One time at school, all my friends were starting to get boyfriends or crushes and would talk about those boyfriends and crushes ALL THE DAMN TIME, like I'd be eating my pizza square lunch and I'd just be hearing about how tragic it was that Jared from Mrs.Smith's class can't eat pizza squares because he's gluten intolerant. Or I'd be badgered into letting uncoordinated David onto our dodgeball team so that way him and Ava won't be 'seperate'. But that wasn't even the worst part, when asked if I had a boyfriend or crush they'd start this weird 'oh no you're just a innocent cinnamonroll' act like I wasn't the exact same age as them, and they hadn't seen me throw safety scissors at Kathy's head in third grade.
ANYWAYS so one day when asked that age old question, I told my friend, who mind you watched mystreet WITH me, "Oh yeah, I'm dating... Daniel?" They all started freaking out and interrogating me and naturally I started just,, describing the plot of PDH S2 about how he was bullied so much he became homeschooled, how he was just the nicest guy, and I think I even implied he was a werewolf at one point.
This would be a normal teaching moment in a young girl's life not to lie in order to fit in, except that was right before lockdown so when I got to high school post-lockdown my friends asked me if I was bringing Daniel to homecoming, since we were still 'together right?'. Knowing there was no other choice, I showed up late to school in a black hoodie and skirt, told them I just got back from his funeral. Daniel had died jumping out the window of a burning house.
I have never lied quicker then when my friends came over to my house unprompted to 'comfort me' and my parents found out about Daniel. So I had nothing else to do then to tell them and I quote. "Oh, I didn't tell you about him because I was scared you'd be mad, like you are now."
Nobody in my life knows dead Daniel isn't real. And I don't think they ever will.
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