To the boy who thought he knew my best friend,

When you were together, you noticed every little thing about her. You knew that when she twisted her hair, she was nervous, that the words "I'm fine" really meant she needed a hug, that she had two different ways of laughing that could either scare you or make you feel like you were the luckiest man on earth. You knew the three little words that could brighten her whole day, that when she got a certain look in her eyes, you should find the nearest piece of chocolate for her as fast as you could, and that there's a slight change in her voice right before she starts smile.

You thought you knew her better than the back of your hand, that you've seen every piece of her a thousand times, that you had her all figured out.

You were wrong.

You've never seen her cry. Really cry. Not shed a few tears because she was upset over a bad grade, a stressful day or a fight you just got into, but a torrent of sobs that left her curled up in a ball in the corner of her bed. You haven't watched her turn around in the middle of a conversation to hide the sadness on her face that she couldn't possibly mask. You don't know what it's like to hear every word that comes out of her mouth sound as though she's about to start crying at any moment.

You've never seen her shut down. You haven't watched the light fade from her once bright smile, her face becoming an emotionless wall. You've never turned around to see her staring at the ground while walking to class instead of joking around and trying to push you off the sidewalk. You've never had to see her wake up in the morning and lay in bed looking at the ceiling instead of blasting music while she picks out an outfit. You haven't had to notice that she doesn't laugh the same way anymore, that her peppy walk has turned into a slow crawl, that her sarcastic comments and silly remarks have all but disappeared.

You've never seen her stop thinking about you.

You've never seen her get stronger. You haven't watched her start to forget how badly she's hurting. You don't notice that she's stopped flinching every time she hears your name, that she's started to smile again, that now she dances down the hallway and sings at the top of her lungs to her favorite songs. You haven't had to watch her put away all the pictures of the both of you, leave her phone in the other room instead of waiting for your text, make jokes and gossip with her friends instead of sitting alone. You don't know what it's like to watch her not need you anymore.

So, to the boy who thought he knew my best friend better than anyone else, who assumed he'd seen every emotion, every feeling that she'd ever had, who believed he could tell what she was thinking just by the expression on her face, who knew just the right way to not only break her heart, but rip it to shreds—you really didn't know anything at all, did you?