So, I saw my first real high school romance today for the first time in about a year. And I couldn't handle it physically. I've worked it out with myself that I could never date her again, but physically I couldn't shake it. Every symptom you've heard of being in love, all at once. Sweating, butterflies in the stomach, the room even started to spin when I sat down. It's been years since we were anything more than polite to each other, but I can't shake it. Hubski, How do I extinguish an old flame? Sparknotes version of the backstory - I'm 16 just before my junior Prom, and in need of a date. Ask smoking hot girl from church (Parent's have been friends longer than either of us have been alive) who goes to a different school and is a year ahead of me if she would go with me. She says yes, because she hasn't gone to any of her schools dances because reasons. We go, originally as friends, but once we start dancing any pretense of that goes straight out the window. I drive her home afterwards (Unfortunately she couldn't stay out after the dance) and we hang out that whole summer after she graduates. First kiss the night of her graduation party, bonfires with friends the whole summer, starry nights out in her horse pasture, every cheesy move we can think of we do, but I never ask her to be my girlfriend. At the end of the summer, after I've been back to school for a week or so, she deletes her facebook, gets a new phone number and basically goes nuts for a period of like 3 years. After we hadn't spoke in like a year her dad died and we spoke a bit at the funeral, but not about us obviously. I found out later after that she got really religious (Started going to a more... 'conservative' branch of our church) moved out west for a while, moved back and got caught having sex with a dude in the middle of the day in the living room. I know the girl is bad news, but she looks and sounds like an angel, and I can't help but sit around and wonder on nights like this "What might have been?"