Expect her friends to rank pretty high on her list of priorities

Chances are, this lady’s girlfriends are the real deal, been there since day zero and there’s no squeezing yourself into that kind of relationship. Girls’ nights are sacred and when a bestie is going through something she’s likely to check her phone a little more often than usual.

When she says she needs space

Ah. I could write a whole other article just on this concept. Things can be going seemingly fantastic and all of a sudden this mystery of a woman will ask for “space.” She doesn’t want to break up and chances are that this space has something to do with time to herself, to her hobbies, her work or her school, things she may have been neglecting in the presence of a boyfriend-situation. “Space,” does not mean spending one less day together and still texting/snapchatting all day. “Space” might mean that you guys don’t talk at all for a few days while she gets herself figured out. When a girl asks for “space,” she’s really just asking for a few days to forget you exist. And she can come back and meet you all over again and remember why she let you take her away from that other life in the first place.

If she agrees to something, go along with it. If she wasn’t down she would have told you

Yes means yes. You’re not required to follow up with “We don’t have to,” “only if you really want to,” “are you sure? We can stay home,” or “I feel like you’re only doing this to make me happy.” If I didn’t want to go to this restaurant, watch this movie, or play this game, I would have told you. I promise.

When she says nothing’s wrong

In much the same way that “yes means yes.” “Nothing” can actually just mean “nothing” If she’s not as talkative, it doesn’t mean that something’s wrong, maybe she’s just enjoying your company. Maybe she’s enjoying the quiet.

She legitimately enjoys doing things alone

Exercising, eating, sleeping, getting ready, they don’t all need to be team sports. They’re not supposed to be. She doesn’t need you in the bathroom while she’s putting on her makeup and she doesn’t need you following her to the kitchen to get a drink. Part of the “Ms. Independent” of it all is actually just independence.

She can be bossy

An independent woman in this day and age has had to fight and claw and bleed her way to where she is, which is a big reason she is so comfortable being on her own. Because she’s used to taking command, she can tend to get a little commanding with you. She won’t realize she’s doing it and chances are that if you bring it up in conversation you’ll get the apology that’s due.

Nothing-not even you- can get in the way of the plans she has for herself

Most girls who’ve gotten through most of their life tearing down obstacles and accomplishing goals have set out for one specific end result. They know what they want, and they’re doing everything they can to achieve it. If she’s chosen you, that means that somehow, she thinks you might fit in on this path toward the end result or she can even see you in the final picture, but if things change, or if the relationship changes, it’s going to scare her. She won’t want to change the way her future looks regardless of how better/worse it could be, because that might mean that all the work she’s done thus far has been for nothing if she winds up down another road.

Most of the time, a young independent girl just isn’t ready for the kind of relationship their partner is, because that’s not the stage of their plan they’ve reached yet. Learning and then working, working and then success, success and then love, but someone might come along eventually with a very similar plan, and she’d be willing to take on an extra team member for the game she’s playing-if there happens to be power in those kinds of numbers.