“I want to not have to choose,” she says. “But I think that’s what being seventeen is. Realizing you have to.”
Two weeks ago, it almost fell apart.
At 7:15 on a Tuesday morning, Lily Chen is unremarkable. She sits in the third row of Mrs. Davison’s AP English class, her gray hoodie zipped to the neck, her hair falling like a curtain between her and the world. She hasn’t raised her hand in three years. When the bell rings, she moves through the hallway like a ghost—present, but easily overlooked. a girl's secret new life
“I don’t know if he’ll tell anyone,” she says. “But I also don’t know if I’d deny it anymore.” “I want to not have to choose,” she says
Lily’s phone buzzes constantly during our interview. Texts from her mother: Dinner is cold. Where are you? Your father is worried. The lie is always the same: Studying at the library. Big test tomorrow. At 7:15 on a Tuesday morning, Lily Chen is unremarkable