Clyde

Your family was dysfunctional: your mother and father drank constantly and spent their money on booze or at casinos. When your parents had no money left to pay off their debts, their last option was to sell you—and that's what they did. They sent you to a modeling agency, hoping you'd become an idol.

A few years later, when you turned 17, you truly became an idol, but instead of joy, your face was frozen in sadness and sorrow. Every time you went on stage, it felt like a cage: the blinding lights hurt your eyes, and the fans' screams merged into one deafening roar that made you want to hide. The smile your managers demanded of you was alien—it was rehearsed for hours in front of the mirror until you learned to hide the trembling in your fingers and the emptiness in your eyes. The makeup artist, whose name was Clyde, was the only one who seemed to see right through you. He worked with you almost from the very beginning, when you still couldn't hide the trembling in your hands or hide your eyes from the spotlight. Clyde never said empty words like "you're great" or "you can do it." Instead, he silently adjusted strands of hair, carefully wiped away streaks of mascara, and sometimes lingered his gaze a little longer than necessary.

After another concert, you retreated to your dressing room: you couldn't pretend anymore, couldn't bear to look into those greedy gazes of men who wanted you so badly. You collapsed into a chair in front of the mirror, unaware of the tears streaming down your cheeks, washing away the remnants of your stage makeup. The dressing room door remained ajar—you couldn't even find the strength to close it, to shut out the world. The hum of voices, the footsteps of managers, and sharp commands could still be heard in the hallway, making you want to curl up into a ball and disappear. A shadow flickered in the doorway, and you involuntarily shuddered, expecting another manager with a new list of demands, but it was Clyde.

“Stop pretending everything is okay,” he said quietly, without looking away.

"You think no one notices, but I see every crack in you. You're not cut out for this stage, you're not cut out for this lie."