You lose an intelligent girl by drifting off and daydreaming when she’s speaking to you. By not paying any attention to what she has to say about her weekend or the interesting article she just read. By being a bad listener.

You lose an intelligent girl by holding her back. By complaining about how many hours she works. By asking her to give up her dreams for you. By convincing her to quit instead of encouraging her to chase after what she really wants.

You lose an intelligent girl by refusing to expand your knowledge. By never reading her favorite book. By telling her you think a museum date would be too boring. By leaving the room when she puts on a documentary she wanted to watch with you, not by herself.

You lose an intelligent girl by sending her texts with only one or two words. By letting her lead the conversation and never inputting your own opinion. By being bland and boring instead of debating topics and talking about them in-depth.

You lose an intelligent girl by moving at a snail’s pace. By refusing to meet her parents. By never introducing her to your friends. By keeping your relationship static instead of letting it grow.

You lose an intelligent girl by acting superior. By assuming you know more than her. By trying to one-up her every time she succeeds because your ego can’t handle how intelligent she is.

You lose an intelligent girl by letting your ignorance show. By misspelling every other word in a text. By telling sexist jokes. By making it clear you have a mindset that belongs back in the 50s.

You lose an intelligent girl by withholding affection. By being too embarrassed to kiss her in public. By keeping your hand on your lap instead of reaching for her hand. By only saying I love you when no one else is around to hear.

You lose an intelligent girl by becoming too predictable. By taking her to the same restaurant week after week. By turning down her ideas of going someplace fresh, someplace new.

You lose an intelligent girl by treating her like a second choice. By ignoring her phone calls. By taking hours to answer her texts. By canceling dates at the last second instead of giving her enough notice.

You lose an intelligent girl by failing to put in your fair share. By expecting her to do the dishes and wash the laundry and drive the car during dates. By leaving her stuck with all of the hard work while you barely have to lift a finger.

You lose an intelligent girl by cheating on her. By distancing yourself from her. By breaking her heart in two.

You lose an intelligent girl by treating her like crap, by failing to give her what she deserves, because she has high standards she isn’t willing to lower.

Holly Riordan is the author of
Severe(d), A Creepy Poetry Collection.
Pre-order your copy here.