I mindlessly thanked Emma and her mom for the car ride once we arrived at
the school. Emma, Sean, and I got out of the car and started walking up the
stairs to the front door of the school. Emma and Sean started talking about
dolphins or something. I wasn't really paying attention and only nodded my
head once in a while so they wouldn't notice. We were already pretty late,
about thirty minutes or so. We approached the office desk and asked a
school worker for three late slips. The woman asked for a signed note. I
started to panic, because I knew that I could lose my co-op job. Emma
looked at me and said, "Relax, okay? I have a note." Emma gave the woman
the note and we waited for our late slips. The woman looked at the note for
what seemed like an hour, until she finally gave in and handed us our late
slips.
"What class do you have right now, Sean?" asked Emma. "English class," grunted Sean. "Yeah, me too," I said. Emma laughed and said, "Oh well, I have math, so see you guys later!" Sean said bye, and I just nodded. At least I had stopped smiling. We reached the door to English class, and Sean said "Can't wait to hear Ms. Kwan lose it." I opened the door and we walked inside.
Ms. Kwan stopped what she was doing and looked at us. "Guys, you are late." "We know," I sarcastically replied. Ms. Kwan frowned and said, "This is serious. Ellie, you could lose your co-op and Sean if you have one more detention you could get suspended." I handed Ms. Kwan the late slips and she told us to take our seats. I looked around for Ashley and found her sitting right behind Paige. Great, I thought. I can't sit near Paige! She's going to be asking me stupid questions about how I'm doing. I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. "What?" I said quietly. "El, sit down before Ms. Kwan gives you a detention," said Ashley in a serious voice-even for her. I bit my lip and finally sat down.
"Okay class, one by one I will ask you to get up and read your poems," stated Ms. Kwan. I started to panic again. I completely forgot about the damn poem. I quickly opened my backpack and looked around for my journal. I had poems written in there. I could just rip one out, change the date, and use it. While looking for my journal, my backpack accidentally tipped over. The compass fell out. As fast and quietly as I could, I snatched it and stuffed it back into the backpack. There was a spot of blood on the floor. I tried to ignore it and decided if someone spotted it, I would just pretend it was my time of the month. Gross but effective, as proven by Manny who had gotten hers a couple of months ago. My hand brushed a material that felt like leather. I had found my journal. Lifting it out of the backpack, I turned the pages frantically, trying to find a suitable poem that I could get a good grade for.
"Ellie Nash," called Ms. Kwan. I looked up, ripped out a poem, and walked up to the front of the classroom. "Okay..um..well, it's called..No Labels." I cleared my throat and right then and there I wanted nothing more than a trip to the bathroom with my friend. My razor. My compass. Anything sharp and for the most part, sanitary. Instead, I started to read.
"We label what we don't understand. Labeling, branding, and calling. We are all humans, we are all here. Personalities vary but descriptions stay the same. We label what we can't accept. We label to make ourselves feel different. We label to herd all of us into little groups, little cages marked with pointless words. This world can change; it needs to change. To become a world without labels will be our ultimate triumph." I lifted my head from the piece of paper, shocked. I wrote this the first day I started going to this school. It wasn't even that good. Why did I have to pick this poem?
Ms. Kwan cleared her throat and said, "Wow. That was impressive. Very direct. A+" I gaped at her and walked back to my seat. I got an A+ for this shitty poem? That was impressive..
Soon, the bell rang. Ashley and I walked out of the classroom. "So, why were you late El," questioned Ash with a worried tone of voice. "I got distracted. I was busy writing that poem." Ashley looked at me and seemed even more worried. Maybe even disturbed. "El, you know you didn't just write that. You showed that to me ages ago." Oh-uh. She was right. I did show it to her during the summer. "Well, I had to fix it up, you know. I wanted a good grade." "Sure." I could tell Ashley didn't believe me, but she wasn't going to pry. The bell rang again, it was time for lunch. As we walked to the cafeteria, my arm warmer started to slip down again. I noticed almost right away and fixed it immediately. Paige was gaping at me. Great. She must've seen. "Be right back okay? I'm going to go buy some lunch," Ashley said. "Okay," I managed to choke out. I knew what was going to happen while Ashley was away. Paige was going to happen.
