"Speak"

Should I escape?

The first hour of blowing off school is great.

No one to tell me what to do, what to read, what to say.

I wonder down Main Street.

My insides are cold from breathing in frozen air.

I'm saved by a Centro bus.

It coughs and rumbles and spits out two old women in front of the grocery store.

I climb on.

Destination: The Mall.

You never think about the mall being closed.

It's always supposed to be there.

I sit by the central elevator, where they set up Santa's Workshop after Halloween.

The air smells like French fries and floor cleaner.

I should probably tell someone, just tell someone.

Get it over with.

Let it out, blurt it out.

I spend the rest of the day waiting for it be 2:48.