my favorite part of school

is going there. meeting new friends.

every morning I spend around eleven minutes

taking the yellow line’s second route. eleven minutes of stories.

there’s carlos, who prefers his mom’s homemade cherry pie

over her peach pie.

he told me the peaches at the supermarket downtown 

are too sweet for him. 

I asked if I could taste his mom’s pies one day.

carlos told me she’s too busy to bake them anymore.

michael rides the train with me every day but fridays,

and he prefers me listening to him on mondays.

his favorite sport is football because it's a rough sport

but sometimes he watches hockey too. 

he told me he used to play hockey as a job but got tired of playing.

last monday I said I would cheer for him if he plays again.

louise and margaret are best friends and really nice,

but I don’t like sitting near them.

they always smell funny.

one day they told me to never forget my homework

and never fall behind in school.

I promised them I wouldn’t.

eleven minutes later, I say bye

and get off to walk to school.

sometimes at lunch I try to tell people about my friends

on the train. but they don’t listen.