Dating (or) The Chapter I Missed

So, today I slept until one in the afternoon. One. Crazy. Though that's all well and good, now it's three in the morning and I'm still wide awake. Hence, my brain starts overworking, over wondering, and over interpreting.

Here's my latest issue: I've never dated, in the adult sense of the word. I've never gone on dates with one person while we both "date" other people in order to decide who the best and most worthy person is to date exclusively. Is this normal?

R & I met when I was seventeen. We dated (entirely exclusively) until I was twenty-one. I have no idea why or how, it's just what we did. The other boyfriends I had after him were boyfriends by default... we didn't date. We were "exclusive" because we spent so much time in each others presence that there was no other way to be... we had no alone time, no privacy, and too many mutual friends to be dating other people at the same time.

So, now I'm wondering: How does this dating thing work? How do I go on dates with more than just one boy and not feel guilty? How do I handle that the boys will go on other dates and expect me not to feel jealous?

Wait... are we all just running a tab in our mind of who we like more than whom? I mean, I hate reality dating shows, but really, are they that far away from the real reality?

Are they really that exaggerated, or are we all hosting our own personal reality dating show in our head until we decidedly select the person who's lasted round after round until they have proved their worthiness and we decide they win?

I'm so not an adult. I don't care what my age says... I'm not cut out for this. I just want to watch movies and cuddle with my boyfriend. No games. No bullshit. No challenges. No competition.

Good luck, right? Yeah.