Unmasking Their Lies

tine filled my small room, a scent

not

o bright. My heart hammered against my ribs, a franti

mber

t was the day my life derailed, the day my d

e faded band posters on the wall, the same stack

s too real. The memory of my other life, the one that ended in a cold, lonely apartment after years of failure and

ginal day with perfe

life. It was my only ticket out, my only way to a real art school. My final piece, a

eanor, had come into my roo

ed bottle of what she called "special turpentine" and some old rags. "I found this in the garage. Y

sperate for her approval, tha

er. It didn' t just thin the oil paints, it dissolved them, turning my vibrant colors into a murky, brown

adline. I lost

ons was even worse than th

tears, her face a mas

utching my father' s arm. "How could I have

ned on me, his face r

You' ve broken your mother' s heart. After everything she does for

ed against the doorframe,

est, Ava. Were you really good enough to get it anyway? Now yo

They made me the villain in a tragedy they had created. I spent years

t this

gone. In its place was a cold, hard stone of certainty. I was not t

eir victim. This time, they would understand the pain t

orknob

e tray, the same bottle, the same fak

chirped. "I brought you some

ful, manipulative eyes. For a split second, I wanted to scream, to

dish best served cold, and

a small,

nks,

was cal

bought some professional-grade thinner and varnish.

ents before. I hadn't, of course. But the memory of this day was so vi

licker of confusion, of frustration, crossed her face bef

s wonderful, dear.

on my dresser, away

case you

stone in my gut growing h

f by courier, well before the deadline, I sat at my computer. I didn't look at lo

ls on the other side of the count

re but

my first step. I wasn't just going to survive. I was going to escape. And I was goin