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high school wasn’t meant to be experienced but instead merely survived.
If he’d been smarter, he would’ve known that wolves can hide in sheep’s clothing, and none of this would even have started.
all criminals, no matter the crime—were just people. People who did horrible, heinous things. They were bankers, lawyers, and car mechanics; they were spouses and siblings and parents. They were military men and assistant den leaders for the Boy Scouts. Sometimes they lived just four houses away.
even family member? When we give a criminal the label of “evil,” or categorize them as a “monster,” we give them power through camouflage. We allow them to hide in plain sight while doing what they do behind closed doors, in secret.
Perhaps we resort to labels when something horrible happens because the truth is too difficult to face: we are all capable of evil. There is no “sinister shadow.” There are no “monsters.” There is only us.
We were the first generation of kids taught to fear every stranger who was just a little too friendly, to avoid every corner that was just a little too dark, and suspect every passing van that drove just a little too slowly. And because of that, we grew up to be equally paranoid, vigilant parents.
