Falling in love at a young age is something I never expected to do. As a young girl, I thought it was impossible, or even wrong to fall in love before becoming an adult. I don't know what I defined "adulthood" as, but I knew it was far out of my reach. However, at the age of fifteen I met someone that changed my life. Truthfully, true love always seemed like a figment of societal imagination. I never believed in it, although I wanted to. I wanted to believe that one day I would find someone who suited me enough, and dealt with me enough, to spend an entire lifetime with me. It wasn’t until I met this person that I knew they would be more than just a friend – more than just a high school fling. For those of you who believed that falling in love at a young age was impossible, I’d like to think my story is proof.
As crazy as it sounds, I knew there was something different about my boyfriend the moment I met him. He swears he doesn’t remember, but I met him at an ice skating rink in the eighth grade. I remember exactly what he was wearing, and joke about it to this day. We weren’t even formally introduced, but I went home thinking about him. It was until a few months later that we would hang out with our mutual friends. We went on to “date” during the summer before high school, which wasn’t truly dating at all.
We went on to become great friends. We talked each day, and texted often, but it wasn’t until that New Year’s Eve that we realized we both had feelings for each other. This time the feelings weren’t filtered by pre-teen desperation. He wouldn’t ask me out for five more months – just after my fifteenth birthday. If I’m being honest, things were awkward and uncomfortable at first. A part of me wanted to stay friends, but we stuck through it.
As time went on, we made it to our one-year anniversary, than our second, third, fourth and now we’ve made it to our fifth. In the present day, we’re in our junior year of college. I’ve seen my boyfriend transform into the man he is today. We began as two awestruck teenagers, and became adults in the blink of an eye.
Some of you may be wondering, what constitutes love? And what could two high school students possible to do consider themselves in love? The answer is not simply put into words. Instead, love is when you put someone before yourself. It is the way you look at each other and instantly feel safe. It is the way you laugh, the way you cry, and the way you learn together. It’s a growing experience – and a difficult one at that. But, when you give your all to another, and they give their all to you, that’s love.
After five years with my boyfriend, we’ve grown and changed, but our love has always remained the same. We continue to grow together, but individually as well. We each have different interests, different friends and different talents, but a part of us will always remain together. I remember one day, I was anxious and my heartbeat was exponentially high. I leaned onto his chest, and felt my heart slow, falling into sync with his as serenity overtook me. It is because of this love that I am grounded.
I know it sounds crazy, and probably extremely cliché, but I would never change my past. Some may say that I’m holding myself back by being in a relationship through high school and college, but I don’t think I would’ve made it through without him. Like I said, falling in love at fifteen was something I never expected to do but, hell, I’m glad I did.
