Scenes From The Heart

AN ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP COMMUNITY PRODUCTION

scenes from the heart

This book was written by the students of the Academic Leadership Community in 2023.

The views expressed in this book are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of 826LA. We support student publishing and are thrilled you picked up this book.

Las opiniones expresadas en este libro son las de los autores y no reflejan necesariamente las de 826LA. Apoyamos la publicación de jóvenes autores y estamos felices que haya recogido este libro.

INTRODUCTION

This book is a reel, a collection of stories, a montage of our lives.

Our little movie depicts scenes from a journey. A journey that recounts our appreciation (or disillusion) for nature, travel, family, friends, hopes and dreams, love in all its forms.

Ultimately, it’s a film about our strength and resilience, projected on a humble screen, straight from the heart.

— the ALC Student Editorial Board

Jennifer A.

Daisy C.

Joselin C.

Kendrick G.

Yennifer J.

Jennifer I.

Randy P.

Maria S.

Lucrecia S.

CHAPTER 1 sunrise

THE DREAM ON THE PILLOW

VALERIA O.

Valeria O. is a quiet person with a few friends. She really likes being alone and reading books. She has goals she wants to achieve but doesn’t know when or how to do it, but she knows she will accomplish them.

Dream big, they say. Do what you love and never stop chasing it. The lights get all cut out, pitch black, but I’m still holding on my candle of hope. I dream big every day, thinking I’m the main character, and I wake up and I’m a broken piece of a bottle. But I still shine. People laugh at my impossible goals but they limit themselves to what they can do. I won’t give up, I have a purpose in this life. All I know is that pain will leave me once it’s done teaching me. I’ll work while they sleep so I can live like they dream on their pillow.

BRIGHT NIGHT

MAURA M.

Maura M. was born in El Salvador. She loves to listen to music while doing art and tries her best to get excellent grades. Her hopes are to get her high school diploma and attend a university.

Lonely night, full of light

Beautiful path

With bolt lightning

How beautiful and how lonely it felt

How proud and how low it got Gently growing into a reality

That little by little I felt my soul leave

The moment where my soul looked at my teary eyes

How suffocating

How my heart beats ten thousand beats per hour

How it goes down about to stop

I became the woman

With thorns

With rocks

With snakes in the back

Fought hard

And got terrified

Crying non-stop asking for my self-love, Questioning actions

Asking for the only rose who lifted me up, My angel, my start, my brightness

But all I heard was the wind

Drying my tears

I was alone in the midnight

I looked up

The sky was full of stars and the moon giving me light

The world kept on going

And I couldn’t move

I was in the middle of a garden full of different kinds of roses

Not realizing that from a distance it was hard to see the bouquet with thorns

I became my own strength and my most dangerous

The world showed me their side

And I let myself down

I gave my self-esteem to every rose to see it shine

Leaving me in a darkness

Difficult to survive and climb

But I raise my

Understanding that my past it’s living in me and will remain

Surviving in this bright night

So I created my most beautiful sunrise in the middle of rain.

Beautiful colors

Representing my self-love and my courage

The moon and stars were my best company

I am more bright than any other light, because I created my self-love in darkness

By myself

By morning

My sunrise started growing and everyone loved the view but not much as me

I’m the rainbow in the middle of rain.

THE LAST DAY ON EARTH

CESAR R.

Cesar R. is a person that doesn’t write a lot but when he does he tries to focus and make his story interesting. He also likes sports (football and soccer). He hopes to one day be an engineer who desires to help the world.

It was an early morning day. I opened my eyes and remembered it was Saturday! I got up, went to the restroom and changed quickly. At 7 AM I started eating breakfast, then at 8:20 I called my girlfriend and told her to wait outside because I was going to pick her up. The car ride was just us talking about rides and stuff we might want to buy.

When we got there it wasn’t as busy and the lines were short. “Let’s go on that ride,” I said, pointing to a cream-colored building. We went in, got to the front of the line, and got to the front row. In my head I immediately regretted that

decision and trying to stay calm, I went to my seat and sat down. The ride started and we were off. My hands were sweating like a waterfall and I was nervous, and when I least expected it the ride took off and not only did it take off, it felt like my body went forward but my soul stayed behind. I was screaming, “aaaa,” so scared. When I got off the ride I just laughed and walked out, eagerly wanting to get a picture to see how I looked. I got the picture just to feel embarrassed because my eyes were wide open like I had just seen Bigfoot or something.

Later we went to watch a movie and ran towards the theater like a dog chasing a cat. We finally made it in and we scanned our tickets and went to go get snacks. Indecisively we didn’t know what to get, asking each other back and forth, “What should we get?” We then settled with popcorn and something to drink along with a side of some curly fries. We went in to watch the movie and literally as the movie was about to end, my dad called me telling me, “I’m here to pick you up!” And just like that my day ended and I enjoyed the day like it was my last day on earth.

THE DAUGHTER IS NOTHING LIKE THE MOTHER

ODETTE M.

Odette M. is a Chicana who grew up in Los Angeles. She wants to graduate high school to attend a college to study a career of her choice. She is shy and quiet but a little social when you get to know her. She really loves music (alternative rock, Latin music, and much more). She is learning the acoustic guitar and wants to learn even more instruments. She wants to travel the world and tries to give her best even if at times she feels like giving up.

