Holly Riordan

Respect is introducing you to his friends as his girlfriend. It’s defending you when his mother makes a rude comment about you. It’s deleting all of his dating apps, because he doesn’t need them anymore.

“A murderer was on my front lawn with a gun in his hand. I have no idea what would’ve happened if I didn’t wake my grandpa, or if I didn’t wake up to get a snack.”

One day, it won’t hurt to look at them. One day, you’ll be happy that you have mementos of your past.

I want to kiss you, but I’ll keep acting like you’re just a friend.

We go out on dates before we’re ready. We find rebounds. We polish our social media to make it look like we’re happier now than we ever were in our relationship. We put in all our effort to make it look like we’re over the same people we dream about every night.

Date the boy that gives you a reason to laugh over the stupidest things, the boy that encourages you to tell embarrassing jokes, the boy that brings out a side of you that hasn’t been showed since you were a kid.

She doesn’t need some guy to tell her that she looks pretty in order to feel confident. She doesn’t need his encouragement in order to feel strong.

He never shows you pictures or videos on his phone, because he’s worried about the texts that might come through while you’re looking.

Pisces: He wishes he could tell you that you were more than his girlfriend. That you were his best friend and it really sucks now that you’re gone.

He hasn’t answered me for three days straight, so I claim that I’m finished with him. That I don’t want anything to do with him anymore. That I deserve better than scum like him. But then his name pops up on my phone screen and I forget all about the promises I made myself.

I don’t want my self-worth to be dependent on some guy, but it is. It wavers, depending on how much attention you’ve been giving me. Based on whether or not you seem interested on any given day.

I still refer to your house as your house, even though someone else is living there now. I still celebrate your birthday. I still talk to you, even though my words are aimed at the sky instead of a phone.

He ignores your texts — but likes your selfies.

She expects you to check your phone during your lunch break to let her know that you miss her.

Capricorn: Carrie. You were the kid that never really fit in. The kid that wished they could get revenge on their peers.

He doesn’t deserve a text back if it’s going to hurt you. If answering his message and letting him take hold of your heart again is more painful than deleting his number.

It sucks to stay up until 2 AM, worrying about what’s going to happen the next day. It sucks to check and recheck your bag to make sure that you haven’t forgotten anything important. It sucks to spend all of your time stressing instead of living. But, honestly, your overthinking isn’t all bad.

You were the person that she told all of her friends about, the person that she replayed conversations with inside of her head. She waited for texts with your name on them. She dressed in her favorite outfits on the days she knew she’d be running into you.