When I was 12, I didn’t have any friends. I sat by myself and everyone thought I was weird or different. Every day I would go home, do homework and plop down on the computer. One day I found this site. It was one of those meet-people virtual-world websites. I went on it everyday. It was a place of comfort and smiles that made me feel good.

One day in a chatroom I met David.

David’s avatar looked simple and simplistic. I said hi to David and he returned the greeting.

David was older. He was very friendly and I would talk to him everyday. Everyday I would come home from school excited,, do my important agendas and plop down on the computer chair. Since I was 12 going on 13 it was difficult to see what times he would be on. David lived in Ohio and I lived in California.

Everyday I would tell David about my day and he would tell me about his. We would listen to music together and live in our own little world of happiness. He never once probed me any inappropiate questions. David told me all about his life and I told him all about mine.

Days turned into months. By 6-7 months, I was used to talking to David. It was never ‘weird’ or ‘abnormal’ to me. David and the internet world was all I knew as my social outlet (at the time).

One day I realized something while I was with David. Our conversations got deeper than normal and he never stopped the conversation from going flirty/romantic. I was falling in love with David.

Around November, a few days before my birthday of turning 13, I was in the chatroom with David. It was different now. I told David I loved him. I was so scared. I THEN knew it wasn’t normal to love someone this way. David told me that he too was falling in love with me.

Okay, David isn’t some closet freak that is a pedophile. He is more normal than I was at the time. He had a job and social life and I mostly talked to him at night. We would stay up for hours just talking to eachother.

We finally agreed to being a long-distance couple less than a few days from my birthday. I was so happy and niave. David and I loved eachother, but at the time, David was much more mature and I was extremely niave. I was a little girl falling in love with a person that knew better.

The beginning of Summer.

One day, out of nowhere, David didn’t log on. I took no offense and thought he was super tired or busy. Our time zone differences put a strain on our relationship. The next day, nothing. After a few days, I got scared. I sent him bunches and bunches of messages. No reply. This went on for while.

This went on for weeks. I would cry myself to sleep every night. I would send him desperation messages begging him to reply. No such luck.
I went into a severe depression.

2 months passed…I had to get over it. I moved on. I started talking to other guys in real life and actually experienced flirting and my first kiss. It was nice.

David came back. One day it said he was online and my heart dropped. I mustered up all my bravery and said hi. The conversation was very friendly and short. He told me he was extremely busy and had no internet. I didn’t probe questions.

Eventually we were talking agian and David knew I was with other guys in real life. He didn’t like that. He begged me to come back to him and that he was so sorry for leaving me here. Like an idiot I took him back.

A process of break-up and make-up went on. We fought about alot of things as our relationship progressed. There was tears and heartache and betrayal.

There was LOVE and promises made.

When I got into high school, things changed. I made ALOT of friends and became the pretty girl. I never told anyone of my love with David. People would always wonder why I was ‘single’ or they never saw me with guys.

4 years have passed…It will be 5 pretty soon. Im really excited. It has been a hard and rocky road. It was never easy, but I made it father than most real couples did.

16 going on 17… I can’t wait to see him. I’m excited but scared. I’m scared to death. Soon I will meet the person I have dedicated my entire young adulthood to. I’m so scared and anxious. It’s a beautiful dream I’m waiting to fullfill. I’m so happy.

There is no moral point to my story. True love is real. Maybe for me, it didn’t come in the form of some tool trying to breathe down my shirt on the way to prom, but I STRONGLY believe I have found true love. It hurts and it feels beautiful at the same time. You cry and your heart throbs for this person, but you make it through thick and thin. I love this person with all my heart and soul. I’m literally shaking as I’m writing this. I’m still going through it with him, and it gets hard, but we love eachother enough to make it. We are going to make it. Love is real. Don’t ever give up!

