“
She backs out, and as her car moves farther and farther away from me, all I want to do is scream and scream, until my voice shears into ribbons and disappears completely. I have done nothing but achieve, jump through hoops, and put on smiles. And it’s not enough. The blue ribbons and first-place trophies, my extracurriculars and my Sunday school class—I have done every single thing my mother wanted . . . for nothing. Because she’s never going to stop wanting me to be perfect Alyssa Greene, and I’m never going to actually be her. Never. Slumping against the hood of my car, I cover my face with my hands and start to cry. The one thing that was mine, the one beautiful thing that I chose, that made me feel whole and human and alive, just drove away. And I let her.
”
”