-hello
-Echoes off the walls in sweet symphonic song
Old friends and proud coaches scower the space around me, looking for their prized player.
-hello
-has become the simple melody I am greeted by every day from the small collection of friends I surround myself with.
-goodbye
-Came more often than the smiles as i spent every wave and remark as a glittering accessory.
-Goodbye
-is the two syllable diction that rings in my ears despite the ever changing crowd of voices that echo from each hall I find myself in.
-I find myself in this constant cycle of being cast and recast until I fit the mold of "his girl."
-and amidst the churning sea of voices, one rings out. “hey, you’re that pretty girl’s sister!” as If going home to her everyday wasn’t a good enough reminder. And when my foot steps onto that worn welcome mat, it doesn’t feel so welcoming because there she is, saying hello. And even the high-pitched sweetness of her voice contradicts eveyone’s favorite quote: “you’re just like her.” But truth be told and beauty be seen, I’m not just like her. Because my cells did not combine to create such a work of art; to create a replicated mona lisa.
-Because if you look closely, past the oil markings and paint strokes, there's a woman who doesn't understand why Leonardo would waste wonder on her. Who isn't content with her role as " The Mona Lisa" but wants to step out of the canvas and whisper, "I'm just Mona." Doesn't want to be bound by her creator or the image set for her for centuries to come. I am not the equal to your controlled mascot, who you revive and manipulate to score a beloved touchdown.
-I am
-I am a crumbling statue that needs to be held together by a stable force.
-I am
- I am anybody but the name given to me on that yellowed certificate because people have never bothered to ask the simple question. I am nothing, anybody but me.
-In a sea full of words that crash upon us as insults, soaking us, sinking us, weighing us down like anchors.
Both: It all started with...
-“I’d expect her to be prettier.”
-"No one knew her until they started dating."
-“the less… appealing of the two.”
-"She's fake, and only thinks about herself."
-“oh, she’s the depressed one!”
-"Her own friends don't even like her."
-“who the hell is she?”
- "She has nothing else going for her."
-“the fat sister?”
-She was with another yesterday."
-“she’s so dull.”
-"She's a nobody by herself.
-“too awkward.”
-"She's using him."
-“too weird.”
-STOP!!!!
-…….
C:I am not the star player's shoulder girl.
P:I do not need my sister’s reputation to create my own.

C: I am not self-centered.
P: I am not invisible
C: I am not defined by the stereotype you've placed me in.
P: I am not attached to another entity
C: I am nowhere near what you make me out to be.
P:I am not who you think I am.
-I am all the things you say you want a person to be, but who are we to ourselves?