The students are linked to their school and to each other by blood and by history. Scott and Jen are brother and sister, while Monica and Alison are their cousins.

But the connection goes deeper than that. Their late great-grandparents, Mark Thomas Sr.—better known as "Bobo"—and Helen Chapman Thomas—who friends called "Zuzu"—met at the high school and were part of the 26-member graduating class of 1922. The four students recalled stories of how their great-grandparents rode on horses to school and fell in love at first sight.

The couple married shortly after high school; both had grown up in Los Gatos. Bobo lived in a home on Winchester Boulevard, while Zuzu lived in Alma, which is now under water at Lexington Dam. Mark was editor of the Los Gatos school newspaper. He was known for his pranks and played quarterback for the school's unofficial football team. The two were also editors of the yearbook and participated in the senior play.

"We walk on the same stairs. We travel in the same halls they did," said 16-year-old Jen, adding that their great-aunt, Evelyn Chapman, was a 1924 alumnus of Los Gatos High.

Bobo graduated from Stanford University in 1926 in civil engineering, was a major in the U.S. Army during World War II and served in Europe, earning a Bronze Star. In 1946, he opened a civil engineering office in San Jose on San Pedro Street. He retired years later and died in 1984. The company still flourishes today under the same name of Mark Thomas & Co. Inc. and has several branches within the state, according to Mark Thomas Jr., the grandfather of the four students, who is a retired Santa Clara judge. Zuzu also attended Stanford and worked at the San Jose Library, Mark said.

"From my point of view as a child I always thought, and still do, of them as very serious and down-to-earth people," Mark said. "But I do remember stories of my dad sporting around Los Gatos in his beat-up old Ford, and my grandparents referring to him as 'that crazy kid.' "

The connections among these four students aren't limited to their heritage. They have birthdays in consecutive months—March to June—and have many of the same interests, especially through sports. Alison is the eldest with a car, so she said she takes the bunch out to lunch frequently from school.

"Alison is independent, and since she's the oldest of the group, she's the one they look up to," said Mark.

They co-baby-sit, watch movies, go shopping with their grandmother and cheer each other on at athletic events. Their families also spend summers vacationing together at places such as Clear Lake. For school dances, they even get dressed up and take photos together with their dates.

Scott, 14, said family traditions include spaghetti dinners and holiday celebrations at their grandparents' house in Willow Glen.

"We're not forced to be family together," Scott said.

They like socializing and joking around, Scott said, which is something they won't get to do daily at Los Gatos High, since Alison is heading to college in the fall.