In love?

Obviously, you love the person you marry. But what about before that? Like, say, in high school? Can you truly be in love with your high school boyfriend? And how can you tell? And how do you go about telling your significant other?

I have friends who are in love, or who were in love, and I have known people who have been in unrequited love. But, really, we're just in high school. These people 15, 16, 17 years old. How can we as teenagers possibly know what love is like?

For the record, when people say they are in love with eachother or with someone, I believe them. Because I love the idea and I love the romance and it's cute and they are happy and I want so badly for it to be truly true.

But I can't say I'm not skeptical. And a little bit...annoyed? Not that they're in love, but that being in love is so common. Personally, I'm cautious about love and all because I think it should be saved for when it's real, not when you think you love someone. I think you can have a few loves before you're married, but I don't think you can be in love with everyone who becomes your boyfriend or girlfriend. I guess most people aren't, but I'm sure there are those who think they are in love with everyone, even if they date for only a short while.

Is the person you're in love with the one you want to spend the rest of your life with? Isn't that what they all say at proposals? "I love you so much and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?" But in high school, we have no intention of getting married anytime soon (I would hope) and that doesn't apply, the whole spending the rest of your life together thing. So how do you know if you love someone? This question has been bothering me for a while. How can you tell? I'd love it if people who were in love commented with their own insight. But then again, aside from loving them for who they are and being unable to live without them, there has to be something indescribable, no? I think I have that indescribable thing, but I don't know about the other two.

And what about when you do realize you love someone? How do you tell them? Thankfully, we're past the middle school ritual of telling every person you call your boyfriend that you love them, based only on that mere title. And here is where it gets more serious. Saying "I love you" is a big deal, and I hope people recognize that. And does it even suck that much if you tell someone you love them, and they don't say the same back? I think it's better that they don't lie to you because they think they're supposed to say "I love you too"; they can wait until they are ready.

And because it relates, and I LOVE JUNO:
"In my opinion, the best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what have you, the right person will still think the sun shines out your ass. That's the kind of person that's worth sticking with."