By Lyla Hershkovitz, grade 6, California.

Hey.
You know, it really hurts.
You were everywhere else when I needed you most.
You pretended I wasn’t there,
and I was always there for you.
I had to sit alone,
when you were over there laughing with them.
Yet, I’m not confronting you.
You just have to deal with my anger that you aren’t even here for.

I get it, friendships change,
but you didn’t have to talk about me.
I guess you weren’t who I thought you were
because the version of you I used to know might not have done this.
But, I’ll never know.
Whispering secrets…
About me?
I should say I don’t care.
But it really hurts.

By Lyla Hershkovitz, grade 6, California.