The Girl In My Class

The Girl In My Class

written by: Joy Joyancel

@JoyJoyancel

 

The girl in my class,
the one with the fresh bruise on her left cheek,
I struggled to remember the color of her eyes,
they were always downcast, red-rimmed, or swollen.

Every day I waited for a teacher to do something,
Maybe they didn’t see,
Maybe they didn’t care,
Maybe they were overworked.

One day she didn’t come to school,
five of us, three boys and two girls,
went to find her at school break,
her face was swollen,
we asked her to come out and play,
she smiled a bit then winced,
no questions were asked, we just played till dusk.

In the morning I found her hunched at her desk,
a usual sight, the others passed by,
a closer look made me freeze in my tracks, I turned around, ran and found a teacher,
she was taken away, I didn’t see her for the whole day,
I was sick with worry but afraid to go to her house.
The following week I arrived at school anxious,
was she okay? was she helped?
I was miserable and downcast,
what happened to the girl in my class?

One morning, a ringing sound washed over my frame,
that sound was new, but I knew I would never forget it,
my eyes found hers,
light brown eyes on a pure white background,
she smiled wide and waved me over,
she laughed again at something someone said,
my soul soared light as a feather and sang to her laughter.

Even though her face carried a scar that would never fade,
the girl in my class didn’t cry anymore.