I didn't know my hair was blue, Arnold thought, smiling to himself as Mr. Simmons read another "anonymous" poem to the class. He could always sense the usual discomfort from behind him; Helga anxiously tapping her foot against his chair like she always did when Simmons read her work. Today, however, her legs froze when Mr. Simmons began reading an anonymous poem she didn't recognize.
"A girl, one girl, so mean and sweet
Small and lost, dirt from head to feet
And as rain poured, they first would meet
Umbrella overhead, it covered her hair."
Her heart stopped; was this what she thought it was?
"A little pink girl, with eyes so blue
With life and love and sadness, too
I wondered what she thought of you
Some days, I'd watch her stare."
Her face turned pink, and she was praying, for the first time in her life, that he would not notice. Of all the days for him to sit next to me… Her mind was running a mile a minute. She caught sight of his arm moving and froze; was it really…?
"Watching her grow, I could not see
The words her words turned out to be
And finally, I could not believe,"
Her eyes welled with tears, and she felt his hand in hers. Her eyes moved to stare at him and saw his face, as pink as her bow.
"My beloved, my despair."
