I just wasted my whole damn check again. Like, the ENTIRE thing. It was from that gig I did last week, washing cars for Mr. Henderson, almost broke my back for that cash, every single dollar. And now it's gone. Poof. On stupid little bottles. Tiny, expensive bottles of serum. My friend Chloe, she just bought new shoes with her last gig money, awesome Nikes, but me? I bought another stupid serum for my face. It's supposed to shrink pores, make them disappear. I keep telling myself it’s an investment, but it’s just me being a damn idiot. I spend hours every day, every single day, looking at my face. Like, with the magnifying mirror my mom used to use for plucking eyebrows. I see these HUGE pores, like craters, all over my nose and cheeks. It’s disgusting. Everyone else has perfect skin, like, glass skin, you know? And mine just looks... pitted. I try to squeeze them, pick at them, but it just makes it worse, makes them red and angry looking. So then I google "how to get rid of huge pores" and all these articles pop up saying you NEED this serum or that toner, and I just... I fall for it every time. My brain just switches off, like, this is the answer. THIS is the thing that will fix me. I hate that I keep doing this. I know I need that money for other stuff. Like, food sometimes? Or to help my dad with rent so he doesn’t have to work extra shifts. But the thought of someone looking at my face and seeing all those holes... it just makes me feel so much SHAME. I almost didn't go to school today 'cause I felt like everyone was just staring at my skin. And now the money's gone again. And the pores are still there. Maybe even bigger. I swear they're bigger. I don't know what to do. I just feel so dumb.