I originally wanted to write an article about five types of guys you encounter in college. A list we've all probably read a thousand times to either prepare ourselves or laugh at the truth of it all.

But I'd like to focus on a certain man today. One we may not have all encountered, but one that, for those who've met his type, know he sticks around for a long time.

This guy is the one with the smile. And most girls out there know exactly who I'm talking about. There's always that one man out there that can stretch his lips out across his face in a way that makes some very inappropriate parts of you tingle.

He uses all of his teeth and focuses straight on you, and to others, his gaze is so intense at that moment that everyone else feels excluded from the energy the two of you are creating.

Now, I know some pretty strong women. I'm talking Elizabeth Taylor level resilience. The woman who takes up a room and work it. But it seems even the best of us fall prey to these type of men, at one point in our life or another.

The worst part of it all is how it starts. It begins at the start of every great romance movie: thrilling and promising. Whether literally or metaphorically, this man sweeps you off your feet. He shows you things you've never seen before and makes you think ways you've never thought before.

Usually, he's smart or believes himself to be cultured. But you're too in love at first to realize its just him being pompous. Then that love fades a bit, only in the sense that things on his end aren't so rosy anymore, right?

You watch him smile at other girls, and then you're the one who feels isolated.

Then his teeth are out for every girl to see and suddenly that smile doesn't seem so very special anymore. In what seems like seconds, your heart went from floating in your stomach to sending waves of pain out through your nerves, all the way to your fingertips.

Which is how we all know heartbreak is real, right?

Because it doesn't happen in the heart. Oh no, your fingers feel everything. That's how our body tells us something's wrong with our heart, with our emotions. Or fingers throb and throb and we cry our selves to sleep to make it go away. Tears speak, and they whisper "shh" to our stinging phalanges.

And you'd think, with the sheer amount of us who have been through this short whirlwind with these smiling men that we'd learn something from one another.

But no, we seem to have stuck ourselves in a constant loop. Jumped on a ferris wheel called "perpetual doom" and heartbreak is the only thing that seems to bring the cycle to a stop.

So why can't we stop ourselves?

I think, and this is just my opinion, that his smiles can power our whole heart with the twitch of his cheek upwards. We convince ourselves, that even with the countless nights spent with fingers and knees curled to our chest — that those rare moments of light are worth it.

We live in our darkness, constantly awaiting the few seconds a day our imprisoned hearts can bathe in his light. They shake and shudder when he turns his light elsewhere, and we drink away to get our mind off the thoughts of his smile exploring all her foreign places.

How do we stop it?

Well, that's something I'm still exploring myself.

These men must be meant for someone, yeah?

Sure, some of them rotate partners most of their life, but some of them eventually end up with someone.

I believe that, or it's the stance I've chosen right now. We hope his smile will hold out for us. We hope as time fades, we don't. We pray every day that we're special and we do it so much that we forget how much we are.

We forget to find moments to ourselves. We forget to love all the little parts of us that make us unique. We stop laughing at ourselves in the mirror, stop remembering to live violently and act stupid.

So no, I don't know how to stop it, I've only yet figured out how to keep it going. Keep smiling at yourself like he smiles at you. Wink at yourself in storefront reflections and dress to the nines whenever the hell you feel like it.

Live for yourself, and then for him.

And I promise you, I swear to you — that life will feel so much nicer. And your smile will have his heart floating is his stomach in no time.