I told them to stop.
I told them I had had enough.
I told them that all they said
Couldn’t hurt me,
Just like the counselor
Told me.
So why is my hair
Dripping with toilet water
While I sit
Shoved into this locker?

I calculated the time down
To the second.
I slowed down my speech
So they could understand.
I even tried to give one
Of them a hug.
So why is my hair
Dripping with toilet water
While I sit
Shoved into this locker?

You could change your clothes.

But I like sweaters!

You could take off the glasses.

But I can’t see the board
Without them!

You could lose the thirty-pound
Backpack.

But I need my books!

Stop!
If you want to stop
Ending up with your hair
Dripping with toilet water,
While you sit
Shoved into a locker,
You need to act “cool.”

The definition of “cool” is
“Of or at a fairly low temperature.”
How does that
Make sense?

“Cool.”
As in “not uncool.”

“Uncool” isn’t a word.

No one cares!
You need to be
Part of the
In-crowd.
The cool kids.
The popular ones.

But…

You need to be
Accepted by those boys
That shove you into a locker
With your hair dripping
With toilet water.
Duh.

No.

Excuse me?

No.

What?

N.
O.

Why not?
Do you like your hair
Dripping with toilet water
While you sit
Shoved into this locker?

Well, not exactly, but–

There!

No! I never said I
Liked it.
I never said that
Taking it was easy.

So your poi–

I don’t want to become
Anything that I’m not.
Yes, I’m a nerd.
Yes, I’m a geek.
Yes, I wear sweaters
And glasses and a thirty-pound
Backpack.
Yes, I’ve read the dictionary.
Yes, I aced Calculus.
But that’s what makes me
Me.

But if you changed
Your clothes
And your glasses
And your everything,
That would be your
Personality.

The definition
Of “personality” is
“the combination of characteristics
Or qualities that form an individual’s
Distinctive character.”
This is my distinctive
Character.

Besides,
My calculations say
That there are at least
A hundred thousand
Other reasons why
I want to be
Me.