My parents asked what was wrong

With me?

Why was I so

Oblivious to the rest of the world?

I said I was fine.

Tired, that's all.

They said there had to be

Something else the matter

With their silent son.

I shook my head

But knew deep down

Somewhere

That I wasn't the same

Wasn't at all like my usual self.

I insisted, wiping away the suspicions

Of drugs or alcohol that flooded

Through their minds

Like any concerned parents

Of a teenaged boy.

It made me angry they would think that

But I didn't say,

Didn't tell them I was lost

To a different kind of substance

Deep within myself

Somewhere

That of jealous anger and protective hate

And the fact that she

Wasn't even mine to protect.

My parents turned to each other

As I left the room,

Conversing about this depressive state.

My mother asked worriedly if it could be a girl

But my steadfast father replied

"I sincerely doubt it."