Interlude: Fasten Your Seatbelts

 You weren’t supposed

To ask me

About Chris

We were at Dave’s

After the dance

And Chris was there

But I wasn’t going

To talk to him

I wasn’t going

To talk to him

Because if you’re obvious

Then nobody’s

Going to like you

We were there

Until, like

Nine or ten

And then I had

To go home

Because I have

Baseball tomorrow

I know, I hate baseball

But my Dad

Told me if I commit to something

I have to stick with it

Even though I don’t know

If I’m going to like something

Until I do it

So now I’m scared

To say I like anything
Because I don’t want to be stuck

Doing something

For the rest of my life

Just because I thought

It looked cool once

But Chris did look

Really cute

At the party

He had on this shirt

And then someone dared him

To unbutton it

All the way

So he did

And I didn’t stare

But I kept looking at it

Out of the corner of my eye

And he has a really nice body

But not so nice

That it looks like

He’s trying hard

To have a nice body

Because my ex had a nice body

But he was in the gym

All the time

And it just got annoying

Because why do you have

To try that hard?

I like guys that just

Have nice bodies

And it doesn’t look like

All they want to do

Is work out

And not come over

Your house

To watch a movie

Or do stuff

Because it’s all about the gym

And working out

Chris was pretending

He didn’t want

To talk to me all night

Because I told everyone

That I hate him

But he knows it really means

That I like him

And it’s games

Which I hate

So now I’m not going to talk to him

For at least two days

Even when we’re in lab together

On Monday

You have to play the long game

I don’t care if

We don’t fall in love

Until sophomore year

I am not making any

Of the moves here

Not because I don’t like

Making the moves

But because Chris is Chris

And Chris doesn’t want

To make any moves

And if he’s going to love me

He needs to learn

How to make moves

So this is all encouragement

For him to learn

My Dad told me

That I have to learn

What incentive is

And then use it

Whenever I can

And so I’m learning

Things too

I think when you’re in school

You should be learning

All the time

Not just in school

But outside school

And you should learn

How people are

And how you want them to be

And then try and get them

To be that way

Because that’s how

You change the world

So Chris is going to change

And then we’re going to fall in love

And then our love

Will change me

But not a lot

Because I don’t believe in

Changing for others