&#masquerade;;paper faces on parade;;hide your face so the world will never find you#&

You mention I seem withdrawn,

I tell you it’s just school;

it isn’t.

I say I’m fine;

I’m not.

I eat a chocolate from the box which I carry round, the ever-present temptation

while I think about whether vinegar really does work as an appetite suppressant

(despite the fact that I never even have an appetite – but just in case).

You notice I never bring lunch,

I tell you I always run out of time in the morning;

you make time for what you want

(and bringing no food and no money forces me not to eat).

You say I look tired,

I tell you I stayed up doing work;

I didn’t

(this is just what the body looks like when you don’t pay the right attention to it).

You tell me to put a jumper on, that I look freezing,

I say I’m not cold;

I am

(I’m just trying to prove to myself that I haven’t changed, that I haven’t screwed myself up).

You tell me to smile,

I do;

only to please you

(I’d rather hide).

You say you don’t have the time,

I don’t want the time;

here

(have mine).