I have always loved teen stuff—teen shows, teen movies, teen books. I love getting transported back to high school to experience all the angst and excitement and first loves. You know, all the stuff I totally missed out on when I was in high school.

Or, not really “missed out on.” More like “only experienced in my head.”

I didn’t have a lot of game back in high school. The fictional character I most closely identify with—in a whole slew of ways, including a love of cheese—is Liz Lemon from 30 Rock. And watching the episode where she goes back to high school and realizes that she’d been kind of a bully who was a big jerk to people hit a little too close to home. I don’t think I was mean to people necessarily, god I hope not, but I was definitely sarcastic, aloof, and maybe a little above it all.

Anyway, this arm’s-length attitude coupled with a very unfortunate sense of style meant to cover up my poor body image led to me not having a lot of luck with the gentlemen.

I did, however, come up with a lot of great imaginary romances that always ended well for me and my crushes.

There was the cute guy on the bus who saw that deep down I wasn’t just a loud mouth, but also a She’s All That-style hidden beauty with a great sense of humor.

There was the hot/popular guy who finally noticed me for the talented beautiful flower I was during senior year.

There was the adorable guy in my Latin class who finally stopped goofing around with this whole “just friends” nonsense and realized we were absolutely perfect for each other.

Needless to say, none of these romances turned out the way I’d imagined them in my head. Bus guy fell in love with someone else and dated her for most of high school. Hot/popular turned out to be kind of a jerk. My Latin lover wrote his phone number in my senior yearbook, and I never called him. Why not? I don’t know. Because it was real life and not a Felicity-style love story?

But that’s why I write YA romance, and why I love to read it—because it’s hopeful and sweet and usually ends better than the real thing. Dorky girls are seen for the gems they are. Awkward pauses are just foreplay leading up to the big kiss. Jocks can date nerds can date theatre geeks can date burnouts.

I didn’t have the sweeping, epic romance when I was a teenager, but dreamed about having one, and now I get to write those stories and relieve the hope and promise over and over again, avoiding the mistakes I know I made in real life.

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JULIE HAMMERLE is the author of The Sound of Us, which will be published by Entangled Teen on June 7, 2016. Before settling down to write “for real,” she studied opera, taught Latin, and held her real estate license for one hot minute. Currently, she writes about TV on her blog Hammervision, ropes people into conversations about Game of Thrones, and makes excuses to avoid the gym. Her favorite YA-centric TV shows include 90210 (original spice), Felicity, and Freaks and Geeks. Her iPod reads like a 1997 Lilith Fair set list. She lives in Chicago with her husband, two kids, and a dog. They named the dog Indiana.