By Mylee Dubin
If you ever see a tall blonde boy and a lively brunette girl with highlights walking through the halls, chances are you have come across the power couple that is Gisella Brok and Ezra Duffield.
I sat down with the smiling duo to talk about their relationship, but it took us several minutes to start because we all couldn’t stop laughing.
I’m not sure what it was, but before I could even get my first word out, Gisella and I were caught in a fit of giggles, while Ezra silently laughed along with us. Not one of us knew exactly what we were laughing about, it was just so silly to us.
We finally calmed ourselves and began talking. Somehow, I had caught the couple on their 9-month anniversary. Mazel tov! It was a perfect day to chat.
I asked them how they first met and they both shrugged their shoulders. Very helpful. “I don’t know, we were just kind of like friends for a while,” Gisella said. “We were in the same advisory,” Ezra added. Gisella also said they had several mutual friends which helped get them to know each other better.
When I asked them what their first impressions of each other were, Ezra immediately commented with a smile, “She was really nice, really positive.” So sweet, I could cry.
Gisella asked me, “Very first impression?” I nodded and she joked, “He was a guy in my advisory.”
But on a more serious note, she answered again (for real this time), “I also thought he was really nice…and we just went from there.”
Though they had known each other since they first met in advisory and had been friends, they didn’t start dating until after prom of their junior year in April of 2024. “I talked to her the whole time at prom,” Ezra gushed. Gisella showed how close they were at prom by crossing her middle finger over her pointer finger. Their bonding continued the day after prom when they got Waffle House.
Also, let the record show that Ezra asked Gisella out, for all of those who are wondering.
In terms of what makes their relationship work so well, the pair both agree it was built on trust. “I’d say trust and communication,” Gisella said.
I asked if there was a challenge they had faced as a couple. We all fell into another fit of laughter. Though there haven’t been any challenges of a serious nature, Gisella confessed her own challenge is “having to take the highway to his house.” She mentioned later on that she doesn’t actually have to, especially if it’s raining, but the back roads are confusing. Gisella is a fellow Waze warrior.
When I asked what their favorite memory was with each other, the only response I got at first was, “Lake.” I pushed them to expand on that already extensive answer. “There’s a lot of [fun things] we got to do when we were up there,” Ezra said. Since it is Ezra’s lake house, Gisella mentioned how fun it is to go to one as someone who doesn’t have one. I feel you girl. My motto is: be nice to everyone because you never know who has a lake house.
“I really just like being on the water,” Gisella said. “We went on the boat a lot and that was really fun.” Gisella then jumped up and said her favorite memory from the lake trip itself was “when I flung him off the jetski.” Ezra was a little less violent and said his favorite was “just seeing her enjoy it.” Gisella and I collectively “aww”ed at that sweet sentiment.
Gisella also said there is a restaurant on the lake that they like called Pelican Pete’s that is usually pretty full, but they got to go there for her first time at the lake.
I then asked what their favorite activity to do together was in general. “Eat,” said Ezra. Gisella has a pretty well-known column in the OnLion known as Gisella Eats, so this didn’t surprise me in the slightest. He added that he has been introduced to many different foods since they have been together.
Gisella did say she just enjoys the lake the most, because it is also fun to go in the winter. Clearly, nothing comes close to “lake”.
When it comes to a unique quality about their relationship, Ezra said, “I think we both have kind of the same mindset when it comes to health and fitness and stuff.” He also really values that they can “joke with each other a lot without overthinking it” or just thinking too much about certain things.
Gisella personally enjoys that they both enjoy going to the gym and going on runs together. “It doesn’t beat the lake though,” Gisella warned. I figured as much.
Finally, I asked what the two had learned from each other. This made the two think very hard. This was their Goliath I fear. Ezra had to take several breaks, each time saying, “Give me 30 [seconds]” though it was more like minutes if you ask me.
Gisella spoke up and mentioned one thing she knows Ezra had learned from her. “He learned he likes poke,” she said.
On the other hand, Gisella now knows all of the “actual rules” of football because of Ezra. “I know a ton about football [now], I’m an expert.”
