Most kids don’t grow up like I did. Growing up in a hotel kind of alters you a little bit, all you know is your parents and their parents worked in them, and you can’t help but think if you’ll end up the same. You don’t want to end up the same but the slightest bit of guilt gets to you, are you supposed to end up the same? It took me nearly 17 years to realize what I wanted. I always thought I was going to end up back in my tiny town of Asheville at 27, working a boring day job, depending on my parents to find a decent guy for marriage because that’s how an indian family normally goes. Why wouldn’t I want to live up to those standards? I tried my hardest to keep my grades high to please my parents but all this time I wasn’t pleasing myself. I wasn’t feeling like I was living like I could be, like a teenager, so was my life always going to be like this? 

I want to fall in love. I've fallen in love. With a beautiful boy beyond my reach. He loves me too. But the persistent thoughts of my parents disapproval cloud our love. Yelling, crying, screaming, all for what. He's white. Like that should matter. Love is love no matter what gender or race, don't try and stop me. Don't tell me I don't know what love is because I know it's this.

I want to create my own life.