By Brad Gashler
Skeet (N): Having characteristics or qualities of silliness and mischievousness. See also: Brad, Rachel.
On May 1st, 2011, two skeets met there match. One week prior, Brad was talking with his new roommate and friend, Derek Chandler. Brad asked Derek if there were any cute girls in the ward. Derek, being the helpful man that he is, opened up Facebook and showed Brad pictures of two girls, Rachel Bingham and Brooke DeGraw. Brad thought Rachel was really pretty.
On May 1st, a Sunday, Rachel noticed Brad sitting in church on the first row, third seat down. She noticed his handsome eyes (he has long eyelashes--which Brad isn't the most proud of, but they served him well).
That same night, Brad inadvertantly came over to Rachel's apartment because there was a church social gathering (colloquially called "linger-longer"), which attracted him because of food and possibly pretty girls. Sure enough, there was the prettiest girl of them all (Rachel) there, but she was sitting in a place that would be tough to reach her at and talk to her.
Brad had to come up with a plan. At first he was kneeling down next to the couches, but this wouldn't do the job. He had to be bold and find a way to sit next to her in her crowded area of the room. The coffee table offered him an advantageous position to make preliminary tactical advances on becoming acquainted with her. Brad says he had "had to do all it took to talk to her."
At first, he felt he had to appear to be interested in the group as a whole, and not in Rachel in particular, but secretly his every action was calculated to give him the best chance at showing Rachel that he not only wasn't a creeper but he was also genuinely interested in her.
His plan worked, as seen in video evidence captured by Rachel (who accidently recorded video of the first few moments of them meeting while trying to play with Brad's iPod).
The next day, Brad and Rachel both happened to be in the same FHE group, but now Rachel had the upper hand. Tiffany Jackman, a friend and roommate of Rachel, told Rachel previously that Brad liked her. Tiffany found out because of the treachery of one Brad's roommates who shall not be named; but he knows who you are, Derek Chandler.
Brad, in trying to remain true to his plan, pretended again to be only a portion as interested in Rachel as he really was--at first. Brad couldn't resist to tease Rachel by making her feel like she was going the wrong way over and over to Kiwanis Park in Provo while she drove the group. Brad and Rachel spent all of FHE together, making it appear more like a date, and Brad bought Rachel ice cream at the Creamery on Ninth, which gesture of affection she appreciated. "That's how a man should treat a woman!" she says.
On the way home, Brad asked Rachel for her number.
Two days later, Brad and Rachel went to hike Y Mountain. Rachel asked, "so is this a date?" Brad, alarmed, responded, "It can be whatever you want it to be..." Rachel responded, "Well what do you want it to be?" Brad responded timidly, "A date?"
8 hours later, after jam-packing about two other dates into the same day by visiting a movie theater, going shopping (Rachel felt she had to educate Brad on how to be more fashionable--if you knew Brad before this day, you would understand) and going to dinner, Brad and Rachel agreed that maybe it wasn't the best idea to spend that much time together on one date.
Ever since, they have spent nearly all their free time together, sometimes 11 hours a day. It's helpful to remember that Brad and Rachel are both skeets.
Brad fell in love with Rachel in ten days. Rachel fell in love with Brad in about a month. "It was worth the wait," Brad says.
7 months later, Brad and Rachel got married at the Mount Timpanogos Temple, resulting in a long future of awesomeness for the both of them.
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