<p>Heh. I'll share. Feel free to join in with your own tale, or feel free to ask a question about your own romantic life. People will watch this thread. =D..</p>
<p>My romance life has sucked considerably .. until now.</p>
<p>I think I can describe this in stages.</p>
<p>** Middle School **</p>
<p>Not much luck here. I developed my first naive crushes here, but nothing too serious. In the eighth grade, my crush did turn into a friendship, one I haven't kept. (I disconnected 100% from middle school).</p>
<p>** 9th Grade-10th grade **</p>
<p>I was hooked on this one person for a whole year -- despite the whole ensemble of gifts -- you name it, I got it for her.. it was hopeless and useless. I was too naive to see, so I ended up getting hurt in the end. </p>
<p>I did date two people in between my "mingles" but it was nothing serious. Pretty short term.</p>
<p>Then in March of my Sophomore year, at a camp, I met another girl, who I flirted around with for a year. She was going to date me, but she umm.. had other attractions. Eventually, I gave up on her too. She liked me, but .. didn't want to commit. She and I are still friends. Was backstabbed by her six different occasions, so I gave it up in the end.</p>
<p>Dated and flirted around -- no luck. Didn't feel the "spark" with anyone in particular.</p>
<p>** Now.. **</p>
<p>I gave up on my last major crush around.. February of 2004. We remained friends, she danced many times with me and such, but the spark wasn't there anymore. I was attracted to this one girl at my church, but no spark there. So, I gave up. I swore off relationships for the rest of high school. (This was April of 2004).</p>
<p>I was at a district marksmanship competition, and my current girlfriend.. I was talking with one of my cadet officers, and she came up and introduced herself. We talked for a really long time, then she said.. "Sir (me, since it was an ROTC event, the whole rank thing comes into play) could you excuse us for a second? (she wanted to talk with my subordinate officer for a little while).." I was like.. fine.. so I walked off, came back.. she was giggling, he was laughing, I thought she was insulting me behind my back. I said whatever.</p>
<p>As I was leaving the site, my officer ran up to me and said.. "Sir, she likes you." I was like, wha?! You must be joking me! You know I swore off relationships! I started throwing a tantrum.. but I went back.. I gave her my contact information, including my phone number. After getting lost in West Hollywood for 3 hours on my way back home, she called me.. and we talked...</p>
<p>We weren't going out, quite yet.. it was May, picnic, and we started uhh.. playing around.. first with water balloons, then water guns, then 2 liter bottles full of water, then we just got tired and started pouring tubs on each other.. lol.. We had about 20 gallons water on us, and we were both really, really sick..</p>
<p>Before I left though.. I gave her a little kiss on the cheek to give her a sign that I was willing to go for a relationship.. she got my face and kissed me on the lips.. It was a brief moment though, so I was like.. whoa..</p>
<p>Then.. while I was in Sacramento.. I realized how much I loved her.. and we made it official that day over the phone -- we were BF-GF...</p>
<p>Because we go to different schools, and because of our weird schedules and our hectic workload, we didn't see each other for the first two months of our relationship. (July/August).. She wanted to see me, but couldn't.. I was ignoring her, and to this day, I feel horrible for it..</p>
<p>She wanted to end it.. there was no way we could salvage anything.. so.. when she messaged me saying she wanted to talk.. I ended it right there.. I had cut it off -- completely.</p>
<p>Three months passed. No contact, except for the occasional ROTC-related email. She did wish me happy birthday on my birthday though (through email).. </p>
<p>I felt miserable during these three months. I felt lonely, empty, and angry. Sure, I tried to date other people -- but it didn't work. The spark wasn't there. All of me still wanted to be with her, but I was in denial.</p>
<p>Turns out that she dated someone during these three months (another ROTC officer from another school).. </p>
<p>One October day.. we were at Six Flags.. (ROTC hosted a Six Flags Fun Day).. On the outside, I said.. my god.. I don't want to see her.. but on the inside, I was looking for her. Unfortunately, we didn't see each other. But the guy she saw during the three months -- he was with her. </p>
<p>Another one of my officers (a female Cadet Captain) went up to my girlfriend and told her all about how I still wanted to see her.. wanted to patch things back up. It was then that my girlfriend abandoned the guy she was with, and just went on her own... Me, on the other hand.. I was still trying to look for her. No luck.</p>
<p>One November day.. I called her.. out of the blue.. on a business call.. she was at her school, working in the ROTC office, and so was I.. She didn't know who was on the other end -- and was cheerfully perky. When she heard my voice for the first time in three months.. it's as if she became super-euphoric.. Like she was happy.. I was happy to hear her too..</p>
<p>We talked business, but nothing else.</p>
<p>I got home, and she was online. I unblocked her and removed any barriers of communication we had. I IMed her.. with the lamest excuse ever "Congratulations on your promotion! [She had been promoted in ROTC from when we were dating]".. Eventually, we ironed things out.. and apologized to each other.. she wanted to return to the relationship.. I wanted a "friends-with-privileges" sort of thing.</p>
<p>My stupid, stupid, stupid, mistake.</p>
<p>I flew out to Bowdoin.. and I realized there how much I missed her.. I stood in the FREEZING cold (since that's where my cell phone got reception) at midnight just so I could hear her voice.. and I realized there that the stupid friends with privileges thing was pointless -- we were still in love.. So when I flew back, we started going out again.. and we saw each other on the 20th.. where I gave her a nice souvenir from Bowdoin.</p>
<p>She decided to forget the three-month hiatus and decided that June 28th was our anniversary date (instead of November 15th).. </p>
<p>We... umm.. are much closer now. I make every effort to drop in her ROTC office and visit her.. we spent New Years Eve together .. and when I get back from DC.. we'll spend some more time together.. </p>
<p>She's told me continually to forget what happened in the first half of our relationship, but it's a memory that I can't forget.. I don't want to mess it up like I did before, so I always remember.. never to forget her and to truly cherish her... I often forget the fact that she was the one who found me.. and .. well, you know what they say.. you don't know the treasures of your life until you lose them.. </p>
<p>blah.. time for me to go to sleep. </p>
<p>Post your stories/questions/comments/etc., I'm not doing this thread alone.. lol.</p>