Hopeless romantics are described as dreamers and idealists who hold love and relationships to a higher standard than most people do. Hopeless romantics are often seen as intense when attempting to show their affection. To some people, this is somewhat endearing, but to others, it seems a little desperate. I've been a hopeless romantic for as long as I can remember; the only problem is that I've never actually been in a serious relationship.

As a hopeless romantic, I'm always on the lookout for potential boyfriends. Often when I first meet a new guy, I ask myself if I could see myself dating him. This probably isn't the best idea, but as someone who has always loved the idea of being in love, I can't really help it at this point. The main problem with this is that having a crush on almost every boy I meet can put a hindrance on friendships and make me come across as slightly awkward.

I had a lot of "boyfriends" in high school, but none of them lasted for more than a month, so looking back now, I just refer to them as "flings." I've only kissed two boys – one of which was gay – and I've only been on two real dates. Every time I got close to something that seemed serious, the guy I was with either didn't want to put a label on it or he just wasn't ready for a relationship. Because of these things, I've never really experienced the relationship things that other people my age have experienced. A lot of my friends have had long-term boyfriends and have experienced their first love and at times, it can feel like I'm falling behind.

Since I've never had a serious boyfriend, I don't know how to properly function when a boy is interested in me. In situations like this, if I like the boy back, I tend to get overly clingy and scare him off. This is where the desperation of the hopeless romantic comes into play... It's usually difficult for me to find a relationship, partially because of the types of boys I'm usually interested in (i.e. shy, awkward, and easily scared off) and partially because the things I think are "cutesy" acts of love come across as a little weird at times.

On the other hand, there are rare occasions when a boy likes me and I don't like him back. In this situation, I usually go for the other extreme and act mean in an attempt to get him to lose his interest. This is again because I don't know how to act around boys who like me.

I've wanted to be in a relationship for as long as I can remember (which is probably really sad). It started with the Disney princesses and their princes, then the struggles of the teen relationships in movies like "High School Musical" and "Camp Rock," and finally the sappy ending of rom-coms like "10 Things I Hate About You" or "Love Actually." I've been planning my wedding since I was four and picturing the future love of my life since I was six. Even though being a hopeless romantic who has never actually experienced romance sucks, it's who I am and there's nothing I can do to change it. I'm hopeful that one day I'll find my Prince Eric, Troy Bolton, or Patrick Verona, but until then I'm just going to have to accept that I'm stuck in the dating pool with no clue what to do.