i should know better

than to let a boy rip

up my core, protect

what my ribs already do

i should know this by now

but there's all this frizz

haloing my head and

he just said he thought

it looked really pretty and

i don't know whether

to laugh or run away

because my throat burns

and there's honey in his

cinnamon eyes and

i want to drape myself

in his soft skin colored

like a cherub's but

i haven't finished my math

homework and i'm supposed

to know the difference between

a somatic cell and a sex cell but i don't.

"dude, are you going to ask

him out or what? honestly

what's the worst that could happen?"

i could burst into flames

and die. i could fail my math

test and bomb latin because

who cares about the fifth

declension or parabolas or

gamete cells when your heart

is screaming in front of you

and your skull feels like

it just split open