When I was in the seventh grade,
someone told me that I had no friends.
Well, her words went along the lines of
“I bet you can’t even name five”,
I did,
but I still wonder if they were ever really friends
or just people to talk to when we were in a room alone.
After all,
I can still tell you exactly where in the classroom
they were each sitting when this happened,
but I’m telling a story that holds no lines for their parts.
It was sophomore year when I learned that friendship has conditions.
Don’t be too smart, don’t be too funny,
don’t be too pretty, don’t be too happy.
Don’t be anything better than anyone around you.
You are there to compliment.
You are there to encourage and laugh and listen.
But above all,
don’t be too kind.
Nobody likes a girl who doesn’t gossip.
Jealous comes in a variety of shades,
all of them bright pink and sparkling.
After all, cats were born with claws.
Sometimes you don’t realize that the fire burns
until you get too close,
only to find a piece of singed hair falling to the ground.
When she talks bad about all of her other friends,
I try to help.
I don’t question if she’s telling them about the smoke
drowning my lungs and the darkness that
wells in my eyes,
the secrets that I thought would never be shared.
Here’s a hint: She does.
When I met you for the first time,
I saw them in you.
I saw the parts of every voice that made up my childhood,
every whisper in my ear,.
every laugh just behind a turned back
Your words recycled speeches that every girl like you
has ever given,
every ultimatum, every sharp slip of the tongue.
You were the harsh silence in between broken stares
and clipped sentences that followed me around.
I’m sure you think that you’re special that you’re
brand new and shining right off the lot
One Of a Kind written in gold ink across your pretty smile.
“First do no harm,” your motto when anyone asks,
yet, stick your nails into any prey with a weak skin
the second the curtain closes and the stage fades to black.
Pretty little things like you,
well I’ve seen them all. Trust me,
you may think you’re something sweet and special,
but in the end, you’re just another
girl like you.
