On July 4, 2010, junior Mario Ljubic laid eyes on senior and Niles North student Isabella Schaps for the first time.

The two of them met at the fireworks that Niles West hosts every year. Ljubic was blocking Schaps’ view, and she asked him to move out of the way.

“She was beautiful. She was gorgeous; drop dead gorgeous,” Ljubic said of his first impression of Schaps.

After the short encounter, the two went on with their lives until Ljubic asked his brother, senior Robert Ljubic to clarify just who exactly Schaps was. One thing led to another, and, the matchmaker of all matchmakers came into the picture. Facebook.

“I [went] on Facebook and messaged her. I was like ‘hey are you the girl that I saw last night? And she was like ‘yeah it was me,’ and then we started talking from there,” Ljubic said.

“From there,” has turned into a very successful run for the happy couple. This coming August, they will be celebrating their four year anniversary.

Although the two of them go to different schools, it has ever proven to be a speed bump in their relationship.

“I’m like the least competitive person ever,” Schaps said.

Although they do admit that it is sometimes hard to not be able to see each other every day, they agree that the distance is healthy.

“It makes you miss him that much more, and want to see him that much more. It keeps things interesting because you always have stuff to talk about,” Schaps said. “You have to have separate lives and have your own friends.”

The age and school aren’t the only differences, though.

Ljubic is 100% Croatian, while Schaps is a mixture of Mexican, Romanian, and Russian. 

They admit that their cultures haven’t influenced them in a huge way, but some factors have come into play.

“I was never exposed to the Mexican culture a lot, but I would say that I love Mexican food a lot more now that I know her,” Ljubic said.

Ljubic admits that his parents’ traditional Croatian values do pose a challenge at times.

“Their ways, and their views on life, and they way that they try to raise me interferes with our relationship. Sometimes we can’t see each other. They’re just very strict,” Ljubic said.

Another difference is their age.

Schaps is one year older, and she does admit that at first it was a “little weird,” but she got over it with no problem.

She plans on attending Columbia College in the fall; a factor that worries Ljubic.

“I’m not going to see her! I’m going to see her like once a week. It’s hard for me,” he said.

Although the future is unpredictable, both Schaps and Ljubic have no doubts about the future of their relationship.

When asked if they believe they will last forever, they said yes with no hesitation.

“I feel like we have everything figured out already,” Schaps said. “We’re set in our ways. He’s not just my boyfriend. We’re friends,” Schaps said.

“She gets me,” Ljubic said. “No one understands me like her.”

Friend and senior at Niles North Franny Fotopoulos agrees.