asked the person closest to me what they actually notice about my oily skin

i have spent years assuming that the shine is the first thing anyone sees, because it is the first thing i see. so i asked my sister, who has shared a bathroom with me for twenty three years and has no reason to be polite about it.

she said she notices when i have a spot, because i touch it constantly and that is what draws her eye. not the spot, the touching. she said the shine is just what my face looks like, that oily skin is what i have, and she would find it strange if it were not there.

then she said the thing that actually landed, which is that she can tell when i am unhappy with my skin because i stop looking at people while talking to them. she has apparently been able to tell this since school.

i had been managing something invisible and broadcasting something else entirely.

ask yours. genuinely, ask someone tonight and come back and tell me what they said, i want to know if this is universal