.”

According to Maggie, a strong relationship is about trusting each other and being friends. Isaiah is her best friend and she describes him as a kind person, which is her favorite quality of his.

“I have never seen him be legitimately mean to someone,” Maggie said.

Even though they have both quit band, they won’t forget that it is what brought them together. They recently celebrated their third year together this past October.

“It’s nice to have someone there for you and I like having him around,” Maggie said.