I don't know. The awkwardness of co-ed public schools didn't help my case. But that's just me.

On another note, it seems like the blogosphere that I've been reading all collectively had a craptastic 4th celebration. So I guess you're not alone in this.
 

As long as you didn't break up with him over the phone while waiting out a storm in Borders when you were on your way to meet him for fireworks, you're definitely ahead of me in the game. I am the queen of slamming on the breaks and fleeing.

And I can assure you, public school really wasn't much of an advantage in dating. At all.

*hugs*
 

Intimacy's rough business. My sympathies.

Somewhere along the way, when I was contemplating and confronting it myself, I just decided to throw myself full-tilt into it instead (similar to the whole notion of jumping out of planes to deal with fear of heights). I knew I was going to get hurt doing it too, and I did. But the rewards defeated the hurts over time.

It's a lot like writing, I'm afraid. You keep doing it for a good long while, and you suck at it while you're learning. But eventually one day you wake up and you discover you've got something pretty good going.
 

*long distance hugs that soon will be real hugs!*

It sucks that in order to feel comfortable about yourself, you had to say goodbye to somebody awesome. Evil Hat is right, about having to have the experience BEFORE it stops being awkward and confusing and strange, but you should only move to that point if you feel you're ready to put yourself in such an incredibly vulnerable position, which is not always--nor should it be--the case.

Maybe someday soon he'll his past burns will fade and he'll be willing to cultivate a non-romantic relationship with you.

But, in the meantime, we're gonna come and rock your world so hard that you'll need a geologist to figure out what's what.

<3
 

Don't blame yourself! A relationship always takes 2 to make and 2 to break. Or 3 if you're into that kind of thing. Sorry.