Broken || Tyde Levi

poem.

-Scarlett's POV-

I woke up to the sound of an alarm clock. Monday. A horror story in itself. The weekend went by to quickly. I got dressed for school and went into the kitchen.
"Good morning." Kate and Joshua said.
"Morning." I set my things down and grabbed a plate of eggs.
"Oh Scarlett, we have something for you." Joshua said. He handed me a something.
"What's this?" I asked.
"A phone so we can reach you. It's yours."
I nodded, "Thank you. Thank you so much."
"What is taking that boy so long? MASON!" Kate yelled for him. "You're going to be late!"
I finished eating my eggs then put the plate in the sink and began to wash it.
"Honey, you don't have to do that." Joshua said.
I shook my head, "Its okay, I've got nothing to do."
"I'm sorry, I woke up late." Mason ran out to the living room.
Kate groaned, "Here, take this and head out to school." She handed him a banana and the car keys.
"All right, bye everyone." Mason said, "Scarlett, let's go."
I set the last clean plate down and ran over to get my bag. I then followed Mason out to the car.

***

I walked into my first period which was unfortunately, English. I plopped myself down in my assigned seat in the back of the classroom. Mr. Smith, my teacher began to talk about an assignment we would be working on.
"Okay class, you'll be working on a writing assignment. Not a story, but a poem."
A girl in front of me raised her hand, "What about?"
"That's a good question. This is a free wrote poem. Any type of poem you'd like and write about anything you want. This will be due tomorrow." I took out my notebook, "Oh and I almost forgot, you'll be presenting it in front of the class."
I sighed, "Great that will make my fitting in plan a lot easier." I though to myself. I decided to just try writing. I thought for a few minutes. Nothing. A few more minutes. Still nothing. By the time the bell had rang all I had written on my paper was my name, date, and period.

***

Luckily all of my other periods went by quickly and now it was time for lunch. I grabbed my food and sat down at my table. And yes, still alone. I then took out my English notebook to try and work on my poem. "Hey Scarlett." Someone greeted as they sat across form me. I looked up and saw Brandon smiling at me.
"Brandon, hey what a surprise." I told him.
"What are you working on?" He noticed the notepad.
"Oh, it's a poem for Mr. Smith's class. As you can see I haven't gotten far."
"What do you want to write about?"
I shrugged. "Not really sure."
"Try writing about something you're passionate about." I shook my head, "How about pain?"
"Pain?"
"Heart break, loss, things like that."
"Yeah, maybe you're right."
"Oh I almost forgot, I have band right now. I'll see you around."
I began to brainstorm a few ideas an wrote a few lines down.

***

Throughout the day, I couldn't stop writing. I thought about everything that was going on in my mind and I tried picking out something I wanted to say. Something that I could actually be truthful about.
My poem didn't come out the way I wanted the first time, so I ripped it out and tossed it into the trash. The next three weren't good either.
So I was back at square one. Nothing but a blank page with my name, date, and period on it. I slumped back in my desk chair and began thinking again. "What do I want to say? What do I feel strongly about?" I asked myself.
My phone buzzed, taking my attention away. I picked it up, a text from Tyde.
Tyde: Hey how's it going?
Me: okay I guess, what's up?
Tyde: what are you doing?
Me: my homework you stalker :P
Tyde: ;)
Me: You're a creep, why, what do you need?
Tyde: nothing I was just bored.
Me: well I've got work to do. I'll talk to you later.
Tyde: okay.
I honestly didn't feel like talking to him. Only because I was so focused on this poem. I threw myself back in my desk chair and groaned. "WHY CAN'T THE IDEA JUST COME TO ME!" I yelled.
A few seconds later my door opened, "Stop yelling, I'm right next door." It was Mason.
I looked over at him, "Sorry, I'm just having trouble with this homework assignment."
"What is it?" He was intrigued.
"A poem. Free write poem actually."
He chuckled, "Good luck with that." Then left.
"You're a great help!" I yelled back at him.
I rested my arms in my desk and thought. I thought about the night with Tyde, the night where we were going to watch Peter Pan. I thought about the thoughts that were going through my mind then. Then it hit me. I sat up and began writing. The words just spilling on to the page as if I spilled alphabet soup.
Though everything made sense in some way.

***

It was the next day, and after working so hard on my poem. It was time to present it. Tanya just finished reading hers aloud.
"Ms. Jacobs, it's your turn." Mr. Smith said.
I let out a nervous breath I didn't know I was holding, then stood up. My legs were beginning to feel like gelatin and my heart felt as if it could beat a cheetah in a race. My hands shook along with my legs as I held on the the piece of notebook paper my poem was written on. I cleared my throat, "Neverland, by Scarlett Jacobs." I looked around at everyone then focused only on my poem. "Everyone is somehow scared of the idea of death. Although we know it's coming, we all fear it.
Somehow I think that people don't fear death. I think they fear heaven.
It's a place full of people and things who once roamed the earth.
Why should we be afraid of it? I am not sure. Maybe it's because you know that everyone there is dead. Thus making us fear death and everything after.
I for one am not afraid, because I don't think of heaven as heaven. I have simply renamed it Neverland.
A place where we never grow old or die.
It's is simply better knowing that we don't die rather than knowing we have all died.
I wouldn't want to go to heaven. I would definitely want to go to Neverland."
I put down my paper and looked up at everyone in the classroom. A sudden applause arose and I sat down. I didn't want to embrace the clapping, I wanted to get away from it. It only made me even more nervous.
"That was beautiful. I was simply just wondering the meaning behind it."
"The meaning? There's no meaning really, it was just something I might have enjoyed writing."
"Might have?" I nodded, "Scarlett, no one writes a piece of poetry like this unless there's a meaning behind it."
I thought about telling him what it actually meant, but I pushed the thought away. Because not only was I speaking infront of the class, I would also be giving away a secret. "You have a gift." The bell rang, and before he could continue the conversation I said, "I'm going to be late to class." Then left.
Luckily I had science next so I had Brandon to talk to. "How was your poem?" I handed it over to him and he read it. "This is amazing. You truly are talented."
I snatched the paper back and stuffed it in my notebook, "I'm not. I'm just someone who happens to think about the subject a lot."
"What did Mr. Smith say?"
"He asked of there was a meaning behind it and what it was."
"Is there? What is it?"
I didn't want to tell anyone but I felt like I could trust Brandon. He was the only person, other than Tyde, who takes the time to talk to me. "About not wanting to die but not wanting to live either and how scary life gets even though it's over. I put some heart into it because it's true." I looked at him.
"Before you renamed heaven were you scared of it?"
I paused for a moment, "Terrified."
I didn't want to die when I was younger. I wanted to have a long and happy life with my family. Unfortunately it didn't turn out that way and at times I do feel as if I want to leave this earth. Everything just gets so overwhelming, and most of the time it has nothing to do with the environment around you. It mostly had to do with what goes on in your mind. All the bad thoughts are taken to heart sometimes. And sometimes, we can't control that.