i see a boy.
he sits next to me in science.

i see his notebook,
empty.

his homework,
incomplete.

his jeans are ripped,
and his hair unbrushed.

but i like this boy.
i like him.

i see this boy.
sitting next to me in science.

his notebook
covered in scribbles
and doodles.

his homework
used as a self portrait.

his jeans are ripped
and his hair unbrushed.

but i like this boy.
i like him.

i see this boy,
sitting next to me in science.

his notebook
splotched in
red ink.

his homework
doodled over with red pen.

his jeans are ripped
and his hair unbrushed.

but i like this boy.
i like him.

i see this boy,
sitting next to me in science.

his notebook
covered in red splotches
from back to front.

his homework
drenched in red.

his arms concealed by a
navy blue sweatshirt,

his jeans ripped,
and his hair unbrushed.

but i like this boy.
i like him

i see an empty seat
next to mine in science class.

a note left on the desk.

a note splotched in red.

and then i looked at
the navy blue sweatshirt
left on the back
of his chair from yesterday.

it was covered in red splotches
all over.

i liked him.

i liked this boy.

i liked him too much to see the truth.