If you want to forget the boy who broke your heart, here are 10 things you should NOT do:
Number 1, if you wanted to forget about him, maybe you shouldn’t have told your friends that you have a sort of frustrating crush on the guy you’ve been talking to lately. If you did, it’ll be the last time you’ll ever know peace. Before you realize it, your whole class knows, your teachers know, your family knows, your neighbors know–the president himself is in the process of knowing. Every time he walks by, you will be stripped of your composure. Your life will become a romcom onlookers tune in to.
2, do not think about the last text he sent you just before you go to bed. It’ll haunt you in your sleep and you’ll dream of his eyes, of his voice, the way his nose crinkles when he laughs, and it’ll leave you with fantasies impossible to come true.
3, do not stalk his social media accounts. Just don’t. Don’t look at his posts or, god forbid, his pictures. And for the love of all that is good, do not message him. It will lead to several awkward conversations that will leave you both giddy and mortified and you will find out that he uses too many emoticons and not enough words which means you don’t really understand what he means, but that he is more adorable than you first thought he was.
4, if you want to forget him, don’t smile back. Oh, it will be tempting, I know. After all, how can you resist when he smiles at you as if the sun itself resides in his chest? When he smiles like it’s the first and last time he will ever be happy? How can you not smile back, when he reminds you just exactly what happiness feels like?
5, do not associate songs with him. When your favorite song comes on, do not think of slow dancing to it with him. Do not imagine the two of you sharing earphones and listening to a playlist on repeat. Do not devote the lyrics like an ode to his laughter, do not think of him when you sing. Melodies are not supposed to echo a name.
6. do not name him “What If”. Do not think of all the ways he can make you better. Do not name him “Maybe”. Do not come up with reasons why he can love you just as fiercely. Do not name him “Almost”. Do not hope for something you damn well know could never be.
7, do not get jealous of the girl he laughs with. Do not compare yourself to the way she looks, how she’s thinner, prettier, more breathtaking than you will ever be. Do not look at his smile–it is the same smile he gives you. It is the same smile you’ve fallen in love with, the same smile you thought was meant for your eyes only. Do not get jealous of her. He was never yours to keep in the first place.
8, if you want to forget about him, do not cry over him. He’ll disappoint you again and again and again and I know it’ll hurt, god, how it hurts–but do not cry over him on the car ride home. Do not let them see that he has broken you. Don’t let them know you care. Don’t let heartbreak paint your face with mascara tears, do not cry yourself to sleep.
9, do not tell him how you feel. Do not tell him that he saved you when you couldn’t save yourself, don’t tell him you cared. Do not rearrange your words over and over in hopes his feelings will change. Do not wait for his answer. Do not save his reply, do not hurt yourself this way. You do not need a constant reminder that he does not love you back.
10, if you want to forget the boy who broke your heart, do not write about him. Do not immortalize the way he stood, the curl of his lips, the shade of his eyes. Do not make permanent the memory of his last words as he said goodbye. If you want to forget, do not write him poetry. Do not surrender the beauty of your metaphors. Do not make symbolisms about his name, do not compare him to stars. He is just a boy, who felt like a miracle in what little time you had together. He is just a boy. Do not give him the power of your words.
If you want to forget him, do not commit these mistakes. If you want to forget him, don’t do what I did.
