The pretend Girl

She took the picture, posed just right,

A careful mask in the morning light.

Her head held high, her smile in place,

A confident girl, with a flawless face.

The world believed the story she spun,

"She's bold, she's stunning, the perfect one."

Comments rolled in, hearts poured like rain,

But none of it eased her quiet pain.

"She's so confident," they'd often say,

"She must love herself every day."

But they didn't see the truth she hid,

The cracks beneath the life she bid.

Her laughter loud, her posture strong,

But in her heart, it all felt wrong.

"Why can't I be the girl they see?

Why do I feel so lost in me?"

She wasn't the queen, the goddess, the star,

She wasn't enough, not even by far.

The clear skin they praised? Concealer's work.

The confident look? Just a practiced smirk.

Inside her chest, a voice would cry:

"You're not enough—stop living this lie."

She knew they'd never see the truth,

The fragile girl who'd lost her youth.

But one day, she let the mask fall away,

No filters, no edits, just her, on display.

Her picture went up, raw and unstyled,

No practiced pose, just her honest smile.

The likes dropped to ten, the comments to two,

But for once in her life, she finally knew:

She wasn't perfect, but she was real,

And peace was a gift she could finally feel.

"No more pretending, no more disguise,

This is my truth—no need for their lies."

She lived her life with her flaws in sight,

And for the first time, she felt light.

The girl they saw was never enough,

But the girl she became learned to love her rough.

No longer bound by the world's demand,

She found her freedom in her own hands.