We never really stopped pretending. The games just got different.

We pretended to be independent adults while our parents paid our cell phone bills.
We pretended we could hold our liquor by mixing shots with water.
We pretended to be in love…
Playing house with our lovers
Picking our bedspreads and coffee pots
While keeping an eye on the horizon for someone less permanent.

We pretended. We played games.
But when the games were over, nobody ever seemed to win