Now that we're older, I realized that words do in fact hurt. The things you once said to me when we were younger still linger in the back of my mind each day. Still, to this day, I wonder why you said the things that you did to me. I was constantly attacked on social media by this "friend group" who had never said a word to me in person or at school but would call me the meanest and nastiest things that they could think of over social media. And that's weird how that works, right? You like to think you're high and mighty behind a keyboard, but you would never have the guts to actually say those nasty comments to someone in person.

Now that we're older, I've learned from you that not everyone will like you and most people won't exactly have a legitimate reason to dislike you and that's OK. Of course, you want everyone to like you, but in reality, that'll never be the case.

Now that we're older, I realized how much you intimidated me when we were younger. The things you said to me not only hurt but made me want to avoid you at all costs. I always wondered what you were thinking when you saw me in the hallways because I almost always would come home from school with a nasty message sitting in my inbox. I always wondered what I did wrong and I still don't know what I did wrong many years later.

Now that we're older, I hope you thought your bullying was worth it. I'm sure I wasn't your only victim, but I bet you felt great after you sent all of those messages and left those comments on my Facebook statuses.

Now that we're older, I hope you never have to be bullied like I was by you. I hope that nobody picks apart your personal appearance just to throw it in your face and make a big joke about it. I hope you don't have multiple people sending you hateful messages through social media and telling you how awful you are and how ugly you look because your teeth aren't straight because that's what you told me.

Now that we're older, I doubt you remember everything you said to me. But, I can assure you that I do remember for both of us. What you did and what you said was awful. I hope that your child doesn't come home from school one day crying because someone didn't like the way they looked and made fun of them for something that they could not control.

Now that we're older, I hope you realize that nobody deserves to be bullied under any circumstance. Whether you think someone isn't your version of beautiful or not, bullying is not the appropriate response.

Unlike most people, I won't thank you for bullying me.

While I'm now a more confident person than I was back in middle school, you do not deserve a thank you for bullying me. Instead, I wish you the best. Know that words do hurt and they sometimes hurt a lot.