A mother had something she wanted to ask her youngest. Like every mother, she was curious, but in the back of her mind, it bothered her. It was already lingering in her throat the entire afternoon. It troubled her, she needed to ask. But what she wanted was some sort of affirmation.

A little girl on the floor playing with her toys with no care of the world. This girl was no older

than six and soon to turn seven.

She was a little curious, one who most of the time was a troublemaker in everyone’s eyes.

Although she didn’t know that. Nor did she think her playfulness was troublesome. She heard many adults and kids her age say it all the time.

Right now, she didn’t care. She was in the comfort of her own home. Enjoying her afternoon. She had a smile placed on her face as she played.

The mother spoke, grabbing the young girl’s attention with the voice that suddenly filled the empty white room. Light brown-colored eyes met with the woman’s dark ones.

Her eyes. Her eyes had a special shine to them.

If the sun’s light were to hit just right, you could see it. You could even see that the light brown irises had a pattern similar to mountains.

You could get lost in them if you were to take a glimpse.

The rest of her features were just as mesmerizing.

Her brown hair had a similar effect. It was dark brown when the light didn’t shine on it, but it would have beautiful highlights when the sun would set and rise. It made her look almost angelic.

It made her look like summer’s child. Innocent and energetic in her look.

She decided that asking the young girl was either now or never. This would either give her the closure she desperately needed or give her the opposite result. She sat down on the floor, having her back against the couch and her legs spread out in front of her. This caught the girl’s attention.

“Puedo preguntarte algo?” The brown-haired girl wondered what her mamá wanted to ask her. She gave her mother a nod and a quick “mhm” to emphasize that she said yes. “When I am old and when I have trouble walking, would you take care of me as I have done for you?”

The little girl contemplated the question. Would she stay by her mama’s side? She was young and she loved her mother. “I will take care of you when you grow old! And when you can no longer do things.” The girl smiled brightly at her mother. The mother kissed the girl’s crown and left her back to play with her toys with a satisfied smile.

That was what the younger girl used to hold on to. She held onto her word that she believed in it. She even begged the universe.

She was young. She didn’t know the world. The world didn’t know her. The world would start to crowd her.

She would be left with terrible experiences a child would want to forget for good. The only thing she could do was cry for her mother. At times she was left alone to find comfort in her stuffed animals or her bed in the dark scary room.

It came crashing down when the mother declared openly what she thought of her daughter. She would blame the girl’s obnoxious playfulness for putting her life at risk.

The girl had never felt more vulnerable in her life than at that moment. When the woman dropped her poisonous words, the little girl felt her body freeze.

Confused and devastated, her emotions swirled. She cried for someone, anyone to comfort her little heart.

No one did.

Throughout the whole nightmare of a night, she didn’t sleep. All she could do was weep and cling to her own body for life.

The girl grew frightened of the woman and even despised her as their relationship thinned to nothing.

What once stood in the girl’s place was now a teenager who had gone through much more than broken promises. She had gone through more than what an adult goes through in their lifetime. That was something she didn’t feel proud of.

She couldn’t find it in herself to trust anybody. When she was soon to leave elementary school, she told herself that she would no longer need anyone.

It didn’t matter to her if she was failing or getting laughed at. All she wanted was to corner herself in a small space and disappear.

Her eyes still had that brown color when the sun would hit her eyes, but they no longer had that beautiful light in them. Instead, it was replaced with a pair of tired gloomy eyes. It was just plain brown to everyone now. She was no longer the mischievous little girl with light brown-colored eyes with mountains in them.

Every time she would arrive home, her mother would stand there with a displeased face. She no longer cared what she wanted, but the mother’s comments hurt her.

One day when she arrived home after a long day, she opened the apartment door with her pair of keys, making them clang together as she opened the lock in the door knob.

She entered the room to then be met by the one person she didn’t want to see. The mother didn’t hesitate to pull her aside for a talk which the girl didn’t like at all.

The talk was one-sided. The woman would talk and the young teenager would have no choice but to listen. Even though she listened, she had no interest in what the woman had to say.

The conversation went on and on until it turned into a full-on heated argument. The girl couldn’t hold herself back from saying hurtful things. The mother’s voice overlapped hers and what she said next made her lungs stop breathing.

“Do you no longer care for your mother!?” At that, the girl spaced out. It reminded her of something she heard when she was younger: When I am old and when

I have trouble walking, would you take care of me as I have done for you?

Now she remembers.

She remembers how her own words kept her hopeful about something that was long gone.

She remembers them clear as day. She wished she didn’t have to remember it.

The young girl’s answer once was yes, but she was now grown. She had seen and heard things from this woman that dwindled everything she once thought of her as.

She thought of her as kind and loving, and even wanted to follow in her footsteps.

Now, she can no longer look at her the same way. She was gullible and absurd to think that this woman would understand. She now wanted to grow up to be her own individual.

A million thoughts flew through her brain. She wanted to yell out every single one of them. But she kept her temper down as best she could.

She looked at the woman’s eyes, glaring at her with distaste. “How can I be there for you!? Ni siquiera estabas allí para mí! Me trataste como si fuera menos que tú! You left me!” She felt her voice waver. Her throat was becoming hoarse as she yelled. “You left me no choice but to survive on my own. Tuve que aprender todo yo sola!”

The teenager’s rage was so immense that the mother

stared in both shock and disgust. She was about to interrupt, but the teenager wasn’t done with what she had to say.

