Where have I been?

I wake and look around

as if the world is new,

or old.

I can’t tell which,

only that

the fog inside my head

is lifted

and I can think again.

I can see.

Trey was bad for me.

Time to move on.

Off to school.

English lit to study.

Friends to concentrate on.

Volleyball to play.

Pray coach and teachers

don’t call on you.

Got lots of catching up to do.

Long as I can remember,

Seth and me,

we were two peas

in a pod,

exactly alike

in every way.

That’s no longer true

and there’s nothing I can do

to change things back.

We’re in different places now,

like I entered a room

Seth doesn’t have a key to

and the best we can do

is wave through the window.

I just hope one day soon

I’ll figure out how

to crack that window open

an inch or two,

without, you know,

smashing it to bits.

Somewhere between

bites of pepperoni

and a swig of milk,

Seth asks,

“So, what’s with you and Trey?

Are you, you know,

hooking up now?”

I almost choke,

no joke.

Milk sputters

down my chin.

I grab a napkin,

start dabbing away,

my brain on fire

from the fuse

she just lit.

“It was one time, Seth!”

I say, teeth tight.

“One time!

And I’m already sorry.”

“Okay, okay!” says Seth.

“I was-you know-

just wondering.”

I cut my eyes at her.

“Okay!” she says.

“I’ll shut up.”

That is

the smartest thing