"What's your secret?" Jessica asked, smiling at me whilst swinging her feet in the water.
"My secret?" I asked, turning to face her.
'Yes, Gracie. Your secret. No one is as happy as you are all the time." She said looking down at her feet.
"Listen Jessica, you're young but that's not why you don't understand because I'm young too. It's all about your life's experiences..." I answered her looking around.
"You're not making any sense Gracie. You do that a lot. Avoid giving straight answers to questions. I don't know what you're getting at with the age thing because I might only be Fourteen but I'll be your age in three years and I don't see what can happen to give me great happiness in that time." She began to argue. She didn't understand. How could she?
"It's not about happiness either Jess. It's about how you portray yourself to others. It's true what you said, no one is happy all the time."
"But you are! That's what I'm saying!"
"How do you know that Jessica? It's summer. It feels like this has been the first time that I've been happy in a long time and that's because of your brother." I said just as Owen came into view, walking towards us.
"So we do need guys to make us happy?" She sighed.
"No, we don't. We just need someone to love us and care about us. It doesn't have to be romantic it just has to be real" I said standing up and walking towards Owen with a big smile forming on my face.
A real smile.
Because with Owen it wasn't about pretending it was about happiness and finding the real me.
YOU ARE READING
The art of pretending
Teen FictionGracie is a seventeen year old girl who has not had the easiest start to life. She has been moved around the foster care system since she was four years old. When she was sixteen she made the decision that she would stay in the care home and not be...
