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LET ME CALL YOU SWEATHEARTS Ceres High sweethearts provide secret to lasting relationship
Brianna and Richard 3

BY ALYSSON AREDAS

 

Living in 209

 

When Ceres resident Richard Campbell was in the fourth grade, he made a friendly bet with his best friend that he would get Brianna Mooney — a girl who lived in his neighborhood — to date him.

 

Richard would go on to not only win that bet six years later, but he took it a step even further. He plans to marry her in August.

 

“We’ve been through a lot together, so our relationship is really strong. We laugh a lot,” said Richard.

 

“We do everything together. We’re inseparable,” added Brianna.

 

While Richard and Brianna were neighbors for three years, they didn’t formally meet until the eighth grade when they had a history class together. When they found themselves in the same drama class the following year, they sat next to each other and quickly became friends.

 

“She was kind of weird,” joked Richard when asked about his first impression of Brianna. “But really though, I thought she was cute and pretty and I liked her, but we just hung out with different people.”

 

“When I met him, I just thought he was really funny and I totally knew that he liked me, but I was kind of freaked out at first. We were at a football game one time and he kissed me and I just acted like it didn’t happen!” laughed Brianna.

 

It wasn’t until their sophomore year of high school that Richard and Brianna went on their first official date, which consisted of eating Burger King together on the set of their drama production. That following New Year in 2011, Richard asked Brianna to be his girlfriend.

 

“At 12:13 a.m. I had all my family down the block with ‘Will you be my girlfriend?’ on their car windows,” said Richard.

 

Richard recalled the exact moment he knew he wanted to marry Brianna was three years later when he was working at McDonalds. At the time, he was chatting with a group of his coworkers, who were talking about how bad their current relationships were.

 

“I just thought to myself, I got it pretty good,” said Richard. “So I made another bet with my buddy and I told him I was going to buy her and ring and that I was going to ask her to marry me. He didn’t think I would do it.”

 

But he did.

 

While on a family vacation to Disneyland in July 2015, Brianna said that they had just finished watching the fireworks show when she told Richard she wanted a picture in front of Cinderella’s Castle.

 

“I — being the five-year-old that I am — took off running,” said Brianna.

 

Richard had other plans, however, as he got down on one knee.

 

“I’m pretty sure I looked totally dumb because I was so surprised. I didn’t know how to react,” said Brianna. “It was so funny because he was shaking so much that he couldn’t get the ring out of the box.”

 

Brianna said that while she and Richard usually go on a road trip for Valentine's Day as opposed to buying gifts for each other, she said that this year they will probably opt to stay in to save money for their wedding.

 

When asked about what advice the engaged couple would give to other people who are dating looking for a relationship in their 20s, they both stressed the importance of talking and not being afraid to make compromises.

 

“My advice would be to definitely talk. Talking is everything, even though it can be awkward at times and some people don’t want to talk about things,” said Brianna. “Just ever walk away upset. Always resolve it.”