And when you realize that you don't have to mean everything you say,

You will question every "I love you"

Starting with your parents

And ending with the boy whose name you cannot speak

Because you don't know it yet

 

And when you realize that love can be simplified into serotonin and oxytocin

You will wonder what other chemicals can do

And you will become the best scientist there ever was

Because you know that becoming a statistic does not mean you are a number

But a researcher

And that first hand experience will always be more powerful than numbers and letters

 

And when you realize that the alphabet does not have to be in that order because in that order it is meaningless

You will learn another language

And drink with the locals of foreign lands

Because you know just how small the world really is

And that drinking a culture

Is better when you can sip and taste the sunset

 

And when you realize that the horizon is only three miles away

You will climb Mount Everest before you understand that the Earth is not flat

And that curves can be bad

And that the boy standing right next to you is actually 24,901 miles away

 

And when you realize that beauty is subjective

You will call that boy a liar

Because beauty

Is subjective

And the truth

Will always be biased towards your perspective

 

And when you realize that you will not jump

You will hang yourself off of every parking garage

Every cliff

Every skyscraper you can find

Because your body does not have the same thoughts are your mind

And you still love to experiment

It is the same reason for why you run with scissors

And close your eyes when you change lanes

 

And when you realize that dashes are also timelines

You will look into your rear view mirror and smile

And simultaneously frown

Because your brain makes images right side up from upside down

 

And when you realize that death is inevitable

You will also realize that endings

Don't really matter much, anyway