The Lost One

#1 Have an adventure - check

#2 Find confidence - check

#3 Experience real love - check?

Yeah, I figured I had it all ticked off on my journey as an exchange student in America.

I lived an adventure when he opened the door to his world for me.

I found my voice through his challenging behavior.

I felt true love when I heard those three little words. . .

Nothing was holding me back from driving off into the sunset with Paul Shields-the person who made me feel at home, no matter that my home was thousands of kilometers away.

Too bad we'd run out of gas.

Because he had sucked us dry-damned Jon Henry Denson.

He invaded my dreams. Not because he was the unattainable, emotionally unstable embodiment of a bad boy but rather because his pain and mine. . . were the same.

A pain that I wanted to evade by leaving Germany, only to find that I had been carrying it around with me all along.

Yet even the thickest pile of snow eventually melts away, exposing the ugly truth that lies beneath.

And I had to admit to myself-sometimes what we want is not what we need.

But what do I need?