I'll be your mirror (wlw, teacherxstudent)

chapter 4

"I hope you all had a lovely vacation." She confidently walks around the podium. Some of the students agree, some don't. I just nod and that's when she resumes speaking, "I'm Miss Moore and I'll be your English teacher for the year. I've taught a lot of you over the years. But I see there are a few new faces as well. So first, I'd like for you all to introduce yourself." She points to a guy sitting on the first chair near the door and starts calling others after he's done.

As my turn comes, I take a deep breath and speak up, "I'm Maya and I like to paint and listen to music." I hear someone whistle from behind me.

"Philip. If I see this behaviour again, I won't hesitate to kick you out of the class." Miss Moore scolds, sending him a look that reads 'do not test me.'

Because of his lack of answer, she speaks up again, much louder making me bite my cheek. "What do you say? Do I have to teach you kindergarten stuff now?"

"No, sorry miss." He speaks up sounding annoyed.

Miss Moore looks back to me with a little smile, "Thank you, Maya."

Straightening up, she goes back to the whiteboard and writes; 'Who am I?'

"This is the topic for today. I want you all to write atleast five lines on it. You have till the end of class." She orders sitting back down on her chair.

She checks her phone and I see her frown. I tilt my head in confusion. What's bothering her?

She looks up and does a double take meeting my eyes and leans forward on the desk. Her eyes move lower to my paper, silently telling me to write.

After much thought, I write down the following poem:

Who am I?

Who I am, you ask?
I am made from
all the people I've encountered
and all the things I have
experienced.
Inside, I hold the laughter of my
friends,
the arguments with my parents,
the chattering of young children,
and the warmth from kind strangers.
Inside, there are stitchings from
cracked hearts,
bitter words from heated arguments,
music that gets me through,
and emotions cannot convey.
I am made from
all these people and moments.
That is who I am.
Original poem by Ming D. Liu.

I give my paper and get out of the class giving Miss Moore a smile which she reciprocates.

"Did you actually write a poem?" Lara asks me surprised.

"Yeah, that was all going on in my mind. Was it cringey?" Probably yes, but who cares, I wrote my five lines.

"No, no, I'm just surprised"

Kiara adds, "I thought it was impressive."

"How was yours?" I question.

"Eh, it was alright. Just wrote about random stuff." Kiara tiredly waves her other hand around.

"Like?" I press further curious. She doesn't really talk much about her interests or personal life. I still don't know where she lives. She told us that she has a older brother and her mom, who's a single mother. That's as far as it goes.

Before she can answer, Philip interrupts greeting us with his group of three other boys, "She's a bitch, isn't she?"

"Wha- Who? And what are you doing here? Don't you have stuff to do." Lara asks, looking him up and down.

He ignores her comment and continues blabbering, "Miss Moore. She's always so- so angry. She's a sadist I swear. What a bitch!" The other boys agree with him making me roll my eyes.