Our story starts on a warm summer day, right amid the eerie silence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ariana, not knowing social cues, did not understand that, at the time, Joe could not stand her, so she relentlessly asked him to hang out until he simply couldn’t say no. 

And thus a beautiful friendship blossomed.

All of our best high school memories include each other. The drama department has found us playing opposite each other in three consecutive fall plays — doomed mummies in Twisted Tales of Terror, arrogantly lovesick snowmobiler buddies in Almost, Maine, and, most recently, the iconic Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson in The Great Gatsby. As founding members of the journalism department, we’ve written articles detailing our amusing adventures and accompanied each other on the Matador Morning News. Through the choir department, we’ve performed at Radio City, Carnegie Hall, and Six Flags (where Ariana somehow was struck with both sun poisoning and the aforementioned coronavirus). 

But our favorite high school memory of all was not even at East — nor was it even in this country! This past February, we traveled across the world to explore Japan with the Global History department. We tried new foods (and had McDonald’s a lot more than we’d like to admit…), hunted down Disney stores, and even accidentally got an ID picture taken thinking it was a photo booth. Nonetheless, the experience was something we’ll always cherish.

We’ve been friends for four years now, and we’ve spent nearly every day together since that fateful day in 2020. Now, we’ll be separating for the first time in our lives. Joe will be off to SUNY Geneseo, where he’ll be studying Elementary Education, and Ariana will be off to Miami University, where she’ll be studying Drama and Journalism. But no matter the distance between us, Smithtown East’s Best Duo will prevail.