I love you. All the TV shows and the sappy stories use those three words so much that most people have become numb to them. Good friends (not to stereotype, but mostly girls) say it all the time. I often hear, and say, "Just kidding, you know I love you." But what about when it comes to one of the most unpredictable things in the world, a high school relationship?

Many such relationships come and go, with precious little time spent together. But for many people, that time is enough to let those three words slip out. Do we mean them? A lot of people end up regretting relationships, no matter how long or serious they are. In fact, some people don't even consider some of these — let's call them experiences — as actual relationships. When asked if they dated someone, they can simply say, "Oh, but that doesn't count."

It's not all bleak, though. Some people find that person who makes them really happy and they stay together for the majority of their years in school. But at our young age, is that really love? Yes, some of my friends are in committed and caring relationships, and I can genuinely believe that they are in love. But the ratio is not as pleasant. A lot of the "relationships" that some of the people I know in are merely for convenience — some simply to have a relationship, to feel wanted, and others because they kind of sort of think they might like the person.

What do we put ourselves through in these … experiences? Some people are simply not good in relationships. Some people prefer not to classify their "experiences" as relationships because they can't justify to themselves how what they're involving themselves in could be committed or meaningful. Or they think that commitment isn't worth it and if they pretend that it doesn't mean anything, it won't. Yet they go on involving themselves in these matters because there are so many pressures on them that make them think that being in a relationship makes them cool.

It's not all good. People cheat, and sometimes it happening once (or even repeatedly) just isn't enough to make the other person quit that relationship. They hang on because they believe that it won't happen again, or because they think they're OK with it. And some people are. Not everyone is the same, not by a long shot. There are some people who can find love, even in high school. There are others who just can't even find the depth to commit. And there are some who will hang on even when hope is gone, and the others who hurt those people.

In short, relationships in high school — and in general — are way too complicated. Some people can make them work, and some can't. It's a personal decision, so we can only use all the information we have to make the right one. And the good news (or the bad, depending on your perspective) is that we have a long time to make our mistakes.