“Our break-up wasn’t pretty”
Philip Loates, 24, is an English teacher from London
Lauren is the life and soul of a party. She brightened up every aspect of my university experience. In our lectures, we’d spend the whole time messaging and then, on nights out, we’d always be on the dance floor. Our first kiss was to The Notorious B.I.G’s Nasty Girl!
Everything was really organic from then on – it just felt so natural. We had a really sweet relationship. We’d go on date nights, spend a lot of time in London and even went on holiday to Greece. She was my first proper girlfriend and she taught me a lot about how to act around a girl, and she was very good at telling me when I was being an idiot.
Our friends loved us as a couple – we were the glue of the group. But things went wrong because she didn’t trust me. I had girl mates and she didn’t like that. Then she broke up with me, but said it was my fault. It was complicated as we still shared a room. I’d often crash at a mate’s, but we did end up in bed sometimes. After university, I wanted to be friends but she texted,“I don’t think we should speak. We don’t have anything in common.” That hurt. I haven’t been serious with anyone since – relationships are too much stress.
I was nervous about seeing her because things got pretty sour towards the end. She was tense and awkward at the start of the date, but eventually things were like they were in the good years. We talked about her ex, and my new life in Thailand. I gave her a hug to say goodbye and she walked off really quickly. I think she was crying.
Would you like to be reunited with your first love? Email us at first.love@ cosmopolitan.co.uk.