I am the quiet girl, but I do not envy you. I do not envy your lack-luster conversations with your empty minded clique. I do not envy your senseless nights out looking for a party that you won't remember. I don't judge you. Quite honestly, I don't care.

I am not a "poor thing" if my voice shakes when I've been called on or if I quiver like an autumn leaf in late October while presenting in class. I am quiet and shy and burdened with anxiety, but I am not a member in your pity party (even if you only threw it for me).

My body is not a blank canvas in which you can pin your demeaning words to. "Bitch", "Prude", "Nosey", I've literally heard it all before you've even heard me speak. Maybe that "dirty look" I gave you is just what my face looks like. And just because I can hear your obnoxious conversation from across the room doesn't mean I give a single damn about what comes out of your mouth. But that doesn't matter to you because if I don't feed your helpless ego and laugh at your "jokes" I'm just another fly on the wall feeding off of your "popularity".

I'm not a wallflower either. I'm not some pretty decoration to fade into the comfort of the walls. I am not paper thin.

I exist on a level in which you will never fully understand. I am a listener as if to feel every one of your emotions radiate off of your words before I even think of passing judgement. And although I may not have many words to offer, I offer the words that count.

I am an experiencer of the world. I breathe in every emotion and situation as to re-write them in my mind. A narrator of my own life. A penny for my thoughts and I could sell you novels on something as simple as what I ate for lunch.

I am the quiet girl and if you don't make the effort you will never know me. And since you don't know me, you don't get to pass judgment on me. You don't get to decide who I am and what my thoughts are. You don't get to pin your labels to me like some lifeless voodoo doll. I am not your toy.

I am the "quiet girl", but I am not voiceless.