This is tough. Not everyone dates in high school so people in their early 20’s may well be having a first relationship and there shouldn’t be any pressure to make perfect decisions when you’re doing something you’ve never done before. But at the same time, others at that age might be looking for a permanent partner, and you don’t want to lead them on. I’m tempted to say that everything will turn out fine as long as you clearly indicate your intentions, but my own personal experience has shown that not to be true.
I was pretty inexperienced when I went to college and I said “yes” to a guy who asked me out even though I hadn’t really looked at him in a romantic way before. We had fun on our first dates so I said “yes” when he asked me to be his girlfriend. I made it very clear (stated it outright, verbally) that I was just looking to have some fun and enjoy life for once, as I had recently gone through some really hard shit.
My feelings for him never really changed, I wasn’t terribly attracted to him physically or personality-wise. I guess my mistake was allowing the relationship to continue for a long time, but I just never felt the need to break up because things weren’t really bad at any point. Eventually I met someone that I actually did feel strongly for and so I broke up with the first guy. I didn’t cheat on him, let me make that clear.
He lost his goddamn mind and told me that he had been planning to propose. I was horrified. I reminded him that I had made it very clear that I wasn’t in it for the long haul with him but he said “I thought I could change your mind.”
So I dunno….feel free to go out and have fun, but be absolutely crystal clear about your intentions and don’t let it last too long if you’re not that into them. It sucks to hurt someone.