Someone once asked...
Someone answered with kindness...
A student once answered "I'm fine" so quickly after I asked how he was that I almost believed him. Almost. I asked again, differently: "Fine compared to what?" He went quiet, and then, for the first time in weeks, he actually told me. Pretending is often not dishonesty — it's protection. Somewhere you learned that the truth was too heavy for other people, or too dangerous to say out loud. But a mask worn long enough starts to feel like your actual face. You don't owe everyone your unfiltered truth. But you owe at least one person the real answer.