Bearing the Truth

Marcus stood in front of his bathroom mirror, fishing the last neon-orange vitamin D gummy from the bottle. His mom swore they'd help with his "seasonal affective disorder," which was basically fancy talk for "you've been moody since winter break." He popped it into his mouth, chewing aggressively, as if the bear-shaped gummy had personally offended him.

"You going to Robbie's party?" his little sister Chloe yelled from somewhere downstairs.

"Maybe." Marcus grabbed his backpack, checking his reflection one more time. Same crooked jawline, same overgrown curls. Still seventeen, still figuring out why everyone else seemed to have life figured out while he was just barely surviving pre-calc.

At school, the hallway buzzed with weekend plans. Robbie's parties were legendary—too much cheap alcohol, too many people trying too hard. Last time, Marcus had spent two hours listening to Jake practically bullshitting everyone about his "epic" summer internship that definitely didn't exist.

"Yo, Marcus!" Jake appeared, slinging an arm around Marcus's shoulders. "You coming tonight? I heard Sarah's gonna be there."

Sarah. The girl Marcus had been lowkey crushing on since September, who'd smiled at him in chemistry yesterday, making him forget how to convert moles to grams.

"I don't know," Marcus said.

"Come on, bear." Jake grinned. "Don't be such a downer. It'll be chill."

*Bear.* That was Jake's nickname for him since Marcus had accidentally worn his dad's oversized hoodie to school last month. The joke wasn't even clever, but it had stuck. Marcus hated how Jake made him feel small, like everything about him was up for roasting.

But then he spotted Sarah at her locker, laughing with her friends, looking effortless and perfect and suddenly Marcus felt tired of bearing the weight of everyone's expectations.

"Actually," Marcus said, pulling away from Jake's arm, "I think I'm gonna pass."

Jake looked genuinely confused. "What? Why?"

"Because I'm tired of all the bull." The words surprised Marcus as much as Jake. "We just stand around pretending to have fun, listening to people lie about who they are. I'd rather stay home and actually be real."

He walked away before Jake could respond, heart hammering against his ribs. At lunch, he sat with his friends, eating actual food instead of vitamin gummies, laughing at jokes that were actually funny. Later, Sarah texted him: *heard u skipped the party. wanna get coffee tomorrow instead?*

Marcus smiled at his phone. Some things were worth bearing the truth for.