“You blame me for your problems. You brought this upon yourself when you decided I was no longer useful to your life!” The girl could feel her chest tightening at everything she had wanted to say. It didn’t feel good. The words on her tongue felt inhumane.

Her breathing quickened and she could feel her vision getting blurry as tears ran down her tan pale face. “I cared for you, but you no longer cared for me. Forget about me being there for you, I’m no longer going to stick around when you go failing in life.”

The words were jabbing at her throat to be quiet. She knew she was being too harsh. Then again, nothing she said now could get through to change the mother’s rotten attitude.

The mother was screaming words that sliced deep. She yelled about things she had done for the teenager when she was little. The girl was grateful for them, but she hated how she used this against her. She knew that this unfortunately was the real woman speaking.

The one she thought she knew was nothing but a sweet sickening facade. At one point the mother got tired and told the girl how she should’ve not had her at all. The breaking point of the argument.

There she was.

The truth was out and the girl glared at her even more. “Yeah, you shouldn’t have. But it’s far too late for that now.” The girl spat the harsh words with a pained voice.

“That’s my answer to your question.” Her face still held the same glare that never once faltered. She decided that the conversation was through, so she left the apartment to blow off the anger and sadness that lingered tightly around her chest.

It hurt. She wanted to leave.

She wanted to disappear from her life forever.

People realized that the daughter was nothing like the mother.

The daughter was broken beyond repair.

The only thing that could save her was self-isolation.

NOSTALGIC

YULEYSI D.

My name is Yuleysi D., I was born in Guatemala on December 5, 2005 and came to the U.S. in 2016. I’m an eleventh grader ALC student in 2023. I love dancing. I don’t plan to go to college yet but I would like to be a great dancer and compete around the world. My favorite flowers are sunflowers and gypsophila. I wish to visit Victorville Desert again just because of the sunrise and sunset and the night-sky view.

1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3 … let me introduce myself. I am the girl who used to count the stars to comfort herself because mom was working far away from me in order to give me the best. I’m the one whom you can do the worst thing in the world to but will never hate you. I’m the girl who likes to make people laugh. I am the girl who loves the galaxy.

That’s why…

I’m a cold and lonely night when my problems consume me.

I’m the snow when my body feels afraid. I’m the heavy rain and thunderstorm when I drown in my thoughts.

I’m the thorn of a rose when I feel a dagger in my heart.

I’m the galaxy when I feel happy.

I’m the butterfly that flies alone when I feel peace in my heart.

I’m Saturn of all the beautiful planets when I feel loved.

I’m the star that shines away from others when I feel the weirdest in the world.

I’m the black rose between all the colorful roses because I like the way that I am.

I’m the saddest music you ever heard when you listen to my life story.

I’m the fallen leaf when I can’t set limits to things and people.

My heart is like a star that exists through time, lonely and faithful. But only I know who I am, only I know my story, and I can say that I have the sun, the moon, and the stars inside of me and the sunset in my cheeks. I am not an insignificant being. I am a universe in human form and I marvel at every atom that I find in the world.

Never never depend on a human being but only on yourself. Do not be afraid of taking the risk to explore the world, without fear of being alive in the world or without fear of dying, and imagine loving yourself just the way you are, love your body just the way it is, love your feelings as they are. Knowing that you are perfect just like the way you are! Only you have your life in your hands and your destiny as you want to see it. Even if everyone gives you advice it only depends on you if you take it or leave it. Like my mom says, “It goes in one ear and comes out in the other only if you allow it.” Also, learn how to

set limits to things and people, learn how to say no when you do not like it. Because if you do not do all these things, one day you will regret it. Never expect everyone to like you. In this world we all have to suffer and feel pain, it’s life’s cycle, it is on you if you want to give up.

CEASE

YOANA M.

Yoana M. le gusta el dinero y la música pero la gente la asusta.

Oh lord, What a life

In this world, good and bad people surround my life.

It doesn’t bother me or matter to me though.

‘Cause at the end of it all I am minding my business and living my life.

So you should too.

Having a private life isn’t impossible but the people around make it hard.

Knowing the people around you can make it hard for you to know who to trust but watch out for yourself.

Be careful who you’d like to describe your life to and who not.

Things escalate fast so be prepared for life. Care for yourself because no one else is going to. Also having a soft heart or being naive isn’t good and I’ve learned this throughout my high school years.

Your life is all you got, so live a better life!

THAT SIDE OF LA

MILLIE R.

My name is Millie R., I am 16 years old, I grew up in Westlake with my mother, my grandmother and grandfather, my aunt, and my dog Mimi. I did not grow up with enough money but I grew up with the great love of my family. I grew up in the part of Los Angeles where they don’t have enough money like in Beverly Hills, but trying hard at school and getting to work and enjoying life while I’m this age means a lot coming from someone who still lives in poverty.

Growing up in the “ghetto” side of LA is bittersweet.

People are outside making bbq’s, drinking and singing.

There are also guns and violence, but people find a way out.

People who are rich consider growing up in poverty the “ghetto” when in reality it’s the best way to shape yourself into the person you may become.

ON THIS SIDE OF THE BORDER

LUIS L.

Luis L. is really social when meeting new people, always on the lookout, and willing to help his friends.

