That first time I met you,

Sweet and caring,

Kind and Welcoming,

You took me under your wing.

Your guiding hand

Was there when I was troubled.

I felt comfortable,

I took comfort

Knowing you were there.

Time went on,

Our friendship was changing.

Some good changes,

Some bad changes.

I was naive,

I didn't realize

That I made a mistake.

I made a mistake

Of not following

The familiar sensation

That something was off.

I had a gut feeling

That something wasn't right,

That there was something

That was being hidden from me.

Your true colors,

They didn't stay hidden

For very long

After that dreaded day.

For months you fooled me.

For months,

You lead me to

A terrible place.

You took advantage

Of the young, Naive girl

That was standing

Right in front of your face.

You saw a chance,

Then you leaped.

I never had a chance.

After months of friendship,

After months of hiding

Behind a mask,

You slowly started

To show the real you.

That one night

Changed our entire friendship.

You showed your

True intentions.

You broke the trust

That I had in you.

You deceived me,

Made me feel

Like I did something wrong.

You took advantage

And made me think

I actually deserved

What you did to me.

I hid behind closed doors.

I had so much trouble

Opening up to others

After that dreadful night.

Months and months

Of significant trust issues

Caused many relationships

To be destroyed.

How could I have known

That a friendship

That started off so well,

Would turn into something

So dreadfully terrifying?

How could I have known

That someone who

I thought I could trust

Would hurt me

The way that you did,

Damage me the way

You damaged me.

I was broken,

I was destroyed,

I was devastated.

It took me too long

To finally find myself again,

It took me too long

To get my confidence back.

Now that I'm finally confident

In the person that I've become,

Now that I'm finally confident

In knowing that I'm tough,

I can go through life

With a better mindset

Because of you.

I'm strong and independent,

I'm tough and I'm beautiful.

I may not look the way that

I'm told I need to look

By the ugly society

That I'm surrounded by,

But that doesn't matter.

I don't need to fit

Into the standards

That society tells me

That beauty looks like

In order to be

My own kind of beautiful.

Confidence and independence,

Self love and self respect,

These are all

More attractive in a female,

Than these troubling standards

That society sets on us.

So many females are told

That if they don't look

The way that models do,

If they aren't

These impossible standards

Of physical beauty,

Then they aren't attractive.

Since when did we become a society

That focuses more on looks

Than the personality,

The confidence,

The self love,

The mental well being

Of the females

That we are surrounded by.

Physical beauty isn't worth anything

If the emotional and mental beauty

Is completely trashed.

You taught me how to love

This broken, yet mended

Person that I am.

You broke me,

But I fixed myself.

You tore me apart,

But I was confident,

I have self love,

And I put myself

Completely back together.

I took who I was before,

The person that you made me,

And I made something better.

I am not who you made me.

I am who I created

Myself to be.

My confidence,

My self love,

That's all that matters.

That's who I am now.

So I want to thank you

For helping me

To become a better me.

For tearing down the old me,

So that I could rebuild myself.

You may have destroyed me,

But I'm a new creature

Because I was brave

And I let my creator

Help mold me

Into a whole new person.

I came out stronger,

I came out more beautiful.

So thank you.