"What class do you have right now, Sean?" asked Emma. "English class," grunted Sean. "Yeah, me too," I said. Emma laughed and said, "Oh well, I have math, so see you guys later!" Sean said bye, and I just nodded. At least I had stopped smiling. We reached the door to English class, and Sean said "Can't wait to hear Ms. Kwan lose it." I opened the door and we walked inside.
Ms. Kwan stopped what she was doing and looked at us. "Guys, you are late." "We know," I sarcastically replied. Ms. Kwan frowned and said, "This is serious. Ellie, you could lose your co-op and Sean if you have one more detention you could get suspended." I handed Ms. Kwan the late slips and she told us to take our seats. I looked around for Ashley and found her sitting right behind Paige. Great, I thought. I can't sit near Paige! She's going to be asking me stupid questions about how I'm doing. I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. "What?" I said quietly. "El, sit down before Ms. Kwan gives you a detention," said Ashley in a serious voice-even for her. I bit my lip and finally sat down.
"Okay class, one by one I will ask you to get up and read your poems," stated Ms. Kwan. I started to panic again. I completely forgot about the damn poem. I quickly opened my backpack and looked around for my journal. I had poems written in there. I could just rip one out, change the date, and use it. While looking for my journal, my backpack accidentally tipped over. The compass fell out. As fast and quietly as I could, I snatched it and stuffed it back into the backpack. There was a spot of blood on the floor. I tried to ignore it and decided if someone spotted it, I would just pretend it was my time of the month. Gross but effective, as proven by Manny who had gotten hers a couple of months ago. My hand brushed a material that felt like leather. I had found my journal. Lifting it out of the backpack, I turned the pages frantically, trying to find a suitable poem that I could get a good grade for.
"Ellie Nash," called Ms. Kwan. I looked up, ripped out a poem, and walked up to the front of the classroom. "Okay..um..well, it's called..No Labels." I cleared my throat and right then and there I wanted nothing more than a trip to the bathroom with my friend. My razor. My compass. Anything sharp and for the most part, sanitary. Instead, I started to read.
"We label what we don't understand. Labeling, branding, and calling. We are all humans, we are all here. Personalities vary but descriptions stay the same. We label what we can't accept. We label to make ourselves feel different. We label to herd all of us into little groups, little cages marked with pointless words. This world can change; it needs to change. To become a world without labels will be our ultimate triumph." I lifted my head from the piece of paper, shocked. I wrote this the first day I started going to this school. It wasn't even that good. Why did I have to pick this poem?
Ms. Kwan cleared her throat and said, "Wow. That was impressive. Very direct. A+" I gaped at her and walked back to my seat. I got an A+ for this shitty poem? That was impressive..
Soon, the bell rang. Ashley and I walked out of the classroom. "So, why were you late El," questioned Ash with a worried tone of voice. "I got distracted. I was busy writing that poem." Ashley looked at me and seemed even more worried. Maybe even disturbed. "El, you know you didn't just write that. You showed that to me ages ago." Oh-uh. She was right. I did show it to her during the summer. "Well, I had to fix it up, you know. I wanted a good grade." "Sure." I could tell Ashley didn't believe me, but she wasn't going to pry. The bell rang again, it was time for lunch. As we walked to the cafeteria, my arm warmer started to slip down again. I noticed almost right away and fixed it immediately. Paige was gaping at me. Great. She must've seen. "Be right back okay? I'm going to go buy some lunch," Ashley said. "Okay," I managed to choke out. I knew what was going to happen while Ashley was away. Paige was going to happen.
