She sits there, weaving her web of lies, talking to everyone. Her name is Cassandra
Jones, but I call her the Spider Queen. Not to her face, of course, but in the privacy
of my own mind alone.

I've known her since the eighth grade, when I first transferred to this school. At first,
she had me ensnared with the rest of the school. She was a sight to see, with her
long auburn hair that wisped perfectly in the breeze, and her perfectly even skin
tone. Every morning, she expertly applies her make-up and never loses her
composure.

Then, I saw it. Her thin web began to emerge bit by bit. I was first tipped off when
I was invited to one of her parties at her house. It's more of a castle than a house,
but I didn't mention it to anyone else.

I walked around her house, awed by its vastness. Then, I slowly began to notice the intricate web of deceit that she has woven around her life, to the point that her
entire life was practically a lie. I see her alone, or when she thinks she's alone.
She looks tired, drained, and devoid of all the joy she pretends to have. I see her
facade of happiness fall and shatter to the ground. I see it break and glimpse her
true self appear.

Her facade is a happy, in-control, pretty girl, but under all her make-up and false
smiles, she was a child. She only wanted to be loved, but she was insecure. She
thought no one could love her, so she changed herself to make everyone love her.

I saw all of this in her sigh as she sat alone on her bed. She cried no tears. No,
that would be too hard to cover up, even with all of her make-up.

She would hold them in, keep the inevitable flood of tears at bay. She would be
brave, she would shoulder all the pain and cold alone.

After the party, after I saw her hidden weariness, I always noticed her small frowns,
all the tired looks cast out the window. The little signs of her sorrow. Like tiny holes
in her web of lies.

She was never alone, she was always busy with clubs or sports or homework. She
always kept her mind occupied, so she didn't have to think about how messed up
she is.

She is a lonely Spider Queen, weaving her web of lies, ensnaring all her peers. She
deceives all, with her tiny lies, and no one knows.

And how could they? They've been trapped in her lies for so long that they are
completely encased, and blind to all of the little mistakes.

For she is the Spider Queen, and we are the flies, sitting atop her web of lies.
But I see through her lies, her near transparent web.

I see the sad, lonely girl. I see a girl who is begging for someone to see her
mistakes, to call her out. I see my reflection in her eyes.

I see myself in her, I see the girl I used to be. I can see the hurt, the hurt that no one else can see.

Because I understand what it's like to live a lie. To keep yourself locked away, to
never say what you truly want to say.

I am different now, though. My web has been shredded, for a weed-whacker of
rumors ripped it into indistinguishable scraps. That's the reason I transferred in the
first place.

I don't try anymore. I don't try to make everyone happy anymore. I do all that is
required of me, but no longer do I put that false mask of never-ending joy on my
face.

I realized that I was not the spider sitting in my own web, but a fly, trapped within
the lies of this world.

I broke its hold, it no longer has me ensnared. I escaped from the web, I saw through it's intricate lies, laid out so delicately but with so much purpose.

I look at it now, and see all the others, like Cassandra Jones, still trapped in the
web, still blinded by the lies surrounding them.

But I am done with the lies of the world. I will no longer struggle to please everyone
and do everything right.

I will walk my own path. And no spider web will ever stop me again.