I am Oscar. I was born in a municipio in Guatemala, San Antonio Ilotenango Departamento de Quiché. I don’t remember so much as a child. When I turned one year old the Guatemalan Civil War ended. I moved to Guatemala City with my brother and parents. I moved to Zona 18 where gang violence has been the worst to this day. I grew up in a lot of influences that could’ve taken me the wrong route to death or even prison.

I decided to work hard for myself and to help my mom out. My father was in the U.S. as I was growing up into my teenage years. I had my own business in the mercado at age fourteen. I was selling shrimp in the mercado. Every day I went home smelling like the ocean.

Years passed when I met someone and she got pregnant. I was seventeen years old and a young adult. I had a thought of going to the U.S. to provide for my newborn son that was just a few weeks old. Work conditions didn’t give enough money to buy everything needed for a newborn. My father was back from the States and I talked to him one night about migrating. He said, “I’ll go with you.” I was relieved that I was not going on this journey alone. I paid a coyote that crossed my father before.

It was a cold afternoon with fog and wind all over the city. The fog was so thick it was hard to see anything. I felt like I needed to escape. I got a call from the coyote , we had a day to get our belongings and the next morning we would head out. As the sun came out I was in a van ready to meet up with the coyote and other people migrating.

When I got there I saw many people from all over Guatemala. We were on our way to the border of Mexico and Guatemala. We crossed the border in a bus and headed to San Cristobal de las Casas. As we got there my father decided to go back home with my mother. I was on my own and I had to motivate myself. “I’m doing this for a better life for my son,” I said to myself. I had to sleep on the floor at a park because I had nowhere else to go. It was very cold, I could hear the crickets throughout the night. I woke up with my back hurting. The coyote told us we were going to get behind a big trailer. As we walked to the trailer we were being told it was gonna be a long trip to the border of Mexico and the U.S. Once I got on the truck we had to go standing because space was very limited. Day and night I was standing in the back

of the trailer. I was hungry, thirsty, and tired.

Four consistent days of traveling in the back of a trailer, I was exhausted. The smell in the trailer was pure sweat because we were all sitting on top of each other. I was hungry and needed to use the restroom. When getting off the trailer I was in Altar in Sonora Mexico. I knew that the next day was going to be a lot of walking through the desert. The coyote hid us from Mexican soldiers in a bodega. I had the night to rest and get sleep even if it was a cold floor. That night I was preparing myself mentally for what was coming—the stories I’d heard of what happens when walking through the desert.

It’s the next day and we left early from the bodega and started walking through the desert. They told us to walk in a straight line. It was very hot and water was very limited. I had a backpack on with a gallon of water and my documents. I saw snakes as we walked and some coyotes howling. Further ahead I saw human bones laid all around. Seeing this brought fear into me. I soon heard the sound of sirens and someone shouted, “la migra corren!”

We all started running to hide underneath a big rock. I was out of breath and we all had to be silent. A young lady was dehydrated and she fainted. We had to continue walking and leave her behind.

As I was walking through the desert I reflected back on how life can be short. Many people die when trying to get to the land of opportunities. When I crossed over to Arizona, I heard on the radio that in Tamaulipas, Mexico, fifty immigrants

were held hostage. Those fifty immigrants were killed blindfolded. They were captured by the Narcos . Despite all those terrible situations, I got to this country to give my son a better life. I was grateful for the opportunity to be able to be on this side of the border. I knew I was a step closer to a better future.

I’LL BE OKAY

RUBY R.

Ruby R. is a professional competitive dancer who likes to read in her free time. She’s a very supportive and giving person.

What I choose to wear is not a reason, It is not a reason to cat call me…

You were once across the room

I didn’t want to be near you

But you’re now only a few feet away from me

Calling me yours and calling me a tease

I’m feeling so uneasy so please get away from me

What I choose to wear is not a reason,

It is not a reason to stare and take photos…

I’m on the dance floor with my friends

I feel someone staring at me

You took a photo, and it freaked me out

You’re smiling at me and I feel like I can’t breathe

You brushed yourself on me

And I say stop, but you only laugh as you hold onto me

What I choose to wear is not a reason,

It is not a reason to press yourself against me…

I lay in bed, I close my eyes and I see you over me

Why won’t you stop?

I know you hear me say no and you hear me say stop

What I choose to wear is not a reason, It is not a reason to run your hands on my body…

I sit on the bathtub scrubbing your touch away

This is not okay

I sit on the bathroom floor

I am not okay…

SEE MY PROBLEMS AND ME

ANGEL G.

Angel G. is doing this book project for someone to read and connect with. I like listening to R&B soul music, cooking, and baking. That’s all, thanks. Read it again if you want.

Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise

Some people come into your life just to teach you how to let go

In the end, it’s what we gave of ourselves that truly matters

The doubters are just dreamers with broken hearts

There’s always a glimmer in those who have been through the dark

That’s the problem with putting others first; you’ve taught them you come second

You have problems, you solve it alone, but people say it’s

Easier getting help

But help doesn’t mean from others

Please help, but not my problems, but me inside

To live life itself is a battle even the smallest details

The harder you work for happiness, the more unhappy you are

Life’s weird, huh?

TIMEOUT

JASON J.

Jason J. is a basketball player and quiet, unless he knows you.

I remember the last day of in-person school, 8th grade. I was in my 1st period, Service, where I would help around the office when I overheard the staff saying they were going to close the schools. I didn’t think much about it as I was thinking about a basketball game I had. I was scared to play this game because they were tall and good. Later on in the day, they announced that school would be closed for two weeks. Well, we all know what happened with that. But my story isn’t only about this day, but the several changes following it.

