You hear me laugh,
You see me smile,
You think everything's ok,
But it's not and it hasn't been for quite a while.

It's become second nature,
Keeping up this masquerade.
Lying, smiling and laughing,
Hoping you don't see through the charade.

Though I grow so tired,
Wishing to give it all up,
I have to keep going.

Never can I stop,
Never can I cry,
And here's the reason why;
If I crack even a little,
It all comes undone.
Everything I've worked to hide,
Will come to light.
And so like the web of a spider,
A web of lies continues to be spun.

I'm the invisible daughter,
Forgotten right down to the core.
The bane of my parent's existence;
The bad apple fallen from their Tree of Life.

I only exist when I'm in trouble.
But I wonder,
What do they see when they're yelling at me?
Do they see my mistake?
Or theirs?

I watch my father with his other daughter,
The perfect doting dad.
I flashback to my childhood and the love I never had.
I pray for my sister,
Pray that this last forever, and that she never know him as I did.

I watch my mother from afar,
The distance between us insurmountable, though in the same house.
I pray for my sisters, that they never see her as I had.

I'm their disappointment,
Their failure,
Though still I remain, The Invisible Daughter.

I don't have the strength to stand.

I'm done with the crying,
I'm done with the hurt,
I've given up fighting and I stay down in the dirt.

I'm numb,
I'm broken,
But I'm just sitting silently,

I'm done with the screaming,
I'm done with the yelling,
I'm done trying to make you hear me!

I can't make you hear me,
I can't make you see what you're doing to me.
Why can't you see?
Would you care?
Well, I don't have the strength anymore,
I'm done.

Angry tears,
Wishing on falling stars,
Indescribable pain and hidden scars.
This is the story of a girl I know.

Criticized for who she loves,
Ridiculed by those who "love" her.
So many nights,
So many tears,
Knowing that she'll have to endure it for so many more years.

Growing up came like a curse,
And oh how she knew it would only get worse...

Trying to make herself perfect,
In order to make up for that one "flaw".
She can't see how beautiful it made her heart.
Her arms embrace the weeping,
And in a world full of ignorance,
She is our shining light.
This is the story of a girl I know.

"Why do you have to be like this?"
"Why can't you just be this way?"
"Why can't you be--?"
Be what?
Be perfect?
Sorry dear, what you see is what you're gonna get.

I'm done pretending,
I'm done trying,
I'm done caring.
I'll never be what you want!

I've tried my whole life to be perfect.
But what does that even mean?!
Whatever it is, it's something I'll never be.

Criticize all you want,
Tear me limb from limb,
I'll never be what you want.
I've wasted all my time,
I've wasted all these years,
I'm done.
Sorry dear.

Anxiety,  Depression, Mental Breakdowns;
This is the sad reality of high school.
No one escapes.

Sleepless nights, racing hearts, a lake of tears;
This is the product of high school.
No one escapes.

No one escapes the pain,
No one escapes the fear,
We all feel like we don't belong here.

A slew of words,
Condescending tones,
"You're alright, nothing's wrong."
"You'll be fine, you're overreacting."
But we're not!
It's real!
It's here!
No one escapes!

But of course,
No one listens...

Get your lips off of me,
You're dangerous.
Don't touch me,
I can't think straight.
Stop,
Take a step back.
Why did I ever get involved?

You used me,
You played me,
You threw me away.

I trusted,
I loved,
I thought you'd stay.
Boy was I stupid,
Silly girl,
What were you thinking?

This needs to end,
I need to walk away,
This needs to quit.
I can't, I fell too hard.
This vicious circle goes 'round and 'round.