Fake

He wears a plastic smile, contorted into a shape one would expect to belong to your typical exaggerated Hollywood blockbuster mental patient.
Picture Norman Bates of 'Psycho' fame; you all know that smile.
Of course you do.
Imagine that engraved into your thoughts.
That's how Shelly feels.
But forget Shelly.
Let's focus on the matter at hand.
Jeremy Black.
The man who stands on his front porch every day, observing the daily goings-ons that unfold in his quiet, suburban neighborhood.
However what is most striking is not his peculiar habit, but the smile.
The smile.
Every day it would be positioned no differently than the last.
Nobody takes notice of Mr Black, but if anyone were, they would be captivated.
The look of pleasure that creeps upon his face each day could not be explained.
This is where, my dear reader, we come back to Shelly.
You remember? The putrid child I told you to forget, just moments ago.
Well you see, this young lass never met Mr Black, yet she is the only person in existence (save for you and I) that is aware of him...

It was the night of the ever important 'Prom'.
She was heading home with a tall, handsome gentleman.
The gentleman expected to walk Shelly home and be done for the night.
Shelly had other plans, as many seniors do after such an event.
What she didn't count on however, was the weedy man with a concealed 9mm lurking in the dark alleyway.
She could never have imagined her date being brought to the ground by two bullets.
She could never have imagined being dragged into the aforementioned alleyway and stripped of her dress.
Most of all she could never have imagined the man disappearing into the darkness just moments before thrusting himself inside her.
A guardian angel?
Perhaps.
But things weren't the same after that.
Every so often an image would form in her head, causing her blood to coagulate.
It was, unbeknownst to her, Mr Black.
His smile.
Oh Christ, his smile.
Shelly came to the conclusion that she stood out from the crowd far too much.
This could be the only possible explanation for the man attempting to rape her.
In fact, had she never been asked to the Prom by the school hunk she never would have had to walk home.
So, to solve his problem, she invented a new identity for herself.
She stopped wearing makeup, stopped dressing fashionably, stopped talking to all the popular kids.
Surely this would stop images of this man, seemingly a pervert, from collecting in her mind.
Mr Black saw through this disguise.
The thoughts refused to cease.
One night she decided it was too much.
She took her hair straightener into her hand.
After allowing it to heat up for several minutes she held it up in front of her.
Tears escaped from the corners of her eyes.
She let out a pathetic snivel.
Then she thrust the device into her mouth and pressed it against the commissures of her mouth.
She gasped, suddenly realising the great pain such an act was causing her.
A night of carrying out this process resulted in a total reform of her face.
What was once a petite muzzle had become a gaping crack in her features.
With some effort she twisted the hole into a smile.
A very familiar smile at that.
What stared Shelly in the mirror now was the very essence of the man who had haunted her since that fateful summer night.
Her eyes were gushing by this point, the liquid seeping into the mouth that stretched from one cheek to the other.
It was done.
It was over.
"No" whispered a man behind her.
The lights cut off.
Shelly scrambled for her jacket which contained the lighter for her cigarettes.
She pulled it out, then proceeded to clumsily flick it in the hopes it would burst into flames.
Eventually she succeeded.
Sighing slightly she held the light up to the mirror.
Two identical smiles flashed back at her.
"Don't try to cover up who you really are, Shelly. You've been mine for some time now"
She opened her mouth and a sickening rasp escaped, but nothing more.
Her eyes were so wide they could have been snooker balls.
A hand slid over her face, accompanied by a slow, hoarse 'shhh' sound.
Then it pulled backwards, and she disappeared into the darkness once again.