As a kid, I was always active. At ten years old, I started enjoying playing basketball more than other sports; I joined a team at a nearby park. I played there for about three years until I started playing someplace else for just a couple of months before quarantine. Throughout this time, I was always the smallest on the court, and still am to

this day. And like almost every other kid who has played sports, the dream was to go pro.

This dream however, slowly started to seem more and more unreachable throughout middle school. I started realizing that my height, under five feet tall, wasn’t anywhere near the pros. This got me down and made me want to stop playing basketball. Quarantine didn’t help, as it gave me an excuse to just stay home and play video games all day. I was at the lowest point in my life, but I felt content with being lazy at that time.

Going into high school I still had the same mindset. I had no intention of playing sports, especially basketball. I thought every player was over 6’0 and extremely good because that’s all I would see on clips of HS basketball. After a few weeks of online school, basketball season was going to start. My sister was telling me to join, my mom, and even my Pathways teacher, Mr. Gomez. Nevertheless, I kept saying, “No. I’ll join next year” and didn’t tell them why. I didn’t want to join because I believed I wouldn’t be able to compete, and didn’t want to sit on the bench all game. So I continued doing the same thing everyday–online school, then video games.

However, things started to change in the summer after freshman year. One of the leagues I used to play in started again and my team asked me if I still wanted to play. I was hesitant but decided to join because there was less competition there, and I was getting tired of doing the same thing daily. We were winning a lot of our tournaments and games, and I started regaining my love for basketball.

Starting 10th grade, we went back to in-person school. A few weeks in I started seeing flyers about basketball conditioning starting. I was nervous to go because I thought I wasn’t going to be as good as everyone else. During the first practice, I noticed that I was one of the best players there. Practice became the only thing I looked forward to every day. Closing in on the start of the season, the coach asked whether I wanted to be on JV or Varsity. I was unsure but was mainly leaning towards JV because I was still scared to play against the really good teams.

He ended up putting me on Varsity where I was a starter and had a lot of playing time. Although I only averaged about five points and five assists per game, I was pleased because I didn’t think I would even play much at the start of the season. I also got really close to most of my teammates, and started to get to know and talk to more people around school. We ended up with a record of only 3-12 and lost multiple games by 50+ points, but throughout those games, I learned to give all my effort and have fun, even during the bad times. I even got over the nerves I would get playing taller and better players, and just played with heart.

So even though I may not go pro like the younger me wanted to, basketball has been and will continue to be a big part of my life. I have made friends and met people that I will always be grateful for. I have been taught discipline, hard-work, dedication, teamwork, leadership, and many other important qualities through this sport. But most importantly, I learned to try to make the most out of every opportunity, learn from my

regrets, and to stop focusing on things I can’t control, but the things I can.

DEAD PIGMENT

KENNY G.

Kenny/ Kendrick G. is a person who aspires to become a film director. He loves music and has a particular interest in music from the 2000s and earlier, but likes all genres of music––yes sadly country too, just a bit. He’s in Cross Country, hopes you join too, and gets by with his cat named Selina. He hopes you’ve enjoyed whatever it was he was trying to do.

My friend’s time passes by so fast,

In a flash your life will last as long as you give life a rest or two

My friends do not be alarmed,

My heart and spirit will go on

To the end we will go far

As far as the stars,

My good mates

It’s not too late, you will go far

As far as the stars.

A CLAM WITH A PEARL

RANDY P.

Randy P. grew up in the city of Los Angeles, California. He is a person who enjoys listening to music and enjoys being around cats even more. What’s better? Listening to music with a cat. While silent at times, he can be as outgoing as anyone else.

Silence. The vast sound of nothing filled the emptiness of the bright warm room, light emanating from the pale window. Sitting atop a structure of hardwood, it was surrounded by what appeared to be husks of dead creatures who glared back with their dark and beady eyes. It waited, it sat, and it listened.

It began to give thought to what it was. What was its purpose? To give those who used it peace of mind? A contraption of comfort? Or perhaps even a distraction from the world? It was capable of bringing light to anything until it was time to retreat back into its home.

From outside of the vivid room, a creak cried out and a door opened. A flurry of heavy footsteps walked in. Appearing to get closer by the second, they approached. From the outside, a hand reached for the metallic handle. From the inside, it watched with a blank expression, not like it had a mouth to shout out its cries. Slowly, as the towering wooden door opened, a lanky, tall silhouette entered. It came closer, becoming clearer as it did. It picked me up. With its long fingers, it snapped my spine in half and revealed the plastic within me, like a clam with a pearl in it.

Slowly, they were pried from me, and plugged into a pit of darkness. Silence, once again. This time however, it didn’t last long, as melancholic music began to play within my core.

CRUZANDO LA LÍNEA

(An Oral History)

BETZY S.

Betzy S. was born in LA and loves to buy Starbucks every morning and likes to dance and hear Spanish and Mexican music.

I am Reyna and I was born in Michoacan, Mexico. Morelia was the city where I grew up and spent all my childhood. I don’t remember much about growing up, but something that I would never forget was when my mom was always ill, she had respiratory problems. I was young so I didn’t understand what she was going through. I saw her in bed every day and saw that she didn’t have the strength, so slowly she got weaker. I always wanted to stay by her side until one day she just closed her eyes and never woke up again. That was when my life changed in so many ways.

