I was a liar. And I knew it. I lied about everything. I had this whole circle of lies that had to be supported by the next.

And lying had never been hard for me. But when Darby asked me, "Are you okay?", it was actually hard for me to say,"Yes. I'm fine".

She sounded so sincere. And it wasn't often that she talked.

Me and her walked behind Noah and his friend. I tried to avoid both of them. Noah's friend was a sour old grump who had nothing positive to say.

He was attractive though, not that it mattered.

Darby looked at me again. She looked concerned about me. I didn't know why. I was perfectly fine, just a little closed off.

Okay, really closed off. I was noticing how hard it was to keep everyone shut out. Where were all these feelings supposed to be dumped out?

Nowhere.

They were going I stay right inside. Where they belonged.

"Do you want to go try on dresses?" Darcy asked.

I looked as a bright smile clothes her face, her gesturing towards Deb.

I nodded.

"Noah! We'll catch up with you later!" She called.

He nodded and turned back around, continuing his conversation.

"Finn thinks you're hot", she giggled, as we began searching trough dresses.

She giggled even louder as she saw me roll my eyes and make a disgusted face.

"Tell him thanks for his compliments, but I have enough creeps in my life", I said.

She laughed. "Any special creeps?" She asked casually.

I smiled and shook my head. "Nope", I said, popping the p.

I had only ever liked one of my creeps, as I called them. But he was the reason I.... Had trust issues.

She saw my eyes falling, thinking of those stupid wasted memories.

"What about this one?" I asked, trying to redirect her attention.

She laughed out loud. "That's hot".

I laughed. It was weird. I and never seen her so... Casual. I had always seen her as the cute short girl with Noah.

"Hey, I'm gonna go look at the long dresses. If I see anything, ill show you", she said, walking away.

I nodded and kept looking through the dresses.

I wondered who my next shallow homecoming date would be. It was always the same. Wore a beautiful dress. Tried to look pretty.

Be disappointed when all my date would do is talk about getting me Into bed. But I never did. Oh no. I wasn't that kind of girl. At least, if I ever was, I surely wasn't now.

I heard Darcy walk back over. She held up two dresses. "Which one?" She asked.

I smiled and pointed to the purple one she was holding.

We walked into the dressing room and tried on our outfits.

I looked down at myself. It was funny. Everyone I knew expected me to be the girl who was covered in scars. The girl who hid her true feelings and cut herself. Was suicidal.

But not at all. Maybe I would, but I was too afraid of pain. And plus, my life wasn't as bad as some people thought. I was just very kept to myself. That's all. And I had my reasons, as does everybody.

I slipped the dress on and walked out.

Darcy was blushing in a light pink dress. She looked as if he were ashamed that he was trying something pretty on.

"It's so gorgeous on you!" I said.

She smiled. "Really?"

I nodded. "Definitely. You should get it!"

She laughed. "What would I even wear it for?"

"Homecoming, of course", I said.

She looked down and blushed. "I'm not going".

"What? Why not?" I asked.

"No ones going to ask me. No one ever has", she said. She sounded genuinely okay with it.

I dropped to me knee and grabbed her hand.

"Will you, Darcy, be my date to homecoming?" I asked dramatically.

"Not in a weird way, of course", I added.

She snorted. "I would love to, Braelynn. But don't you have at least a thousand other men waiting in line?"

I stood up and waved my arm. "Ehh, forget them. Their all a bunch of shallow jerks. I'd rather go with someone I could have a normal conversation with."

She smiled and thought for a minute. "Okay. Ill go with you."

I laughed. "Great. Ill find a coordinating dress."

She nodded and we began the hunt for a decent dress that would somewhat match with hers.

After a while, we found a black one with highlights of the same color of pink she had.

We bought our dresses and walked out.

"I've never walked into a dress store and bought something without knowing I would", she said.

I nodded. "Me neither."

She grabbed her phone. "Finn and Noah are waiting for us."

I nodded and we walked out.

We put our stuff in the car and got in.

"What took you guys so long?" Finn snapped.

Noah put a hand on his shoulder, subtly telling him to shut up.

I replied, "We were doing something more important than going to Victoria's Secret and staring at all the half naked girl posters".

Darcy covered he enough and giggled.

"Looks like she found out our secret, Noah", Finn said, nudging Noah.

I rolled my eyes as he turned around and we began driving.

We drove home in silence. I got out and hugged Darcy goodbye.

"Thanks so much for inviting me. I had an awesome time".

And for the first time in a long time, I meant it.