A girl, scared.

She cries alone.

Writing her fears on her arm.

And then hiding them again.

Hiding her face, her voice,

She sits in class, quiet.

Writing.

"The boredom sets in/

I want to die/

the thoughts in my head/

make me cry.

I'm going crazy/

The voices speak/

They call me lazy/

They call me weak.

They say I'm worthless/

I'm out of my mind/

The voices give me/

Myself to find.

I hide my face/

I hide my eyes/

'Cause they can't take/

The things I hide.

Out of the darkness/

There I see/

Someone brightly/

Walking toward me.

I see his face/

As he draws near/

He speaks softly/

For me to hear.

He pulls me close/

Tells me to breathe/

He says he loves me/

He'll never leave.

He holds me tight/

As I cry/

He takes a breath/

Lets out a sigh.

'The voices are wrong/

The voices, they lie/

Listen to me/

Darling, don't cry.'

'You might be crazy/

You might be a freak/

You certainly aren't crazy/

Nor are you weak.'

'You speak like you're old/

You look like a child/

Your demeanor, your temper/

Is generally mild.'

He smiles down at me/

Hope on his face/

He thinks he's won/

This leg of the race.

The voices cry out/

'You're ugly,' they say/

'You're stupid and fat/

He doesn't like you that way.'

My face, he sees crumble/

My tears fall as I cry/

His shirt, soft and rumpled/

Is no longer dry.

He looks in my eyes/

At my tear-stained face/

And he says to me/

Love, that's not the case.

He smiles at me/

And says, 'I know/

What the voices say/

The insults they throw.'

'They drag you down/

That's all they do/

Your misery/

Is what they want from you.'

'You're beautiful/

Inside and out/

You're perfect to me/

Of that I've no doubt.'

'You're the love of my life'/

He almost sings/

'Will you be my wife?'/

He pulls out a ring.

Shocked, I nod/

Unable to speak/

The thought of him/

Makes me grow weak.

Now Happy Ever After/

Is not in this prose/

We love each other/

Like the Doctor and Rose.

No matter what happens/

We'll try our best/

To be together forever/

Let time show the rest."

She looks up from her desk,

And sees the clock.

Class is almost over.

She has no notes,

Just the poem.

As she realizes her daydream,

She puts the mask back on.

She hides her feelings,

Her anxiety that tears her apart.

And she leaves the class,

To go back to her room.

A girl, scared.

Cries alone.