Whether you’re a [so-called] good girl, a bad girl, a smart girl, or a naïve girl, we’ve all been there at some point in our lives: We all like the confidence and charm that bad boys seem to possess. Yeah, they can be a lot of fun, but as a young adult who spent most of her teenage years falling for bad boys, I’m speaking from experience when I say, bad boys are truly bad news!

There have been several occasions when I got my heart broken or I got myself in trouble, but I remember one time in particular when my situation got really bad, really quickly when I started dating this bad boy, James*…

James was the coolest, cutest, funniest guy in school. He was good at every sport, so every girl in school wanted him. Yeah, I too thought he was a cutie, but he was too conceited for me and, honestly, I thought he was out of my league. I liked being the only girl who wasn’t drooling over him, and now I think that’s why he pursued me.

I was a challenge, so he worked hard to get me. For a while, we were just friends. James was a good friend to me — I’ll give him that. Letting him cross that friendship line was a mistake I later regretted. In the beginning he was nice and caring, and he treated me with respect. But slowly he changed into this monster of a person. The same reputation that made him seem cool, a ladies man and a bad boy, was the same one that made me see his true colors. It is what broke my heart and ruined our relationship.

For about six months, our relationship was beautiful —or so I thought. [Then] the skeletons started to come out of his closet. I found out that, for the last two months, he had been cheating on me with his ex-girlfriend! That period of time was difficult, but I found it in my heart to forgive him.

Now, some people may say I was stupid, but we had been together for six months; I was stupid in love. We were doing well after that, for about a month, and then his behavior got worse. He was no longer sweet to me; he acted like he didn’t care about my feelings at all. He started talking to me disrespectfully, pressuring me to have sex and worst of all, still cheating! And this time, with multiple girls!

I didn’t always catch him in the act but my close friends would warn me. Honestly, I should’ve listened, but I didn’t want to believe the rumors. It felt easier to cut my friends off than him. I only had one friend left, my best friend, and that’s because she never spoke badly about him.

James was hiding things, lying and making me look like a fool. I was so stupid. He had me wrapped around his finger. Despite everything he did, I blamed myself. I told myself: Since I’m not ‘putting out’ he gets it from other girls. He has needs. And, maybe I need to be a better girlfriend. You obviously aren’t making him happy enough.

I was so worried about fixing our relationship, I just completely stopped focusing in school. I sometimes skipped school to be with him. I would sneak out of the house if he asked me to — all to make him see that I really loved him. But it was never enough.

Still, I was in no condition to leave him alone, and it just kept getting worse. He was only in high school, but he was in and out of jail. But did I leave? No.

Finally, the last straw that made me say enough is enough, was when I found out he had cheated on me — with my best friend — and got her pregnant! That was when I realized this was too much for me. I was only 16 years old, and I realized this boy was only going to destroy me. It was difficult, believe me. Heart break is probably the worst pain there is, but take my advice, leave the bad boys alone because they are nothing but bad news.

Rae’Kayl Postell attends Elizabeth Andrews High School.

Writer’s note: [This] personal narrative comes from a horrible experience involving me and a [so-called] bad boy (*not his real name). It was a difficult time in my life but, nevertheless, a lesson learned. I want to share my story and hopefully protect other girls from heartache. My teacher, Ms. Cruickshank, said she enjoyed my work, that it was very interesting yet a common thing teens go through, which I believe is the type of articles that are perfect for VOX.