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Fly Like A Phoenix

                 

Week 2, Day 2

            My life isn't a series of fabulous adventures. I'm just like any other high school student. Over the weekend, I did nothing but study for this insane French test. It's only week two, get real. I hate how we're expected to act like adults but then we're treated like kids. That's what Jakob said, at least. I like to quote him because he's just a creative person. I told him he should be a Creative Writing major but he said he rather just make music videos. He's in this program called "Comparative Arts".  Comparative Arts is where you design your own program. He really loves making videos but he also is incredibly good at playing guitar. So to combine the two, he makes music videos. I've seen some of his compositions and I'm amazed at how talented he is. Sometimes I feel like I'm the least talented person at this school. The funny thing is that I don't really mind a bit.

            I have an impromptu reading next period with my Fiction Writing teacher, Mr. Lewis, and my hands couldn't possibly be shaking more. I finally get to hear the work of my classmates and I'm worried that they'll think I'm immature and inexperienced. On the bright side, I finally get to hear Hunter read. He hasn't let me hear or read any of his work since we first met so you can just imagine how anxious I am right now.

            The clock seems to move at a glacial pace, allowing my fear to build. Jakob keeps comforting me all throughout warm-ups in dance, saying things like, "Don't panic, no not yet" because everyone knows Fall Out Boy is the key to one's heart. Until finally the time comes to walk back to the Writing House to present some work. My knees begin to tremble as well and Jakob insists on walking me even though I warn him that he'll be late for English. He tells me I'm worth it.

            After the longest walk across campus of my life, we finally make it to the writing house. Jakob stands in front of me. "Darling, don't panic."

            "No, not yet." I finish, smirking up at him through my chattering teeth.

He pulls me into a hug, kisses the top of my head and says, "Go get em, kiddo." And he walks off, leaving me to struggle inside by myself. I spot Hunter near the back of the room, sitting by himself. I figure we're good enough friends that I can sit next to him at this point without invitation. Out of the four of us, he's usually the most distant. Sometimes he'll smile and carry Amy around on his shoulders and other days he'll sit by himself with a notepad, not a word to any of us.

I sit next to him and he smiles slightly but he continues to stare at his blank paper. "What are you going to read?" I ask him politely. He just shows me the piece of paper. I nod, deciding not to press the subject.

"Welcome to our first open mic at the Writing House!" A man who I presume to be the head of the writing program begins to speak. "I'm so excited to see so many familiar faces as well as many new ones this year. First, let's start with returners. Lauren Allen, would you like to go first?" A girl who looks to be the same age as I, walks up to the mic. "Please introduce yourself," the man prods. She grimaces but holds her head.

"Thank you, Mr. Brown. Okay first, my name is Phoenix. Second, don't use she pronouns please." She nods at the audience. "Cool, that's out of the way. So hi, I'm Phoenix and I am a thespian. That's thespian as in acting, not lesbian." She holds her hand up as murmurs arise. "Yes, yes, I know. What the hell is a theatre major doing in the Writing House? I'm a Comparative Arts major. If you don't know what that is, it's fine. I created my own program. I'm here because I write scripts. Today I'm going to be acting out a play I wrote over the summer. Hope you like it...actually I don't care you can hate it." I swear she's looking straight at me.