I had to take care of my two little brothers after my mother’s passing. I had to take the role of an

older sister and found a job in Morelia. I worked at a molino to get some money to bring home. The molino always smelled like flour and corn even on some days where I didn’t eat. I just smelled the atmosphere. I felt tired but I would always think of my mother. Thinking about her brought me strength to keep going. I would always pray to God to give me and my siblings the strength to continue.

It was my 17th birthday and I had the thought of going to el norte . I had to do this journey with my two younger brothers. I didn’t know what was ahead of me. I had older brothers who were already in the States. I didn’t want to stay my entire life in Morelia. My neighbor told me she was heading to the States and that was my opportunity to go. Before I could leave this city behind, I went to my mother’s grave. I told my mother to give me strength in this journey. The next day we went to the autobuses where we got on a bus to Hermosillo Sonora. The bus ride was at night and it was a very lonely road.

I could hear everyone in the bus snoring while I was awake taking care of my little brothers. We stopped to drink water and eat something. I could hear my little brother’s stomach growl like a monster. A lady gave us cookies and a bottle of water. We waited in Hermosillo for another bus to head to Tijuana. It was a whole day of just sitting in the bus. When arriving in Tijuana I was nervous because in the night we were gonna cross the border. We were put in a trailer hidden between a lot of products that are brought to the States. There were five of us and it was very moist and hot there. We had to be very careful of not saying

a word or even moving. We heard the voices of the border patrol agents. I was sweating in fear of getting caught. Once I passed the border I was relieved. I knew I was here for a better future.

THE PAST AND NOW

NICKY V.

Nicky V. is a quiet person with people she doesn’t know and is friendly to everyone and she likes to listen to others’ problems to help them.

It’s interesting how we were small kids

We wanted to be teenagers to do what we wanted

No one is holding our hand anymore

Now that we are teenagers we wake up early for School homework classwork with many different people

Now that we see small kids

We want time to go back to enjoy those moments we had fun

Some kids think being a teenager is fun

We have homework Projects Classwork math science history

remembering what we were talking about in all of these classes

remembering what class to go to Small kids have it easy, they have the same class their work is easy

they don’t have to be running to their next class to not be late

It’s a little funny how little kids think our life is fun

it’s true in some parts of our life it’s fun as teens

We get to go to parties with our friends

We get to drive our own car

Travel to places on our own

As kids, you have to travel with a parent and they are always with you

Teens and kids have almost the same life

But teens have more freedom from their parents than small kids

DIFFICULT TO CROSS

LIDIA G.

Lidia G. graduarse de la high school e ir al colegio para estudiar una carrera de Doctora porque es su sueño de ser doctora. Ella es amable, cariñosa, y su deporte favorito es el basquetbol. Su comida favorita es chicken kebab.

When I was in Guatemala, I was excited to come here to the United States because I wanted to see the city, because I heard that people said that this place was beautiful, because of its big buildings, and because the streets are clean. I also wanted to see my dad because I didn’t know him well.

In Guatemala, I lived with my mother and my father’s family and then we decided to come here to Los Angeles. My father paid for our trip with a coyote to bring me and my mother. I came with my aunt and her daughter and my uncle.

I remember when I crossed a lake at night and I was very scared because I heard a lot of noise in the lake and also in the mountains and we waited for a long time for the boat to come and pick us up on the shore of the lake. It was scary when the boat engine turned off in the middle of the lake, but thank God the boat was able to turn on again and we continued on our way and then I crossed the Rio Bravo.

We saw that the river was big and we got on another boat and the coyote said that they were only going to lead us through half of the river and afterward we should continue walking in the river and he said that we should hold hands because the river was big and there were many currents. I remember when a woman was carrying her baby and it was difficult for her to cross the river because the river had many currents, but there was a man who helped her and her baby to cross.

After crossing the Rio Bravo we walked a bit at the border for about 20 minutes or more to find immigration officers so we could turn ourselves in and also change our clothes because our clothes had gotten very wet when we crossed the river.

The immigration officers grabbed us and took us to a room where it was very cold. They called it “La hielera” (the cooler) because it was very cold there and they only gave us aluminum foil to cover ourselves but it always felt cold until there was a child who got sick from it. The child had a fever and coughed a lot and immigration took him to the hospital. Then they took me out of there to take me to another place called “Casa hogar” (home

of refuge). There I was more comfortable because they gave you good food and it was warm and then the next day they told me it was time to leave because my dad already had the tickets to travel by bus. We took the bus from Texas and it took us two days and one night to be here in Los Angeles.

I remember when I saw my dad for the first time and I wasn’t used to calling him dad in person. I only talked to him over the phone. Saying dad in person was something new, but I was happy to see him, and as time passed I got used to calling him dad and now I have been with him in Los Angeles for four years.

ACTOR IN THE STORY

YULISSA R.

Yulissa R. is from Guatemala, and she had to learn a new language and adapt to a new culture in the United States.

To be happy is to recognize that life is worth living, despite all the challenges, misunderstandings, and periods of crisis. Being happy is not a fate, but a conquest for those who know how to travel within their own being. To be happy is to stop being a victim of problems and become actor in one’s own story.

CHAPTER 2 on the road

SCRAPPED

KAREN D.

