Narrative 1: Pretend

POP! Everyone screams as the count down ends! A drop of champagne lands on my arm. My friends all giggle and hug me closely. This could be the perfect night. Everything is gold and white and everyone is smiling. Everyone, but me. There is nothing like the feeling of being surrounded by people that you love. Only, I can't feel that feeling. Because behind all of those smiling faces, sitting across the room, I see him. He is sitting on the couch with his friends and despite all of their efforts to get a smile from him, he just sits there with his emotionless expression. As I'm standing here, staring at him, he must

feel my gaze because just moments later our eyes meet. I offer up a small smile before he frowns and averts his eyes back to his friends. I turn away and continue to fake the smile on my face. Me and him, we're the same. Both unable to feel those emotions everyone expects. Except I smile, and pretend like everything is wonderful, and he just doesn't pretend.