A Heart Among Ink and Flames

Part 8

      "Rem, do you happen to know any poets?"

      "Why do you ask that? And no one besides you and Sam."

      "Well, I may have just remembered that I have a poetry deadline tomorrow, and our assignment was to write a slam with a fellow poet who preferably didn't go to Paris Diderot."

      "Let me guess, you haven't even started"

      "You guessed correctly, and it's probably good to mention that it's worth half of my grade for the semester."

      "Louis!"

      "I know! That's why I need you to help me!" Louis was starting to sound hysterical; he had been sick with the flu during the two weeks that his professor had assigned the project, so when he started to ask around to see if there was anybody interested, nobody ever contacted or talked to him about collaborating. When something doesn't work out for Louis, he has the worst habit of pushing the problem so far into the recesses of his brain, that by the time he remembers it, it's usually no good.

      But the sad thing was, Louis was genuinely really thrilled to work on this project. Slam poetry was his thing, it was the genre of poetry that he wrote and that he felt. Slam was what got him through the awkward stages of middle school and kept him out of trouble in high school. When he performed, Louis felt like he could do anything, be anything. Speaking words that came from your hand scribbled under a moth eaten blanket, words that were written in the dark of the night because your adoptive mother who was the sweetest person in all of the world couldn't afford to get a flashlight. Words that had appetized his hunger for just a minute more when there weren't enough food stamps. Words that had been able to scrounge up just enough of money when he and Sam would perform slam on Thursday nights to not get them kicked out of the small apartment they were living in.

      "You should just partner up with Sam, when you used to perform together you were incredible. I know you're not super close, but you could at least give it a try." This was one of the reasons that he loved Rem; they had first met when the community center was closed so Sam had decided to speak across the street from the bookshop. When they had finished, a young lanky dark haired boy with a patched up tweed jacket and glasses that were just a bit too big (the same pair he has now) had come up to them and introduced himself as Remy. He had eagerly said how much he had loved their slam and how they should perform in the bookshop across the street someday. And that was where their friendship started, as well as Louis's crush.

      A few years later, he told Remy about growing up; something he had been afraid to do, but then again, he had never met someone as ultimately caring and kind hearted as Rem.
"I guess you're right," Louis mumbled, "I'll go find her."

     "Good," Rem shot him an indecipherable look and turned away.  

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Decided to post twice as both parts are pretty short! As always, thanks for reading!!