When you’re a quiet girl, people are shocked to learn you have a backbone. They assume they can walk over you. They assume they can take advantage of you. They assume you won’t raise your voice to them, won’t contradict them, won’t call them out on their bullshit. They assume they can get away with treating you horribly because you’re just going to sit there and take it without making a peep.
When you’re a quiet girl, people are shocked to learn you have a mean side. They’re shocked to hear you curse. They’re shocked to see you roll your eyes. They’re shocked to realize you’re capable of getting angry. They look at you more like a background character in a film than an actual, flesh and blood human being. They don’t think you have emotions. They don’t think you have a personality. They don’t think you have an opinion.
When you’re a quiet girl, people are shocked when you speak up to them because they assume you’re going to nod along to whatever they say. They assume you’re going to agree even when they’re wrong. They assume you’re going to tell them exactly what they want to hear.
They don’t know how to handle themselves when you finally snap, when you put them in their place, when you let them know you aren’t going to continue dealing with their toxic behavior.
They’re shocked to realize you actually caught onto the sarcasm in their voice or the backhanded compliment they’ve given you because they treat you like a child. They look down on you. They consider you lesser simply because you’ve said less in the conversation.
When you’re a quiet girl, people act like they’re doing you a favor by spending time with you. They act like you’re lucky to hear their stories. They act like you’re in desperate need of friends, even if you already have plenty of friends they’ve never met before.
When you’re a quiet girl, people underestimate you. They think you’re sweet, innocent, harmless. They don’t think twice about the way they treat you because they assume you’re never going to fire back. They assume you’re never going to get the nerve to stand up for yourself.
But these people are wrong. They don’t know anything about you. They don’t realize how ruthless you can be when someone gets on your bad side. They don’t realize treating you like shit is going to come back to bite them. They don’t realize, if they hurt you, you’re going to walk away from them forever. You’re not going to be their shoulder to lean on anymore. You’re not going to be nodding along to their stories anymore. You’re not going to play nice anymore. You’re going to be out of their universe. And you might not leave quietly.
When you’re a quiet girl, only the people closest to you really know you. Everyone else thinks they have you figured out, but they don’t have the slightest idea about who you are. 
