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Jill, 37, met Shane, 36, in the 1980s when they were ninth-graders at what is now Quail Hollow Middle School. Shane was dating Jill's best friend – but that soon changed.
The rubber band: I always thought Shane was a nice guy. He and my best friend dated for a few months, then broke up. One day Shane shot a rubber band at me in math class and hit me in the arm. I fired it back, hitting him in the eyeball. I was mortified. He played it like he was in agony, the whole time plotting his scheme. In order to make it up to him, I had to agree to go on a date.
The tournament: Since neither of us was old enough to drive, his mother dropped him off at my house that Friday night. This was the first time a boy had come over, and I was so nervous I felt sick. We watched the NCAA tournament, and I was rooting for Clemson. Shane was not a Clemson fan, so we had some healthy debates during the course of the evening.
The message: Shane and I dated on and off through our senior year then parted ways. We married others, then divorced. I had run into Shane or his family members a few times over the years, but the time was never right for us to get together. One day a friend e-mailed me that Shane had contacted her on classmates.com. He asked if she could put me in touch with him. A few days later I sent him a message.
The beach: It was nearly a week before he replied. I had butterflies the entire time. We talked on the phone a few times, then met for a drink on May 3, 2008, and talked for more than five hours. We went out the next night and have been inseparable ever since. The wedding was May 3 on the beach in Jamaica. Kathy Haight
