I want to never move on
And yet I want change.
I want to see my friends again 
So time must pass
But I do not want my time to pass.
I turn thirteen 
In a week.
I do not want to forever be labeled "teenager" or "adult."
I am a child.
I still cry at movies and books.
I still run up to dogs on the street and pet them.
I still play childish games.
Does this make me a child?
I no longer go to bed at 8.
I no longer have "playdates."
I no longer want to play pretend or go to the playground.
Does this make me a teenager?
I hope not.
I want to remain in my childhood
But time has passed too quickly,
Much of it taken,
Less of it spent.
Why do I have to go?
Forced into this state of being
Where I have to pretend I don't want to go play tag with the kids in the yard,
Where I have to pretend I want to listen to the adults' dull chatter,
Where I have to get good grades,
Where I have to stop being a bookworm,
Where I have to fall in love.
It is too much.
Why can I not be a child?
Thinking simple thoughts,
Playing pretend,
Climbing trees,
Reading books,
Not being judged in any way,
Just being themselves.
Why can adults not be this way?
I am still a child, I wouldn't understand
Why must I turn into an adult?
What defines a teenager?
Age? Life?
Love? Knowledge?
What makes me me?
It is no longer being myself.
Now what shapes me is others.
Is this what I want to be?
No.
Come quickly Peter Pan –
I am waiting.