From the basketball court to the homecoming court, athletic powerhouses and homecoming Duke and Duchess June Buchanan and Jermanie Coleman can truly do it all. Since sophomore year this dynamic duo has been going strong, despite being torn apart by quarantine. Read on to explore a little deeper. 

Q: When and how did you meet? 

June: I met her back in seventh grade.

Jermanie: We met in middle school and we were mutual friends but we didn’t really talk much. If you were to tell me in middle school that I would be dating him in high school I would have looked at you like you’re crazy.

Q: When did you start dating? 

June: We started dating in September of 2019. But we were like talking way before we had made it official. 

Jermanie: September, 28 of our sophomore year

Q: When did you first say you loved your partner and what made you realize you were ready to say it? 

June: I don’t remember exactly when we first said it, but I know that I said it first. What made me realize is when I really couldn’t stop thinking about her, but I don’t know there’s a lot that goes into it.

Jermanie: I think he actually said that he loved me first, and this was a month or two into dating. I knew I loved him when I realized how much he cared about me as a person and didn’t just see me as an object, he saw me for who I really am. He understood me more than I think a lot of people do

Q: How has the pandemic affected your relationship? 

June: The pandemic has made our relationship more difficult because we went from seeing each other every day in school to not really seeing each other as much as we used to. So that was a hard change for us and it really took a toll on both of us. But overall, we just stayed strong and got through it.

Jermanie: The pandemic, definitely was an obstacle in our relationship since for a few months we weren’t able to see each other at all and we had to basically be in a long-distance relationship. However, I do think that it brought us closer because we realized how strong the relationship was and how much we really loved each other because of how we handled it and how it lasted. 

Q: What is one of your favorite memories together?

June: One of my favorite memories with her is when we went kayaking because it was my first time going and I went with her, so that made it so much better. Even though she was a horrible horrible assistant. 

Jermanie: My favorite moment was probably bringing him to his surprise party and planning it and seeing the smile on his face when you know we walked into his party. And…there’s this one time after his game he decided to give me his award and I was like, “why are you giving me this award?” And he was like, “because you helped me get here.”

Q: What was your first date? 

June: Our first date, we went to the movies. We went to go see Harriet. Yeah, that was awesome and I believe she still has the movie ticket from that day. 

Jermanie: Our first date was at the movie theaters. It was definitely the Harriet Tubman movie. •