this is everything i didn't say

eighty-eight

it doesn't take much to hide what we've done

peppermints and lip gloss, and she brings gum

perfectly normal items but we have a different agenda than most

peppermints to keep our teeth off our chewed-raw lips

lip gloss to hide the marks we couldn't stop ourselves from making

gum to pretend we're not hungry-

to be fair, i think i forgot what that felt like-

no one notices because we're masters of disguise

but to each other we're completely transparent

it's okay though, we're used to pretending we don't care

parade it around like look at this mistake i made, watch the way i wear it on my skin like a new tattoo

and isn't it so beautiful the way this is going to be permanent

reminds me of the time i almost carved my ex best friend's initials into my own skin

but i've never really talked about that and i'm still not sure how to

all i know how to do is pretend this is beauty

it's all i can see anyway

permanent // k.