AN: I'd like to thank all of the guests who are reviewing this story! I haven't done that yet, so thanks… I really appreciate the feedback you guys give- all of you! Keep up with the reviewing (can we get 50 reviews after this chapter?) and enjoy the chapter
A few students later, the only ninth graders left to present their assignments were Kwan, Dash, Valerie, Tucker, Sam and Danny. Dash wanted to go last, you know, best for last and everything. So, since the geek freak squad was across the room and his best bud was sitting next to him, he sent his friend a look that clearly said, "Go now or else." The or else could not be conveyed over the glare, but Kwan took the hint, trying to avoid whatever the Or Else was (in reality Dash didn't have an Or Else, he just knew that Kwan would assume he did).
Raising his hand, and being the only student to do so, Kwan was immediately called on by Mr. Lancer. Kwan walked to the front of the classroom, somewhat nervous to be reading his poem. He knew his poem was clearly implied how he felt next to Dash sometimes, but he knew Dash wasn't exactly the brightest crayon in the box, so he assumed he'd be fine. As he shuffled up to the front of the room, he thought back to the previous night, when he had written the poem.
oOoOoOo
THE NIGHT BEFORE:
Some people might view waiting until the last night to work on a project you had all week to complete as procrastinating way too much, and Kwan was generally one of those people. But, come on, it was just a poem, so Kwan figured he'd live if he procrastinate a little. Besides, Kwan was decent at poetry (even though he'd never admit it, he did write a lot of poetry when he was younger), and he already had his topic. So he'd be fine.
His poem would be in two parts. The first part would be about how he felt about always being second place to Dash. He had no idea how he'd write it, but it seemed like it'd turn out ok. He was just kinda tired of always being seen as "the second in command of Dash". He'd talked to Star before, and knew that she felt the same way about Paulina, and while it was nice to know that he wasn't alone in his feelings, he still felt obligated to write the poem.
The second part was going to be referring life to a movie. In all honesty, most days Kwan sort of knew that if life was a movie or even a TV show, that he wasn't the star. And he got the sneaking suspicion that it wasn't Dash or Paulina either. Kwan knew all of the bad things the A-listers did, and most protagonists tended to be nice. So who was the protagonist? Maybe it was Phantom, or maybe it was one of the nerds the popular kids (including him, he thought sadly) wailed on. But it was most definitely not Kwan or his friends, of that he was sure.
oOoOoOo
AND BACK TO THE FUTURE- ERM, THE PRESENT.
Kwan finally reached the front of the room, his thought process seeming longer than him when in reality it was only the duration of about half a minute.
"Hey," he greeted casually, trying to appear calm. "My poem is called Second."]
He took a deep breath, looked down at the piece of notebook paper he had brought up with him, and began reading.
"Second.
Second rate,
Second place.
Almost there,
And yet not quite.
Always in the shadows,
Forever in the background.
If my life were a movie I'd be an extra,
And no one cares about another face in the crowd.
I follow the first and walk before the last,
Everyone forgets about the middle.
No one cares about the middle.
I'm always in the middle.
Runner up, good try.
Almost there,
Yet not quite.
Second."
Once Kwan finished, he stood still, slightly disappointed that no one was clapping, just thinking deeply and staring off into space. Thankfully, Star saw that he wanted applause (mainly because everyone else was getting it, and not getting it was proving to be awkward) and started clapping somewhat loudly. That seemed to snap everyone out of their reveries, and one by one the rest of the class started clapping as well.
Giving Star a grateful smile, he went back and sat in his seat. Mr. Lancer was writing some notes on his grading sheet, so the idle class thought about starting to talk. But no one could bring themselves to break the unnatural (at least in a high school classroom) silence, so they just sat there silently, each in his or her own world of thought.
Star obviously liked Kwan's poem, and not only because she liked Kwan, or not even because she related to the poem. Kwan was just simply a good writer. Star had known this already, as Kwan had written her many a poem for her birthday, their dating anniversaries, and other occasions. He asked her not to tell anyone about his gift, as it would probably get him labeled as a geek, so she didn't, although she always encouraged him to keep writing.
Dash was oblivious to the fact that when Kwan said he always felt like he was in second place that he was referring to him, Dash. What the jock did pick up from the poem was that Kwan felt as if he was "another face in the crowd", which was kind of depressing. And Kwan doesn't deserve to feel that way, Dash mused, he isn't another face in the crowd: he's awesome! And he should know that… I'll have to remind him! With his resolution to help his best friend created, Dash started wondering how Kwan had learned to write that amazingly.
Danny, Sam and Tucker were all surprised that Kwan had the ability to write that well too. All three recognized that when Kwan said he was feeling stuck at second place he was referring to Dash. After hearing the poem, Danny thought of Vlad, and how he was probably doomed to always be less powerful than Vlad because he didn't have the 20 years of experience the older man had.
While everyone else was thinking about Kwan's poem, Kwan himself was looking at the last four students, wondering which of the three geeks (although Kwan didn't think of the word in a derogatory way, just as a way to define people) Valerie, or Dash would go next.
AN: And there is chapter 6! Ok, either Valerie or Dash is going next, so who will it be? You guys decide by leaving comments! And thanks for reading