As a girl who was only 16 and got involved with a guy who was 24...yeah, THIS, exactly.

I had no idea how damaging it was to my psyche until I was older, because I absolutely believed it was my own, horny choice.

I also believed he might marry me and we would run away to another country. Because of course I did; I was a little girl.

Instead, he took my virginity and ran to another country, on his own...before his parents found out the real reason why he had been driving to another city, 4 hours away from where he lived (to see me).

You could not have explained any of this to me, at the time. Why he ran without me, why he ran, at all. Why he stopped communicating with me...why he didn't show up or even answer my calls when I scraped up enough money to fly to that country to see him.

You know, 'cause gosh-golly! He loves me! And we're supposed to be together! And I'm going to have his baby, and then I can go to college later, and... and he wouldn't... he... would...

Oh.

(And so commenced the next 4 years of alcohol abuse...)