Life In the Fast Lane

She sits on the bathroom floor Hiding behind a tightly closed door Afraid that prying eyes will see What society has forced her to be With fingers pushed halfway down her throat On the remains of dinner she silently chokes The taunting cries of her classmates in mind Loudly calling her fat all the time Just a size ten but not a three Like the girls in magazines you see Thighs that need to be as slim as a boys Boobs need to be as large as flotation toys He sits and stares at his pale skin Apparently white is out, tan is in Long hours spent on a tanning bed Risking skin cancer to fit in instead Only sixteen, muscles not developed yet Need to be leaner and stronger he frets And so the need to be more than he is drives To bottles of steroids he soon arrives The school bell rings, all the kids scatter Except one lonely girl that seems not to matter Classified as poor by the labels on her jeans Not worth socializing with by those that have means The parking lot is filled with such flashy cars Kids talking on cell phones, their heads in the stars Gucci sunglasses draped across their nose Life as an stereotype dawns clear and slows Everyone wants to emulate a great big star Society tells them it's no good to be who you are You have to be better than everyone else you see The thinner, the tanner, the richer, the better you'll be Girls should be blond, blue eyed and demure Sexy and seductive, rich and not poor Boys should be muscular yet tanned and lean With smiles so white they blind when seen Everyone needs to drive a fast fancy car Designer clothes are the very best by far For all those that don't fit the wonderful dream The world doesn't even see them it seems Too much hype splashed across billboards to the young Expectations are too high but are haphazardly slung Into the schoolyard the hype does quickly spread Feeding egos and turning them into bullies instead Those that have more and who fit the desired mold Hassling those that haven't reached the gold Next thing you know there's a kid with a gun Trying to silence the voices of everyone Then we wonder what happened to him Well the truth is, he just couldn't fit in Too many stereotypes not enough understanding Life just became too absolutely demanding