School Days
Sitting
at my desk piled high with looming projects due
My mind wanders to days when work was only graded
I can still feel the
satisfying crunch of the first fall leaves under my sneakers laces double
knotted as I walk to the bus stop
I sit next to the new boy with green eyes,
Our tan and scrapped knees touching
He offers me a stick of gum
Which I decline In sixteen years he will ask me to be his
wife and I will accept
I take out my pencils and notebooks carefully labeled,
The start of my OCD
Ms. Volpe's animated voice
Instructs me to write about my summer vacation My mind goes blank
As I stare at Julie Brown's perfect French braids
In front of me,
Behind me Bobby Shore groans at the absurdity of being asked
to write something
In math my cuticles bleed as I pray that Mr. White won't call on me The
smudge on my paper grows
From
erasing my hesitant answer
Throngs of excited chatter
Echo through the halls
Laughter and screams ensue
Until the bell rings
Reigning
us into the next class
A class spent Daydreaming Or attentively
taking notes
Worrying about not being asked out
Or restlessly tapping
Anticipating
the next test score
Lunch is a turkey sandwich An
apple some carrot sticks And a broken cookie
With a note from my mother
Telling me she loves me
That
she is proud of me
Sydney Stuart leads the conversation at the head of the table Or rather a
monologue
As all the girls gaze at her wantingly
I
could care less
I run as fast as I can
But still the slowest
Not having been gifted with my sibling's athleticism My lunch bouncing in
my stomach
"Go Sadey, go!" They cheer
And
I try to go faster
Then 1 fall
And I want to cry
Not from the pain
But from the embarrassment
Knowing that the new boy with green eyes Had witnessed it.
But then his hand reaches down to me
And he lifts me up
His face full of concern
The face of concern I will grow to know all too well
From
such a tender-hearted man
And then my phone rings
And I am brought back
My husband lets me know he will pick up Haley after
school
And then I take a deep breath and start writing.
I am from Illinois originally but have resided in Arizona for the past 15 years. I love the desert and the warm weather. I enjoy hiking and getting outdoors. I also have a passion for writing though I have never submitted my work for publication before. I am fortunate to have a wonderful husband who loves to cook and a 17-month-old son who keeps me very busy and can make it difficult to find time to write. I also enjoy reading a good thriller as much as I like writing them.