One day, a boy decided to buy a t-shirt.

He locks the front door to his safety net, thinking it’s his last breath,
and makes a right towards the street.
Busy traffic, a flashing red light.
He can’t help but notice
that there’s a lot of cars.
To him, the cars look like they have faces
Human faces to be exact, one his biggest fears.
It’s ok, the boy thinks to himself
Neither the cars or people inside them are looking at him,
or the weird way his hands curve,
or the way his feet drag across the pavement.
There’s no need to feel insecure.
He just needs to buy a t-shirt.

Success, the boy made it to the store!
But there’s still a lot of people,
and his body is a marble statue.
He cautiously makes his left turns and rights,
and he tells himself
“I’m doing good already!”
Although his eyes averted away from those scary faces.
And he conceals his hands in the dark spaces of his pockets.
And greatly measures the distance from himself to the free sample stand,
to avoid conversing with the free sample guy.
And being overly alert of the shopping carts around him.
Hey, that girl, she goes to his school.
Better walk even faster to avoid saying hi.
Whoa there, he almost ran into that old lady.
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to. I’m stupid. I don’t know what’s wrong with me please don’t sue!”
C’mon, don’t freak out now,
it was a mistake,
a pebble in the road.
He just need to buy his t-shirt.

The boy pays for that shirt and exits the store.
But to his surprise there's even more cars outside than before.
And it seems like he’s the only one walking again.
And yet again, by his reflexes,
he buries his hands inside his pockets,
and refrains from meeting eyes with anyone.
I hope they don’t think I’m slouching.
Or that my hands are too curved, he says in his head.
Wait a minute, there’s a man walking towards him,
and he looks pretty fat.
He keeps to the right side and give him some room to walk by.
Oh god he’s coming closer.
Is this enough room?
They won’t bump shoulders, right?
The voice in his head screams.
Please don’t touch me!
As the man and the boy passed each other.
The boy felt as if he walked through heaven’s gates.
Or that feeling of getting into bed after three years of back-breaking labor.
He successfully walked past him without bumping shoulders.
And he didn’t give him a strange look.
“I did it!”

Finally, the boy made it home.
Where his bed, his couch, his computer, and his food inhabit.
And especially no people around.
But it can’t be this way forever,
and there is room for improvement.
To break our own shells, and step in new waters.
And that is why tomorrow,
he will  buy a pair of pants.