To the person who broke my heart,

I am writing to you from my bedroom on Valentine's Day, a holiday meant to celebrate love and companionship between lovers and friends. All week, I've been listening to the plans being made to celebrate the holiday: dinner and a movie, a walk on the beach, a picnic in the park. My friends have been talking excitedly about the gifts that they are going to give to their girlfriends, the romantics within them awakened at the prospect of strengthing their established relationship. However, I shall be alone this Valentine's Day. There will be no one to give me flowers, no one to give me chocolates, and no one to tell me how much they love me.

That could have been you.

If you're reading this, I wanted to let you know from the start that this letter is not meant to harass you or criticize you; I just want to let you know how I've been feeling since you've called it quits.

When we went on our first date, I knew my feelings for you to be true and not just some passing fancy. For once, I believed that the seed of love had been planted within the soil of my heart. It had been so long since I had felt so strongly about someone. I felt like this was the start of something beautiful, the start of my first real relationship with someone I connected deeply with. I began to imagine all the things we would do, of all the things we would see, of those tender kisses shared beneath a starry sky and of nights spent cuddled in a warm bed.

I felt attractive and beautiful for once.

Every time you put your arm around me, every time you embraced me, I felt as if I were floating high above the world, carried upon the wings of Cupid. I told everyone about you, about our dates, about the kind of person you were. I was so happy and excited about you, about the kind of relationship we were going to have.

Then, you kissed me. My first kiss was with you. In that moment when you placed your lips upon mine, the whole world melted away and it was just you and I. I was dizzy with happiness, feeling as if I were going to faint at any moment from sheer joy. I remember how you told me how happy you were after you kissed me and my heart sang; for once, I thought, I was going to have someone to share my life with.

But then, things changed.

You left our date early on Friday, leaving me alone for the rest of "Singin' in the Rain." I wished I would have fought harder for you to stay, but I understood why you had to leave. I always wanted to be understanding with you, to make sure you knew how much I cared. You canceled our date Saturday too, making me even more worried. Then came Sunday. The day you broke my heart.

Just as quickly as it began, it ended. You called it quits and pulled the roots from my heart. Did you know, when you gave me the news, I lied to you? I told you I understood, that it was fine, but it wasn't fine. I was distraught. I cried. I felt like such a fool for letting myself be taken with you so quickly. From that day forward, my life became bleak. I took no enjoyment in anything and saw happiness nowhere. I was jealous of those who were in love, of those who have just begun their relationship, while I was pushed back into a dark pit of despair after I had crawled back to the top. My heart lay shattered upon the ground and I didn't know how to pick the pieces back up.

You know what hurts the most? The fact that it seems like it never happened. When I look back on our time together, it seems like a dream, that I had created a fantasy world out of sheer loneliness. I wonder if you think of me at all. Do I ever cross your mind? Am I ever brought up in conversation? Or was I just another face, another heart to break? Was I to be a conquest that turned out to be unsuccessful? I don't think I shall ever know.

To be honest, I blame myself. Maybe I was too forward or maybe I was too suffocating. I blame myself for letting my emotions getting out of hand. I blame myself for not writing to you or checking up on you. I blame myself for dwelling on something people would've normally have gotten over quickly.

I want you to know that I don't hate you, I don't think I ever could. My mind wants me to hate you, to pick out all your flaws, but my heart still wants me to see nothing but the good. I don't think I shall ever forget you.

Promise me something, though: the next person you date, please, don't break their heart.