Shifting Masks

1

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Lily Evan's

"Welcome home, Darling. You look starved." Is the first 6 words I hear from my aunt the second I walk in. Seriously? I don't even get a "Hi" or a "how are you?" but a "you look starved."

I've not even been home from the hospital 5 minutes and I wish I was back already.

Suddenly I'm getting pushed by God knows who into the kitchen. it's so.... pink and gold.... A giant banner reads "Welcome home, Lily!" and looks as if my 2 year old cousin, Emma, scribbled all over it. There's confetti everywhere, probably thrown around by my cousins. A pink cake that says "Welcome home, Lily!" on it as well. I don't like cake, or the color pink. All this just because I'm home from the hospital? Oh, and balloons. Balloons are everywhere. They're floating up by the ceiling, or on the floor from all the helium sucked out of it. That's how I feel, y'know? All the happiness sucked out of me.

I put on a smile and somehow manage to make it through this God Awful party. Did I ask for a party? No. Did I ask to leave the hospital? No. I liked the hospital, and I'd rather be anywhere but here.

After we eat and my aunts and uncles and grandparents and cousins ask me ten thousand times if I'm okay, I finally convince my parents to let me go on a walk outside by myself. I just- I need a break from all of this already.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" From my Mom.

"How far are you gonna walk?" From my Dad.

And lots and lots of more worrisome questions.

"Chill, I'm not gonna run off and kill myself..." I mumble before I leave. I walk out the door without another word, making my way down the familiar sidewalks I've walked for 15 years. I dig my earbuds out of my pocket and plug them into my phone. it's almost dead but I don't care.

I plug my earbuds into my phone and play music. "Finally..." I think to myself. I haven't been able to listen to music for almost 4 months. The hospital my parents sent me too were super strict, and we couldn't do shit. At least i was wanted there, and people payed attention to me.

"Star Shopping" by Lil Peep comes on. Basic song, I know, but it's still good.

I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding once my house was out of sight. I know that I should be happy about being home, and that my parents even had a whole party for me. But a part of me thinks that my therapist told them to do it, simply because while I was in the hospital I told her that I've never had a party that was just for me before. That's the reality of having a Gifted sibling.

My brother is 9 years old.
He's Extremely Fucking Smart.
And Everything's about him.
always.

I don't even know what happens next, but somehow I end up laying on the grass next to the sidewalk. My earbuds get ripped out of my ears, the music still playing. There's boy laying on the ground about 2 feet away, laying next to a skateboard.

**********
James Miller

I don't know what happened, but it was all a blur.
I was riding my skateboard down the sidewalk when I see this Beautiful girl walking my way. Next thing I know, I'm crashing into her and we both land in the grass. I sit up and check my board first, forgetting there was even a girl here, then I look over and see her laying on her back, staring up at the sky.

"Are you- uh, okay?" I ask quietly. For a second I think she's not even going to respond until I hear her softly say, "Yeah..."

I could have melted on the spot. Her voice sounded so angelic. She looked like an Angel, and she even sounded like one too??