‘Tis the month of the color red and pink, expensive dinner dates, roses, and giant stuffed animals. You know what I’m talking about. It’s finally February and we’ve conquered the first month of the year. Now is the month of love because of the holiday we celebrate known as Valentine’s Day. In the spirit of the upcoming celebration, we looked around the hallways and prepared to choose some of our favorite pairs. A consensus has been reached.  Here are Delphi’s Cutest Couples 2015: Lauren Porter and Tyron Watson, Kayla Fogarasi and Cade Murray, Kayla Eli and Garrett Clark, Mekenzie Gear and Tucker Trapp, Tyler Arion and Kyle Appleton, and Miss Williams and Mr. Ballard.

Each of these charming couples has their own love story *cue in Taylor Swift* and I asked them to share it with us. Here they are.

Lauren and Tyron are the cutest freshman couple out there. These two met on the river about six months ago when Ty and a friend of his took her on a boat ride. “He stared at me the whole time so I started talking to him and then he’s never left me alone since,” Lauren said. On their first date, they went to the Oakdale Inn where Lauren spent the entire time wearing shorts soaked in the sweet tea she sat in. “Of course, he was making fun of me the whole time.”

Tyron said, “I appreciate a lot of things about Lauren, but what I like the most is her wonderful personality, how she puts up with me when I’m grouchy, and how she always wants to see me.”

“I appreciate so many things about Tyron,” Lauren said, “but the most is probably that he’s never ‘too busy’ for me and it’s always nice to have someone else’s plate to pick off of, especially if it’s the person you love looking at.”

She’s a sophomore, he’s a freshman, and they are so cute. Kayla and Cade met in the beginning of her freshman year at a football game when his friend introduced them (props to the friend). Kayla said, “Cade was extremely shy around me and blushed whenever I tried to talk to him.” On their first date, they went to the movies and saw The Fault In Our Stars. Kayla said, “The thing I appreciate the most about Cade is how caring he always is, and how he always knows how to make me smile even on the worst days. I love that Cade allows me to be my complete self around him, and it’s neat to be able to say I’m dating my best friend.”

“The thing I appreciate the most about Kayla is she is always there for me no matter what; even on the worst of days she still makes me smile. She always supports me when I’m playing sports or when I’m doing anything,” Cade said.

Our junior couple is Kayla Eli and Garrett Clark, who have been together for four months. They met when they were in the eighth grade when Kayla moved to Delphi. For their first date, Garrett surprised Kayla at her softball tournament and took her out to eat and then to the movies afterwards. When asked what they like best about each other, Garrett said he likes her personality a lot and Kayla said, “I like how supportive he is.”

Mekenzie and Tucker are our Senior Sweethearts of the year. To quote Tucker, they’ve been together “ ‘bout 4” months, but they met in the sixth grade hallway. When they went on their first date, “Kenzie got [them] lost on campus looking for noodles.” Mekenzie likes “Tuck’s personality” the most and Tucker said, in a heartfelt comment about Mekenzie, “Her hair smells nice.”

What’s a Cutest Couples edition without its Cutest Bromance? We’ve decided that Tyler Arion and Kyle Appleton definitely win that title this year. This all started when the two met after Kyle was born in the hospital room. That day, Tyler, Kyle, and the bromance was born. On their first date, they played with toys (of course). Tyler said, “I think Kyle is funny.” Kyle said, “I think Tyler is pretty cool. #JAGTAG.”

First, there were the Tonsoni’s, then the Gasser’s, but who knew we’d ever come to see another teaching twosome? The soon-to-be Mr. and Mrs. Ballard came to Delphi this year taking two teaching and coaching jobs. Ms. Williams took on the freshman English class and sophomore English AP class as well as head coach of the girls’ junior varsity basketball team. Mr. Ballard took a job at the middle school as a special education teacher, and he is also the head coach for the boys’ varsity basketball team. The two met in 2012 at Vincennes Rivet High School where Williams was student teaching and Ballard was in his second year of teaching and coaching. “Our first date came from a game of H-O-R-S-E (basketball related… shocking!) The loser had to buy dinner. We seem to have different opinions on who actually won…” Williams explained. On a side note, Ballard commented, “Adam won.” Since that day, they have been together for a little over two years. Ballard said, “What I love most about McKenna is her ability to put me in a better mood almost instantly, regardless of the circumstances. She is also the coolest person I have ever met. I can not think of a time that I haven’t wanted to be with her.”

Williams said, “What I love most about Adam is his ability to make me laugh under any circumstance and how thoughtful and caring he is.”

All of these couples, including our bromance and our teaching twosome, had such wonderful things to say about each other and they really are some of Delphi’s Cutest Couples. Wouldn’t you agree?