How to forget someone.

Hold back your tears. Do not let them make you cry. Cry only for yourself and only when no one can see you.

Walk out. Leave everything behind and walk out.

Sit in the cold. Let the numbness take over your body. Listen to the wind as you lose the feeling in your toes, feel the bones in your body move as you shiver, breathe out, only to watch your breath in the night air.

Breathe in and hold your breath. Count to ten.

Watch your breath escape again. Envy it. Know that you want to escape.

Lean back, stare at the stars. Know that they're dead. Wonder how long ago they died, if they're remembered. Wonder if one day you will be a star.

Tell everyone that you are fine. Stand up, walk around, let them poke you and hug you -- Demonstrate that you still have feeling in your body, even if you feel nothing inside, if you want to feel nothing.

Smile and thank them before you sit back down. Don't let your voice crack, it would give you away, the out of tune heart string falling off of the old guitar in the back of your closet.

Let the dust accumulate on your thoughts. Think of nothing, think of the cold, think of the person you want to forget.

Tell yourself they are foolish, that they are stupid. Tell yourself that maybe they aren't so bad, aren't so stupid. Hope that they suffer and then tell yourself that you want them to be happy, even if you are miserable.

Whisper that you want them to be as cold as you are, frigid, but warm enough to survive in the world.

Hate yourself for days, weeks. Eat a lot, drink a lot.

Avoid eye contact with everyone.

Hold back your frustration and your hatred and your guilt until you get home, until you crawl into the warm shower and into bed. Pull the covers around yourself, disappear in them, long for a time of happiness.

Define happiness as waking up and realizing that your dreams could never be better than reality, and realize that you don't actually know what happiness is.

Dream of someone else. Replace them, even if it's with someone you never see. Replace them in your heart and let them fade slowly from the rest of your body, like the numbness and cold slipped away under your covers.