A boy called Liam started hanging around with some older kids. To keep up, he began acting older than he is — pretending he'd seen things he hadn't, was into things he wasn't, didn't care about stuff he secretly still loved. He swapped his real interests for ones that seemed more grown-up. He acts bored now, a bit hardened, like being young is something to be embarrassed about. But you've known Liam a long time. You can see the act. You know he still loves the "babyish" things he now pretends to find lame. You can tell he's uncomfortable in this older skin, performing a version of himself that's a few years ahead of where he actually is. He's racing to grow up. And he seems to be enjoying it less and less.