(Screen) Name: mscherrycool1

ok so basically i was in a relationship with a guy that i fell in love with the moment i set eyes on.hes from a relatively poor family.btw im from London but i currently live in sulaimaniyah, Iraq,He lives 2 hours away.so at first there was no way i could tell him how i felt.a year later i saw him again and so then i told his cousin who used to be my friend to tell him how i felt but instead he told him that i hated him(i found that out later) a couple of monthe later i saw him at my uncles house,and it was amazing he felt the same way about me and i just went crazy when i saw him,it was the best feeling in the world,we kissed for the first time.1 month later i saw him again which was even better we spent about 5 hours together with my cousins.this was the last time i saw him about 7 months ago.He got a phone and managed to get my phone number and we started talking everyday for 3 hours.I was so happy.Of course we had to talk secretly.This went on for 2 months but it didnt last long.about 3 month later my mums sister found out and she told my mum(my mum absolutely hates his family) she literally went crazy and it became a big fight between our families,our communications are cut of completely.Ive always tried calling his dad in necessary circumstances but after the big fight his dad forbade me to contact any member of his family.I don’t even know if him in relationship anymore or if im still his gf.btw im forbidden to go anywhere near the city hes in.Every single relative i had turned against me after this and made up a million rumors about me.What hurts is that he doesnt know that after all this i still love him and im still trying to contact him but one more risk and thats it because my parents gave me one more chance to let go.(Im Muslim btw but im from London so im sorta different than the people here)And i dont know what he thinks about all this.Everybody tells me to let go and ive tried but he means too much.Please give me some advice.It really means alot.(Im 16 btw)

