Don't you just hate when your expected to do the extraordinary. Like get straight A's, never mess up, or be nervous. The list goes on and on. Everyone just wants you to be perfect. But really what is perfect, or perfection. And that's the thing, we all have different minds and ways of looking at things. There is no such thing, no such thing as perfection. And even if there were who would want to be perfect, sometimes it's best to be different or "unperfect" as some say. And you want to know why?
Well let me tell you:
If we all were perfect, the same, we would get sick of it. Striving not to be the same, but original, extraordinary at the least. Perfect is boring.
But no one listens....no one.
Astrid. She wonders this all the time. Her parents and family always expect her to be the best of the best, the top at everything she does. She can't even walk in a squiggly line with out someone on her back. She hates this so much. She can't be herself, or do what she wants. And her parents, oh god. They are the worst, most uptight people you could meet. Everything has to be set to perfection. Especially Astrid. From clothes, to food, and grades to appearance.
But no one know how insane its driving her. Astrid is going mental, but I mean who wouldn't. Like damn can she get a break. But fuck how she feels right? Oops I forgot, she doesn't even have control over her own thoughts. Her parents and her demons rule her.....
Forever and always?
Or so we thought.
Madeline found the note in her locker. Neatly folded, it held a pair of razor blades and a set of instructions. "Just die, ugly girl. No one will miss you."
She doesn't know who gave it to her. Or any of the others before it. But she knows one thing: they're right. No one will miss her. Her mother is dead, her dad is more a theory than a parental figure, and her friends are the stick figures she draws in her notebooks.
So, when someone she barely knows invites her to the school graduation party, there's no reason for her to go. A girl like her at a party like that? Eating a bowl of live spiders would be a better idea.
And yet, she accepts. She goes.
She doesn't know what she expects to find there. She doesn't even know why she said yes. Out of desperation? Because she thinks she'll somehow make friends? Prove, somehow, that the razor note is wrong?
Whatever her reasons, what she finds is a surprise. And not the one she wants.
She's given one more note. And what's written inside this one will make her face the truth she's been hiding from for seven years. And the truth about Madeline Parker will either fix her, and finally make her worthy of being loved, or it will prove that the note with the razors is right.
Or both.
--
Complete and professionally edited. Also on sale (www.lifelostandfound.com) where 150% of all sales go to charity, including the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Dedicated to all of us who need a reason to keep going. Especially now.
I hope it makes you laugh. And I hope it helps you realize you're not alone.
(Warning -- Do not read this book if you: look amazing all or most of the time, never worry about what people think of you, have more friends than Estonia has people, or are allergic to the word "shenanigans". Especially that last one, because it's used once or twice and you may experience a reaction. Also, you should probably see a doctor about that. Secondary warning: the word "shenanigans" is used in this warning.)