Yes, I am one of those people who say never, but the fact is – I cheated on my boyfriend. I was fresh out of high school and the freedom that came along with it was lovely! I felt grown up and ready to fall in love. I was 16 when I met Jake. He was cute, funny and had a boyish charm to die for. I loved the way he looked at me. I was floored from the moment he said hi to me. The fact that he was ten years older to me was also a big turn on – I had this crazy thing for older men back then. We were the perfect couple and he the perfect boyfriend. He showered me with attention and everything that I fancied. He was there for me at the drop of a hat. He was my shoulder to lean on to cry on. He was the guy all my friends wished they had. He was the first man I made love to and the only one for years to come. At that young, vulnerable age I was sure I wanted to marry him because I loved him with all my heart and because I had lost my virginity to him. I did not look beyond him. He was my whole world. Being unfaithful to him never crossed my mind those first few years that we spent together.
It was during our third year together that stories about his flings with other girls from my college started doing the rounds. At first I rubbished them, but when girls started approaching me and telling me how he had flirted with them I wondered if, perhaps, there were some truth to all those tales. It was not very long before my worst fears were confirmed. It was true. All the times that he said he was busy with work, he was actually busy with different women. We broke up, but being the naive one, I ended up going back to him. This became a regular pattern – we would break up and within a few days I would go back to him. Through it all, not once did I imagine that one day I would be the one to say that I cheated on my boyfriend.
When I was 20, I met Mark. He was a year younger than me and he was sheer fun. We hit it off well, and the next thing we knew, we were making crazy crazy love – all this while I was still officially with Jake. I did not feel bad about it, mostly because of the fact that I really wanted Mark from the moment I set eyes on him. I told myself that I had done nothing wrong considering the fact that Jake had been unfaithful to me several times. Mark and I ended up spending romantic weekend getaways regularly. I was not proud of the fact that I cheated on my boyfriend but today, 15 years later, when I look back I think that under those circumstances I do not have to feel guilty about it at all.