If You Tell a Lie

by Lucinda Berry

favorite therapy technique still seemed to be getting you in touch with your inner child.

The best way to live your life was to learn to love yourself—really, truly love yourself—and accept yourself exactly as you were.

I’d lived with suicidal hate for so long that the moment I tasted what it felt like to have an ounce of love for myself, I chased that shit like it was heroin. I’d never stopped.

It was like fourth-grade summer all over again, when everyone was obsessed with playing Bloody Mary in the bathroom. All the girls were saying they’d seen Mary’s ghost appear in the mirror, and eventually, we’d both said we saw her, too, even though we hadn’t, no matter how many times we tried.

Do you know how much work it takes to pretend like you’re fine every day? To be the sunshine when you’re really the darkness?

It just wasn’t fair that the people who got the best treatment were the ones who could pay for it.