I work day and night to keep the smile on my face, even though the pain I feel can't be erased.
My life is a perfect painted picture, painted so good you can't see the cracks, as if it doesn't exist, trust me when I say this, there is no bright light that isn't darkened by the share of the night.
I feel broken and damaged which no one can trace, because of the smile that's always plastered on my face.
My stomach, my number one flaw, on the outside it's flat and solid, but I know deep down it's not, it's a round circular dot.
I suck it in whenever I'm out so I don't look like the odd one, in and out.
My friends all skinny and thin, I feel like I have to blend in.
So stuck my stomach in I shall every day, to feel allowed to stay with my friends to the end.
My mind does it naturally now, so suck it in I shall, the pain and hurt I feel will never heal.
The marks there from myself will never go away, might as well be a trophy on my shelf, for I feel like I am someone else.
--Madelyn J., 9th-12th Grade