We Heart Dre and Cassandra

Being a teenager sucks. You know, all that confusion, weirdness, and algebra. Being a teenager on daytime particularly sucks, because chances are it means you're pregnant, survived multiple incarnations of your parents' marriage, had a terminal illness as a child, and/or someone in your family has come back from the dead. Shockingly, "All My Children"'s Dre and Cassandra (Sterling Sulieman and Yaya DaCosta) have led relatively unscathed lives (just a hostage situation and a possible hit and run). Which helps contribute to their charming innocence. And that's part of the reason we heart them so much.

Normally teen romances can be really hit or miss -- they're either forced down one's throat, or, in the happy cases, they pop up unexpectedly, and you're interested in seeing more. With Dre and Cass, it's the latter. They've been sort of floating on the canvas for some months, so we've gotten the chance to get to know them a bit before the show put them together. Which is nice, because we're really enjoying watching their burgeoning relationship unfold.

The two actors are excruciatingly attractive to look at, but that aside, they are just so earnest with each other, it's adorable. After their first kiss, you could feel the "that-was-good-OMG-what-am-I-supposed-to-say-now" weirdness. That kiss gave us flashbacks, both good and bad, but more importantly, it made us sit up and take notice.

And how great is it to have a genuine, young African-American romance? Aside from Angie and Jesse, it's slim pickings on daytime. So kudos to the show for putting them front and center.

What do you think of Dre and Cassandra?