Where is the girl I used to know?
The one that wasn't always on her phone,
That could make a friend wherever she may go.
What happened to the temper tantrums she would throw?

This new girl, I don’t think I like very much.
She doesn't like the way she looks, and she doesn't know who to trust.
She doesn't like to talk to strangers and only will if she must.
She’s left the younger version on a shelf to collect dust.

She says it’s to protect that girl,
The girl who thought the world was perfect.
She knows much more than that girl.
She showed up and replaced that girl at ten.

She wanted to protect the girl from what was going on then.
She wanted to shield the young,
To keep her innocent.
But she has seen that the world is so bad; that it’s better to keep the young hidden.

What she doesn't understand is that the young is trying to break free.
“I wanted to be a child, young and naive.”
“I just wanted to protect you from what you couldn't see.”
Now that young girl will never grow older.

She will stay a child, hidden from the horrors of the world.
But in doing so,
She is hiding her everlasting smile and glow.
Maybe it would be better if she had seen, but now she will stay an everlasting green.