the best i can give you is a fake smile and dead eyes

there are days when the world expects you to show up in ways that you just can’t. you know those days—the ones where every interaction feels like an act, where you’re putting on a show for everyone around you, and all the while, you feel like you’re crumbling inside. yet, you muster up a smile, a gesture of good cheer, because that’s what’s expected of …