(Screen) Name: candygirllxx

He first crossed my eye when I was twelve. We were both in band and played the clarinet, he was a year older than I was. This wasn’t much like love at first sight, it was more of love at second sight. The first time he ever talked to me was when we were all waiting to get our uniforms fitted, I was waiting next to my friend Alyssa and he came over and said, “Hey Alyssa, What’s your name?” and so I introduced myself. He introduced himself as Sam, tall and thin, the body of a runner. He didn’t really catch my attention at first until one day when I was sitting all alone (as I usually did) he came and started talking to me, about our common interests like running, swimming, The Beatles. He was perfect to me. From that moment on everyday was like magic, we started talking a lot and hanging out at lunch time, telling each other everything and relating to the same stories. He was my best friend. Everything seemed to have a significance and every coincidence seemed to be a sign. Our birthdays are on the same month, the month we ran our first 15k together. I remember he sat next to me on the bus and started to bump me on the shoulder. He got first place that year out of the 400 people running the race. The day came when he had to go to high school and leave me behind for another year of middle school. When this realization hit me I assumed eighth grade would be the worst year of my life. During that summer we started to text each other everyday for five to six hours, we never ran out of things to talk about. I remember making a promise to myself saying that he would be my first boyfriend, and my first kiss. He’d never had a girlfriend before or even kissed anyone either. When eighth started I felt as if the school were empty without him there and my heart ached every single day i didn’t see him. That year was the year of rumors. As I talked to him one day he informed me that he liked a girl named Jessica and that he was going to ask her out, I felt heartbroken and devastated. That was the first night ever that I cried for anyone. I wanted to make sure that is what he wanted and even though I was in love and wanted the best for him, I didn’t want to lose him. I told Sam that I liked him two times and got nothing but silence out of it, I guess he was too caught up with this Jessica character. This is when I decided to move on to something else. I found another great guy who I liked, his name was Austin. Things with Austin were great, we became the best of friends, but I never felt the way I used to feel with Sam. One day, I get an unexpected text message from Sam saying that he heard I was playing a solo at a concert and that he would go and watch… That made my heart fall to the ground. HE WAS GOING TO COME TO MY CONCERT! The day came and a sudden feeling of fear and anxiety hit me. I didn’t want to face Sam after telling him that I liked him TWO FREAKING TIMES. But he came, we talked, I played the solo, and he said he loved the song. The day later, my friend Alyssa tells me about rumors that a girl was spreading around about Sam and I being I a weird relationship. I really didn’t know what that meant and still don’t to this day. I told him about it just in case someone told him something, I didn’t want him to think that I was the one who made that up. His answer was, “But we ARE in a weird relationship”. Again, I have no clue what that meant. Ninth grade approached and I was two weeks late to my first high school year. I had already been swimming competitively for a couple years and I joined the Swim Team and made it on Varsity, where Sam was. The first day I went to practice I could feel all eyes on me, his eyes on me. The next couple of days were very very awkward. We started to talk again after a while and he said Jessica left the school and she didn’t believe long distance relationships worked, well I didn’t either back then. I made a couple of friends, Emaan, Marissa, Emma, and Lynette from swim and my friends from MS Monica, Laleh, Rheiana and Marina. After a while, all of them eventually found out about Sam.
One of the many days we used to text, he told me to hang out with him at lunch time and become a part of his ‘group’. That plan only lasted about two days until Emaan got annoyed and posted a comment of facebook: “I hate it when girls act so different and annoying around the person they like”. I knew this was directed to me and so did Sam, so I talked to him about it and he basically told me that what she meant was that I act annoying when I am around him. That was when my defensive side came out, I told him that I didn’t like him again because there was no point in it since I knew nothing was ever going to happen, his response was, “That is because I thought you didn’t want a boyfriend”. After that he told me that if he had to go out with anyone, it would be me. Later on that year a girl named Emma started to like him and, well, she showed it, alright. A meet day came, and Emma planned on asking Sam out. When I heard of this my jaw fully dropped and my heart broke into a million pieces, because I was scared he’d say ‘yes’. I watched her go up to him and start to talk inches away from his face. That is when I felt my eyes begin to water, I knew I couldn’t do that to myself so I looked at him and walked away. Another one of my really good friends, Angelica, saw me and there was nothing else but to tell her my whole story, and so I did. The news later came to me that Sam turned Emma down because he liked girls as athletic and determined as he is. Around that same time I was informed that I was moving back to Spain, where I originally came from. The moment I heard this my mind drifted straight towards Sam. “What?!” I thought, “I can’t leave now, not when good things are about to happen”. But there was no going back. Everyone always told me to move on, but I don’t know how to, those are probably the hardest words to achieve when in love with someone for great, memorable years. I have too realized that one becomes blinded by love and only sees what the eye wants to see, not a spice of reality. Up to this day, I am still hopeful that both Sam and I will have the courage to tell each other how we feel. I will never forget my first love. And I will keep that promise that I’ve kept all through the years. I will always love Sam and I will never give up on him, because true love waits until the time is right. We have to be patient and wait for each other because i know we will be together, someday, beyond the ‘stars’. I will wait for forever.

(Screen) Name: LifeisFun.

I met you at the beginning of the term, you helped me learn to play the clarinet. We were just friends, but I wanted more I decided to send you a text one day telling you how I felt, hoping you would feel the same way. He said:
“I like you too, but we must tell no one. I’m not yet allowed to date.” So, that’s our secret. We’re both so happy now, and we’re going strong. 🙂

