“Okay, so today I’m going to teach you some basic styles of free verse poetry and we are going to read a few famous examples.  And for Wednesday, you are going to bring in your own free verse poetry and recite it.”

            There was a collective grown among the class at the idea of having to recite poetry in front of an entire class.

            “Yeah, yeah,” he said as he started to write some key terms on the chalk board.  I had been rummaging through my bag looking for my notebook and when I finally found it and placed it on my desk, there was a note, neatly folded in four on my desk.  I frowned, knowing it was from Spencer, as I watched her, watching me, through the corner of my eye.

            ARE YOU SURE EVERYTHING IS OKAY?

            I looked up at the professor to make sure he was still focused on the chalkboard before I pulled out a pen.

            Yes, I just have a lot of things on my mind.

            CARE TO ELABORATE?

            Not really.

            With that, Spencer crumpled the paper in her fist and shoved it into her pocket.  She didn’t say anything to me for the rest of the class and after class was over, she hastily left, making the decision to hang out with her after class or not, extremely easy for me.

            The rest of my day went by in a haze, and I was pretty sure that I had bombed my music theory test.  I just couldn’t get Spencer out of my mind; the way her eyes flinched when she read my words, and how her cheeks turned scarlet as she crumpled the note.  I wanted to apologize for being a jerk and somehow explain that this would end up being for the better in the long run.

When I walked through the door, she was sitting on her bed, absentmindedly flipping through a magazine, which was odd in itself, not to mention that there was a slew of other magazines scattered around her.  In my entire time knowing her, I had never seen her read anything besides school books and novels.  She never showed in interest and magazines and especially not In Touch, the most popular gossip magazine out right now.  She didn’t bother to look up as I stood by the door examining her and when she lifted the magazine up to fold it in half, I saw a picture of myself on the cover.