When I was 14, I feel in love with a girl that showed up from nowehre. We both grew up in the weird arabic world that has many similarities to what francopoli metioned. I played my part and was trying to be that son my father wanted me to be (tough, masculin, dominant, love sport) but she, she was just 100% herself. A rebel that, for me back then, figured life out. It can be all distilled down to one action she did on that day. Our families were invited to the house of a common friend, a neurologist and his wife. When we were all about to have dinner and and the wife of the neurologist asked us what we wanted to drink, everyone said "water" or "juice" or something else that sounded suitable. When she asked that girl she said "Cola!". When the neurologst's wife said that they had no coke, the girl simply said "no worries" and took a can of coke from her handbag, cracked it open and drank straight from the can. I don't know why, but that one move back then sums up my fascination with her. I was a weird guy back then, getting bullied at school for being the weird one etc. and I found in her a role model. Of course I will have a crush on her. That went on for the next 4 years. At some point I lost contact with her (she was living in another city) and I was wondering how she was doing so I called her cousin (who was also there on that one dinner evening) he told me that he is on his way to her engagement party right now and that she is going to get married in a few months.... My whole world broke into pieces. From that moment I knew I had to pack my stuff and move to Germany. Far far away.... For the next few years I lost contact with her, I was too hurt to talk to her. One day I just decided to contact her and we reconnected. Visited her and her husband and things were much better. The story continues but that is for another day. Even though we never got together, she is a great friend and actually, I just got off a skype call with her where we talked about our love lives... Feels weird to write that story out somehow