My boyfriend tricked me.
Just two weeks after our winter 2024 family picture session, Zachary told me he’d scheduled us for another round of photos with his mom on Baylor’s campus. He didn’t give me any kind of dress code or color scheme to assimilate to, but the morning of December 22, 2024, he was extra picky about my outfit choice.
“I think you’ll want to wear this instead,” he said.
He was extra suspicious that morning — sneaking around, making phone calls, closing doors behind him, and digging around in his nightstand — but he told me to be ready by 11:30 a.m. sharp so we wouldn’t be late for our photo appointment at McLane Stadium. He was fidgety on the drive to campus. He parked the truck in the law school parking lot, so we’d have to walk across Umphrey Bridge to get to the stadium. I complained of the cold December wind ripping across the Brazos River. Why’d he have to park us so far away?
Despite an uncharacteristically odd morning, I was relieved. We’d made it, in one piece, to family pictures — again. I held close to his arm to block the breeze, and did my best to keep my hairdo in place against the harsh wind.
And that’s when it happened. We were just about halfway over the bridge when he stopped us in our tracks. Had he forgotten something in the car?
He got down on one knee — he’s tying his shoe, right?
His eyes teared up — man, this wind is strong.
And he proposed to me. I’d been duped! I said yes right there in the middle of the bridge, one of the most beautiful places on campus, just us and the river.
That morning, Zachary had made sure I was wearing an outfit I’d want to be engaged in, sneakily packed the hidden engagement ring into his jacket pocket, and made sure our family and friends knew today was the day. I, gullible as ever, fell for every second of it. There was no family photo shoot, but soon enough our family and friends would come marching up the other side of the bridge, flowers in hand.
Kourtney Nering (’22)
Robinson, Texas
