New places, new faces

Same me.

Same girl.

The only difference is the new faces

She sees look back at her

With disdain.

Disdain at the music she listened to

The clothes she wore

The way she spoke

Their minds so closed to a world

Outside of their own

They could not bear to look at her face

...so she put on a mask.

She turned off her music

Changed her wardrobe

Bit her tongue instead of speaking.

She was drowning in her alter ego

Nauseated by the game she was playing

When she touched her face, she felt the mask

She felt it solidifying, melding with her skin

Until she could not tell where her game of pretend started and the real her ended.