I had never questioned it when I was little. Though it retrospect I probably should have noticed. I never knew why kids laughed every time they saw me with my parents, no one ever explained it to me.

But to find out not only the truth, but the lie beneath it. That’s what broke me.

“What are you thinking about Sweetheart?” The woman says, paler than the moon, with eyes like the spring grass. I should’ve guessed sooner.

“Nothing,” I say. The one with skin like bronze metal, and eyes brown as the dining room table we sit at together.

“Are you sure? You look lost in thought.”

The sweetness in her voice convinces me, if but for a moment, to tell her the truth, “I met her today.”

“Who?” She says, curiously.

“My real-“ I stop myself, it’s stupid. I should just forget about it, go on with my life. “Never mind, just… a friend from school.”

“Alright deary.”

I can’t bring myself to say it… Not when I know what this woman did to get me in the first place.