No Flaws When You're Pretending

"Lauren!" yelled my mom. She was in front of me the moment I set foot into our house. "Where have you been all day?"

"At school," I said.

I could tell my mom was furious. Her face was very red.

"Don't like to me, young lady," my mother fumed. "I got a call from your principal today. Apparently you weren't in any of your classes."

"The principal called?" I asked.

"Yes, she did," my mom said. "She wanted to make sure everything was ok. Now go to your room."

"No," I said. I stayed where I was and my mom stared at me in shock.

"What did you just say?" she asked.

"I said 'no,'" I said. "I'm not going to my room."

"What is wrong with you?" my mom asked. "You're not acting like yourself."

"How would you know whether or not I'm acting like myself?" I asked. "I've never been able to be myself. I always worked hard to be who you and Dad wanted me to be."

"We didn't make you act any way," my mom said.

"You did!" I yelled. "And I'm sick of it. I want to do what I want to do. I want to dress how I want to dress. I want things to be my way."

"I don't understand," my mother said. "You've always been happy."

"What don't you understand?" I asked, yelling again. "It was all an act!"

I turned and ran out of the house and straight to my car. I went to Brendon's house. When I got there, I didn't want to knock on the door, cause I didn't want his parents to know I was there. I parked about a block from his house and walked to his house. I found his bedroom window and tried to open it. It didn't budge. I knocked on it lightly and a moment later, a startled Brendon was looking out at me. He smiled when he saw me and opened the window quickly. He helped me in as I climbed through the window.

"What are you doing here, Lauren?" he asked when I was standing in his room.

"I had to get away from my mom," I said. Brendon nodded his head.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

"There's nothing new to talk about," I said, sighing. "She found out I skipped school. I basically told her that I was trying to be myself and that she and my father made me act how I used to."

I went over to Brendon's bed and sat down. I yawned loudly.

"Are you tired?" Brendon asked. I nodded my head. "You can sleep here."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Of course."

"Good," I said smiling. "I definately don't want to go back home."

Brendon smiled at me.I pulled my shoes off and crawled under Brendon's blankets, laying down. Brendon just watched me.

"Are you going to sleep?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he said. "I'm gonna get a sleeping bag for the floor."

"Don't be ridiculous," I said. "You can sleep in your own bed."

"Are you sure?" Brendon asked.

"Yeah," I said, yawning again. Brendon came closer and got into his bed carefully. I could tell he was nervous. I was too tired to be nervous. I moved closer to Brendon and rested my head on Brendon's shoulder. He jumped slightly.

"Relax, Brendon," I said, laughing softly. I felt him relax. He wrapped and arm around me loosely. I fell asleep soon after.