Karen D. is a seventeen-year-old who gets a thrill out of playing video games. She is quiet but becomes more comfortable and louder around her friends. She enjoys drawing too, but prefers doing art digitally.

A crumpled paper from a lonely corner Got softly blown by the wind, away it goes

Like a troubled ghost haunting me. I grasped for it through the chilly wind

And unfolding it, I could see nothing but crooked lines,

Distorted shapes, like careless drawings of an unknown artist

Who spends time on drawing pieces of sketches that get crumbled

Across the other side and onto the floor

From a unsatisfactory sigh

Could they be someone who finds time a bore?

Drawing and scribbling,

till weary hands went sore?

The careless drawings on a crumpled paper

Slipped out of my hand

Softly blown by the wind.

Away it went, like a troubled ghost

Still haunting me

UNLIMITED JOY

LUCRECIA S.

Lucrecia is an outgoing person when she is with the right people. She loves to listen and play music in her free time. She dreams of playing in an orchestra and having a good career in music.

A girl approaches me with a smile across her face. I know who it is. It is a girl in my class.

“Hey, do you wanna play with us?” pointing at her group of friends, “We don’t have enough people for freeze tag, but with you it’ll be even,” she says with excitement. I gladly agree. But an overwhelming feeling courses through my sevenyear-old body. Thoughts coursing through my head. “What if they don’t like me?” “What if they make fun of how I stink at the game?” “What if they pin the blame on me if we lose?”

These thoughts held me back and tied a knot in my throat. As the game began, the group spread and began chasing each other like fleas. As for me, I ran and locked myself in the restroom. I was only seven when I started thinking about what others

thought of me. My mother always encouraged me to make friends and to get along with everyone. But at the end of the day, I was like a shadow, following whoever I could and seeing how they were admired by others. Once recess was over, I came out. Did they notice? Not one bit. Besides, they had won without me. Many kids have discovered their passions in this school. Some chose soccer, others chose to dance. I wondered what my passion would be. I wonder what made me happy. I had joined dance and singing classes offered by my school. None of them sparked my soul, until I joined middle school.

Entering middle school felt like I was starting a new chapter in my life. I was in control of writing my own fresh beginning. As I entered, I suddenly spotted a familiar face in the cafeteria. I recognized her as the best friend of a girl I would call popular. I gathered up the courage to go up to her and talk. I didn’t know the campus and I had a feeling she didn’t either. We began talking and she soon introduced me to her friends. At least I wasn’t used to even the team this time. Her friends soon became my friends and we were happy. But there was something deep inside of me that was missing. It was as if my soul was not happy enough. That’s right, I was missing the spark. The spark that would bring joy to my soul. Among the eight classes I had, there was one that caught my eye. Band class…? I walked into my period four and was warmly welcomed by the band teacher. He taught us how to read music notes for a full semester. I began talking to the people beside me and we soon got our instruments. My mother was happy for me because she knew I had started talking more. She didn’t have to worry about me any longer.

Once the semester was over, I decided to pick the trumpet because my brother knew how to play it. I was so happy with my choice because I knew I would have good support. As I put the mouthpiece into the trumpet, I gave it my first blow. I felt a spark. I suddenly found myself smiling uncontrollably like a toddler in a toy shop. I started playing with the knowledge that I had developed. This was it. I had found it. The happiness that music brought me was indescribable. My soul was finally satisfied.

As the world went into lockdown, I felt lost. Before I knew it, it was gone. The spark that I’d waited for was nowhere to be felt. I felt depressed because of how long this isolation felt. It started with two weeks, then those weeks turned into months. Before anyone knew it, it turned into a year. So much time had passed by and I couldn’t feel the joy of playing in a band anymore. What’s so fun about playing a solo, anyway? As I began high school, Zoom classes were quite a struggle. Staying at home all day made me feel like a bird, waiting to be freed from a cage that has limited its ability to fly. As time flew by, the world had finally ended the sorrowful lockdown. Many friends got back together and hung out like the old times.

School began and I was glad to have made friends in person after being stuck on Zoom. I soon discovered a club called “School of Rock” that taught how to play guitar. I was overjoyed when I heard the news because the academy had no band. I was ecstatic over the fact that I could still have a chance to get my spark back. I wanted to feel the passion for music that I had lost over a year of being in lockdown. Without a second thought in my mind, I joined. Just like before, I

was welcomed by a very kind teacher and a group of people that also loved music. The days of learning guitar passed and I learned so much from the people around me.

The LD showcase was just around the corner and when my group was finally ready to perform,I could tell everyone was nervous, and so was I. But I was already used to performing. As we began to play in front of the crowd, I felt it. The feeling I had lost in over a year finally came back. I felt as if I was in my own world. A world where only I roamed freely, without a single worry. I knew it was it because I smiled uncontrollably under the mask that covered my mouth. I recognized that feeling from anywhere. It was my soul. It was satisfied again. I had missed this feeling. As soon as we finished playing, the crowd showered us with applause. They cheered us on for putting on a marvelous performance. Playing with my group swept away all my loneliness I felt over the years. I always felt like I didn’t fit in any categories. I felt like a puzzle piece forcing myself into a solved jigsaw puzzle. The moment I set foot into that music room, I felt like I had found my way through this world. I knew I had found something I loved and would never grow out of it. As I am close to graduating from high school, I seek an opportunity to find a career that focuses on music to keep me motivated. I have come this far to discover my love for music. I knew it was my passion because it has really brought me unlimited joy.