(Screen) Name: Sara_Beara_Hunny

I once believed that life makes circles,we jump from one to another not knowing if the previous one came to an end or if we’ll find ourselves again in familiar ground.This story is my biggest emotional circle,the deepest,the strongest…What others call “the first cut”.I guess it all started when i was 21.Who seeks a romantic beginning will get disappointed by mine,as it was not a love at first sight,on the contrary,it didn’t feel like love at all.I thought of him as a very nice guy,warm,polite,tender and somehow familiar,pleasant to be around although extremely shy.Bottom line:not my cup of tea at that point.He was great for a friend,but back in the days my wild nature was seeking a “dark prince”.And friends we became.He was in love with me and i didn’t even notice.All i knew was that i could forget everything when i was around him.I felt extremely comfortable,i was free and i was entirely myself.I wanted to be with him all the time,we spent hours talking,the days became nights and we didn’t even notice.The whole world just magically disappeared,every time we were together.We became tender and affectionate,holding hands,hugging all the time.But no,we said to ourselves,we were just friends.One night,after spending the whole afternoon together,i went home and i called him,asking if he would like to come over and sleep with me.I still don’t know why.But he came.And we slept together that night,and the night after that,and all the nights after that for almost 3 years.Though it took us almost another two months till we called it a “relationship”.Our first kiss was a drunk kiss.We tried to stop it afterwards,but we just couldn’t keep off each other.Still we kept claiming “friends”,our private moments were a secret till we couldn’t hold our horses anymore.Passion was blinding us both,more and more.But he was 18,and i was a fool to really believe this was going to work.I guess we should have called it off when he left for the army some months after.But back then,we couldn’t,we felt that the only thing we could do was try to make it work from a distance.I went for Erasmus a while after he left.I remember now,the feeling was breathtaking.I couldn’t be without him.And we made it.We were still together when he came back,but he had changed.He wanted out,he wanted freedom.I wanted the exact opposite:gain back the time we’ve lost.I suppose we had lots of things in common,but we also had lots of differences that led us to fights,we were so much in love that we became blind and egoists,and we both had strong personalities that couldn’t step back and say “you know what,i don’t care.i love you”.At the same time,we had a lot of exterior problems to deal with,my parents didn’t want him as he had lower education than mine,his friends hated me as i was stealing their childhood “belonging”…In three years we broke up twice but there was always something holding us together.We’ve tried a lot,i admit.We’ve tried so much to make it work,tame our individual needs to make it better for one another,so much that it had the opposite result in the end.Love turned to frustration,pressure,hate.We’ve always had a major difference.I wanted to travel the world,live abroad,explore.He felt safe in our home town and didn’t want to leave his family and friends.I was about to finish my bachelor and i knew that i only had two choices.Find a job in my hometown,forget about my dreams,try to make our tormented relationship work and lose my parents forever as they were not willing to accept him.Or apply for a master abroad,follow my instinct and lose the love of my life.I chose to leave,and as i expected,he didn’t want to follow.Breaking up was not easy,happened during a stupid fight that turned into a disaster.I admit that if he had,in any moment,tried to win me back he could have done so.But he didn’t.I started seeing somebody else for a short while but of course it didn’t work out.It was my safety pillow to keep my mind off him.Few months before i left,i knocked on his door,asking for a last chance.It was always me who returned,always me facing his rejections and trying to break the protective shield he always armed his heart with.It didn’t work out either.All we did was fighting and hurting each other,killing every hope remaining for love.And suddenly he disappeared.I left,i settled,i kept calling but nothing.Now i know he tried so hard to take me out of his mind.He was hurt because i left.And i know now,knowing him back then,that if i had stayed,we would be still walking our parallel circles.He found a new girlfriend instead,only a month after,claiming to have fallen in love again.”She’s way better and she’s the only one i care about”,he said.My heart was broken to pieces.My mind couldn’t cope,and although it’s been almost a year now,i still think about him quite often.I tried to move on unsuccessfully,probably knocking on one wrong door after another. Subconsciously,i just didn’t want to let go.Falling in love is one thing,and can happen many times in one’s life,but there’s one chance in a million to feel how i felt with him.And that i can’t forget.We had no clue what love was before we met,and we discovered it together,we taught each other about life,sex,passion,comradeship,support,devotion,care…But we also discovered how much can we hurt the one we care the most.We both made plenty of mistakes,but we didn’t know how.It sounds stupid but one part of mine is happy he found peace in the end,even if i was not the one to do so.The other part is envious of that 17 year old girl he calls “love”.But if love is a game then i lost.And i’ve learned to live knowing that he’ll always be a part of me.I’m single,not available,trying to make the best out of my days here.In the end,it was my choice to leave,and it feels like the right one after all.I couldn’t find love,but i found my peace of mind in other aspects of life.I guess i’m happy with that.

(Screen) Name: Stalitsa