Dear Emily -- I can remember how wild the emotions of my youth were, and the people I hung out with. I thought they were exciting and artistic and creative and wonderful. But most of them were really lost souls and bums.

I suspect that you cannot imagine a world without Jared. You have intense feelings for him. You see only the good in him.

Re-orienting our emotions and our world view of ourselves and others takes a great deal of work on the self. Please please save yourself. Find the support you need to detach yourself from this situation. You will find this support at sliding scale counseling services run by your local county and United Way agencies, at churches, and at school, if you attend one. You will think some of these people are nuts in what they say, that they don't see the truth about life and Jared as you do. You will have to struggle to remain open to their suggestions.

You cannot save Jared. You can only save yourself. You are tying yourself up in emotional knots over someone who is not willing to take the brave steps that you are.

Perhaps these are words that you do not like to hear. I am sorry if they are. I am glad that person after person continued to speak them to me when I did not like what I was hearing, until I woke up.

Best wishes and prayers.