[REDACTED] tugs your ear. She says you're too young to be worrying so much. But all you've got are each other. Why wouldn't you notice how tired she was? How she hides the mail from you?

[REDACTED] puts on a voice. Her natural one is lower, more human. When she wants something, she sounds almost like a cartoon character. She thinks it sounds refined. You think it's ugly.

[REDACTED] seethes. She turns it back at you, at how untrustworthy you are, at all the things you've done. Even with her new messy act, she still hides her true anger. Just for you.

[REDACTED] fidgets. She'll find ways to reassure you, as if it's such a burden on you to know. Or to ask, or to think of her in any way. It must be torture for her; it is, at least, for you.

[REDACTED] looks away. She already moves a lot, but you can tell when she's just itching to move onto something else. She never thinks too hard about it. All the more reason for you to.

[REDACTED] dilates his pupils. His are dull and lifeless by default, but you can look deeper into them when he's holding back. As deep as the mess he's gotten himself into at that place.

[REDACTED] laughs. Like everything is a joke, so you might as well give up on getting anything out of them. But if nothing she says or does matters, what do they have left to lose?

[REDACTED] stays quiet. It's trained, but it's sloppy. The way he exhales is too weary for someone his age. Something's wearing him down. It's been wearing him down for a long time.



















You smile too wide. You hum to yourself. You add in more details than necessary. You ignore further questions. You wink and pose. You wave your headphone cord around. You laugh in their face. You ask them for proof. You bring up something you know makes them uncomfortable. You accuse them of being paranoid. You overwhelm them with all you have. You tell them everything. You tell them nothing.

You make it all so utterly, painfully obvious.
But you're too good at this. You've been doing this for too long.

No one can figure out yours.