i scream through the gag that had been shoved in my mouth as my peers laugh and dance around me.

tears well up in my once bright, innocent eyes as i plead anyone to just listen to me.

that’s all i want

someone to listen.

someone to listen to the lies the boy across the room whispers into my ear.

someone to hear him when the profanities begin spewing from his mouth.

someone to care when i tell them of the things he has said to me.

i am just a kid, but he is a favorite.

and so no one removes the gag from my dry, cracked lips as i beg for an ear to listen and a heart to care.

for how could he, the star of every performance do anything wrong.   

months pass and the gag is still there, yet my peers have up and left.

no longer am i welcome to laugh and dance with them.

there is no one to hear my screams, so i stop screaming, and i am left with no one, save for the boy who haunts my sleep and can now scream at me without fear of repercussions he never would’ve had in the first place.