I’d never noticed before, but Mrs. Paulsen was kind of a bitch.
I glanced down at my notebook, trying to discern the words.
Breathe, Harleigh. Just breathe.
“Let’s go.”
“Okay, okay…” I gave her an exasperated sigh, my heart crashing violently against my chest. “This is called These Dirty Lies.”
Forever.
The only word my heart knew to be true.
You and me. Me and you.
Two halves of a whole, soul mates entwined.
I felt it there, like strands of silk that bind.
Love me today, tomorrow more.
Leave me never and not before.
These dirty lies that shatter and break.
Bring the darkness, but don’t forsake.
All we have, so deep and true.
The only thing I ask of you.
Forever.
The only word my heart knew to be true.
You and me. Me and you.
Two halves of a whole, soul mates for evermore.
Set me free, and I will soar.
Silence.
Complete and utter silence hung in the air. Not even the sound of a pencil tapping against a desk or a student shuffling in their seat.
Even Mrs. Paulsen was too stunned to speak. After what felt like eternity, she cleared her throat and gave me a strange look. “Yes, well, very good. Thank you, Harleigh, for sharing that… enlightening piece.”
Enlightening piece?
It felt like I’d cut out a piece of my broken bloody heart and held it up for all to see. But it was too late now. As I moved back to my desk, everyone watched me. But there was a little more wariness in their eyes now.
I wasn’t only the new girl from The Row. I was the strange new girl from The Row who wrote maudlin poems about love and loss and darkness.
Thankfully, Mrs. Paulsen moved on to someone else who gave a much less sobering performance of their poem. It even got a laugh or two. But she’d told us to write from the heart.
From inside of us.
I just hadn’t ever anticipated that I’d have to share my intimate thoughts with the entire class.