QueenBee

You came in,

And I didn’t know you -

I wasn’t sure what to say -

But you were so fun

So nice

So outgoing

And quickly made friends with everyone.

You lit up the room with your smile and your jokes,

Tears

But you can’t see them.

Maybe you feel them, though

In my forced smile

In my eyes

Teacher to student, but you’ve never made it feel like that

You’ve always made us feel like equals

We sat on a bench,

Huddled beneath a blanket,

Cocooning,

Trying to trap body heat.

It was freezing -

First day of summer break at the beach with friends,

And we’re all cold.

We peeled off your name tag on your cubby.

We cleared it out. You took your stuff home.

It's empty now.

Lonely and sad and cold.

I hate it.

Your name is no longer there.

Everyone is pushing us into next year.

Pushing, pulling

All the time.

The eighth graders left yesterday.

I went to their graduation.

I tried to smile.

I cried a lot.

I have a lot of in between people.

The people I don't consider to be friends

But they're not my enemies, either.

The people I don't care about enough

To be awkward around

But also can't really goof off with