To the Boy Who Changed Everything,

Um, hi... You're probably wondering why I'm even writing this. Hell, I wish I knew. But if I'm being honest with myself and you, this is something that has been a long time coming. This is not meant to hurt you. This is not meant to reveal to the world the struggles our relationship endured. This is to show what you did to the girl you thought you knew. This one is for you, the boy who changed everything.

We were never perfect. From the moment we met that summer night to the day we ended, we were no movie. But I was happy. Happy without being perfect. Happy with the brokenness that we were. From the very beginning, you made me believe in the stars. You made 11:11 mean something more than a time on a clock. But little did I know that a storm would come and destroy the stars I wished on.

That storm was strong. Stronger than any hurricane, tornado, or earthquake the world has ever seen. The storm started with you and it ended with me.

You saw it coming, and you walked out of the door even though you could see the flood forming in my eyes.You chose to send me a text and say that you couldn't do it anymore.

You chose not to save me.

But thank God that you didn't. I ended up having to save myself, and that is the greatest achievement I have ever accomplished. I am no longer naïve. I am no longer the girl who gives away her heart at a simple DM notification. The girl who gives her all to a boy who gives nothing to her. I have become the woman that I needed to be for myself.

I am no longer the girl who once loved a boy like you.

And you tried. You attempted several times to see glimpses of that short-tempered girl. But what you never realized was that no matter how much you kept trying to ruin me, there was nothing left of the girl that you once knew. You see, that girl you created, she got lost in the storm, never to be found again.

She came out of that storm as someone else. She's brand new. Unrecognizable to her own reflection.

But is she better?

She might be stronger alone now than she once was, but her strength comes from her inability to let people in. She's quick to leave and stubborn to return. She might be falling in love, but her lips are forever sealed of those words. When she feels herself slipping, she runs. And she runs as fast as she can. As far as she can. For as long as she has to.

She refuses to be caught.

So is she better? You tell me.

Because now, every man that tries to see a glimpse of that love until you can no longer breathe girl is met with 100-feet walls of pure cement surrounded by a deep, dark ocean containing who knows what kind of demons. Because of you, they have to face a woman who is afraid to open up and let people in. A woman who doesn't believe in love anymore because the last man she loved was you.

And you changed everything.