Date: April 20, 2025
Author: Nathan Cole

I’ve been lying for fifteen years. Everyone thinks I’ve been working all this time. Truth is, I only held a job for maybe three of those years. The rest, I’ve spent alone in my apartment. No riches, no scams. Just don’t pay rent.

I lost my mom in my teens, then my dad in my early twenties. After that, something in me broke. I didn’t know how to function, and honestly, I still don’t. Life feels like too much most days. I’ve always been introverted, but this was more than that—it was like I faded out of the world and never came back.

People think I’m busy or doing fine. I let them. I avoid help because deep down, I don’t think I deserve it. It feels weak to even say that. I hate that I’ve become a cliché of what it means to bottle everything up. But this is where I am.

Still here. Still lying. Still stuck.