I spoke to Alex and Avery one August morning, as they huddled together on the floor of Avery’s living room in Boston. The couple have been eager to see each other for a few long weeks — since May, they’ve been splitting their time between here and Alex’s home in Long Island, nearly 200 miles away.
Alex: We’ve made it work really well.
Avery: Like every two weeks, we’ve been able to see each other.
Both rising sophomores at George Washington University, the pair first met on Bumble, exchanging nothing more than sparse, casual conversation. But things started to pick up after an email from the Marriage Pact hit their inboxes.
Avery: We found out each other’s initials the day before our first date. We were both like, “Oh my god, this is so crazy.” But we didn’t want to get our hopes up.
The pair went on a picturesque picnic date for their first in-person meetup, which was admittedly a bit rocky.
Alex: Our first date? Oh, I was so nervous.
Avery: She has a video of herself practicing waving.
They both laugh as Alex demonstrates the bashful wave she had perfected.
Alex: And I don’t even remember looking in her eyes, I was so nervous. Like, our first date was not our shining moment.
But the day after that, we got each other as a match officially, and that was super exciting. I think I posted on my story like, “Oh my god, the girl I just went on a date with is my marriage pact.” It’s the funniest thing to me. All my friends got friend matches, but I got somebody I knew and was literally going on dates with.
Things flowed much more naturally for Alex and Avery after their nearly unprecedented 99.99 percent match.
Avery: That was such a connecting point, because we knew then that we were on the same page about pretty much everything.
Alex: We just got to skip over most of the talking stage, the hard questions, figuring out dealbreakers.
Avery: Yeah, Marriage Pact handled all of that for us.
Many of Alex and Avery’s straight friends weren’t as lucky, but tried to remain supportive nonetheless.
Avery: They were kind of jealous. I think there was a ratio problem with the number of straight men. But I was kind of flaunting it, like, “I got a match!”
Alex: Yeah, we joked that it was reparations for the gays.
After receiving the match email in mid-April, the pair made it official on the first day of May. While forced to part ways for summer break, Alex and Avery have had their fair share of adventures together this summer, from attending NYC pride in June to making a weekend trek to D.C.
Alex: We also play game pigeon games on our phones all the time. It’s like, how we maintain contact.
Avery: Like, “Good morning!” Here’s a game.
“Who wins more?”
Avery: She doesn’t lose, like ever.
Alex and Avery say they had very different upbringings: Avery attended a private Catholic girls school in Boston, while Alex went to public high school in New York. Despite their differences, the pair say they complement each other perfectly.
Avery: Neither of us is like ‘the extrovert’ or ‘the introvert’. But she’s very chill, and I’m a short fuse. She kind of calms me down, and brings me back down to Earth.
Alex: I feel like right away, we can tell between us that we’re on the same wavelength. We’re a very compatible couple.
Alex and Avery will both be at GWU this fall, albeit on opposite sides of campus. But after this summer, they say they don’t mind a little distance.
Avery: We’re very prepared to make the 10 minute walk.
Alex: We don’t mind. We’re just happy to see each other.
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