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I look at the test I had completed the day before, and it’s ," I say "I understand where you’re coet easier froht," I lie He’s cooing to be easier I could move back to Texas today and I’d still feel too close to hiument for my conscience to convince me to switch classes

He crumples up my transfer form and chucks it toward the trash can It misses by about two feet I pick it up as I walk to the door and toss it in

"I guess I’ll see you third period, Mr Cooper"

I see him frown out of my peripheral vision as I exit

I feel sos yesterday Even though I would do whatever it took to rectify the aard situation we’re in, he still somehow finds a way to put me at ease

"What happened to you yesterday?" Eddie says as we enter second period "Get lost again?"

"Yeah, sorry about that Issues with admin"

"You should have texted," she teases in a sarcastic tone "I orried about you"

"Oh, I’irl?" A guy I have yet to meet puts his arm around Eddie and kisses her on the cheek

"Layken, this is Gavin," she says "Gavin, this is Layken, your competition"

Gavin has blonde hair alth They could pass for brother and sister, although his eyes are a chestnut co a black hoodie and jeans, and when he moves his arm from Eddie’s shoulder to shake my hand, I notice a tattoo of a heart on his wrist…the same as Eddie’s

"I’ve heard a lot about you," he says as he extends his hand

I eye hi what he could have possibly heard

"Not really," he ad at all about you That’s usually just what people say when they’re introduced"

He turns toward Eddie and gives her another peck on the cheek "I’ll see you next period Babe I’ve got to get to class"

I envy them

Mr Hanushek enters the room and announces there's a chapter test I don’t object when he hands me a test and we spend the rest of the class period in silence

As I follow Eddie through the crowd of students,switched to Russian Literature How either of us thought this would help s easier, I don’t know

We arrive in Will’s class and he's holding the door open, greeting the students as they arrive

"Mr Cooper, you look a little better today Need a mint?" Eddie says as she walks to her seat

Javi walks in and glares at Will as he slides into his seat

"Alright everyone," Will says as he shuts the door behind him "Good efforts on the test yesterday Elements of Poetry is a pretty lad to have it out of the way I think you’ll find the perfor, which is e'll focus on the rest of this semester

"Performance Poetry resembles traditional poetry, but with an added element; the actual performance"

"Performance?" Javi asks, disdained "You mean like in that movie about the dead poets? Where they had to read crap in front of the whole class?"

"Not exactly," Will says "That’s just poetry"

"He ," Gavin adds "Like they do down at Club N9NE on Thursdays"

"What’s slairl inquires from the back of the room

Gavin turns toward her, "It’s awesoet it," he adds

"That’s one form of it," Will says "Has anyone else ever been to a slam?"

A couple of other students raise their hand I don’t

"Mr Cooper, show them Do one of yours," Gavin says

I can see the hesitation in Will's face I know fro put on the spot

"I'll tell you what We'll ree to go to at least one slam this semester at Club N9NE"

No one objects I'd like to object, but that would require raisingSo, I don't object

"No objections? Alright, then I'll do a short one I wrote Remember, slam poetry is about the poetry and the performance"

Will stands in the front of the room and faces the students He shakes his arht in an attempt to relax himself When he clears his throat, it's not the kind of throat clearing people do when they're nervous; it's the kind they do right before they yell

Expectations, evaluations, internal evasions

Fly out of me like puddles of blood from a wound

A fetus from the womb of a corpse in a tomb