WINTER FUN

MARIA S.

Maria S. is a student at ALC who likes cats, food, crocheting, and playing volleyball. Bright lights hung high

Christmas carols sung with voices high White clouds forming after every sigh

Christmas trees peeking out from every window

All dressed up from head to toe

Christmas presents neatly wrapped under every tree

All dressed up in festive prints to make it glow

Soon Christmas will be over, but don’t fret because the fun is not over

People prepare for the new year as it’s getting near

Crowds gathering in Times Square to share their last moments of the year

Counting down, waiting for the ball to be dropped

Finally

3…2…1… Boom

Fireworks paint the night sky with all the

countless bright colors up high

Just one boom coming one after the other

Smiles, laughter, cheers fill the night

Until everyone has had their fun and are ready to say goodnight

THE HOME RUN

CRISTIAN C.

I had many ups and downs during sports. The sport that has mainly made me into the person I am today is baseball.

Baseball is a complicated sport to understand and to me that’s what makes it fun. It’s unpredictable, you never know what will happen. When I first started playing baseball I didn’t like it one bit because I started playing it late. The first time I ever threw a ball was when I was seven years old and many kids already started playing when they were four years old. In the beginning I was forced to play because I wanted to stay inside to play on my iPad; I spent a lot of my childhood inside avoiding human contact.

During my second season playing baseball, I started taking it a bit more seriously, and I started having fun. At the end of the season I made the all-star team because my performance improved a lot since my first season. During my

fifth season I won my first championship, and I got my first MVP. Not only that, but I started getting noticed by other teams from outside leagues and travel ball teams, mostly 12 and 14U teams wanted me—and I was 11 at the time.

Around 2017-2018 I moved teams, and I moved on to a travel team. My first-ever game with my new team was very scary. The kids were bigger, stronger, smarter, and had played baseball since they were toddlers. I was always the smallest one on the team. In my first at-bat on a travel team I went down, one ball and two strikes, but I gained my confidence back and hit the ball and I got my first-ever hit. When I was running everything wasn’t there anymore, and I felt very light, almost like I weighed nothing. Inside I felt very joyful because it was my first hit against 14 year olds, and I was only twelve.

After that day, I had so much confidence, and I noticed a lot about me that I started improving, like my speed, strength, ball velocity, and my physical body. In late 2018 and midway through 2019 I was still with the team that recruited me, and I was enjoying baseball in general. I have had many accomplishments with them and the biggest one was hitting my first-ever home run with them. The home run I hit showed everything I worked for was not wasted because I remember every emotion I ever felt hitting that home run. The ball felt light, and I drove it out of the park. I remember staring at it while walking to first base, and I dropped my bat and then started jogging, and halfway to the diamond I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I started smiling the hardest I ever have because I did it in front of my family. I knew I made them very happy.

THE BEAUTIFUL GAME

ALEX R.

Alex R. is an athlete who loves soccer. He’s enjoyed the sport throughout his life ever since he picked up a ball at the age of six. His dream is to one day play in the best club in the world, Barcelona, and continue his dream of being a professional soccer player. He gets his motivation from his family and friends who have always supported him throughout his journey as a soccer player. He’s currently in the Contreras Varsity Soccer Team and looking forward to what life has along the way.

Soccer

It is not just about the trophies

It’s not about the rewards

It’s not about the goals we score or the ones we didn’t

It’s about the journey we’ve taken From our roots to the top

It’s the friends we’ve made the people we represent the laughs we cherished the love we grew for this sport

when times become hard

It’s being together that matters

Soccer is family

It’s community,

It’s unity,

It’s home

Win or lose you play with passion

Because at the end of the day nothing beats

The beautiful game

THE SOCCER EXPERIENCE

DAVI C.

Davi C. is an athlete who loves to play soccer. He values his friends or teammates and would do anything for his family.

Soccer is the best sport in the world. It is my escape from everything and my diversion from anxiousness. Every time I touch the ball with my feet I focus only on this and forget about anything else. When I am practicing, I feel a need to improve, be consistent, and a rush of motivation to grow as a player.

Practicing alone is perfectly fine, but having a team or friends to share these ambitions with is one of the best things. Luckily, I am part of a team where I can enjoy playing soccer and practice joyfully. When you play with a team, you become part of a family and you build relationships. I joined the Varsity Soccer team for my school and it is the best decision I have ever made.

The first season I had with them didn’t go the way we had hoped but the time I spent training I grew as a player. It wasn’t only about the training. It was about encouraging each other to do our best. I built many relationships and made new friends. I have a great coach, and I wouldn’t switch my team for anything. Currently, we are in the middle of our second season together, and I can say we all improved because of the work we have put in. The vibe during our practice sessions is something I will never forget. Although we do take our team seriously, we also crack jokes and make each other laugh daily. This team has taught me many things, and has proved to me once again that soccer is the best sport in the world.

¡OCTOBER 30TH AN ALL-TIME MOMENT!

CARLOS T.

Carlos T. is a die-hard 49ers fan who absolutely hates the Rams and the Chiefs. He’s a pescatarian who loves fish with rice and avocado. His dream is to become an author, detective, or engineer. His dream vacation is to travel to Greece and Milan, Italy. But his all-time dream is to watch the 49ers win the Superbowl in person, but would settle to watch it from his chair at home as well.

It all started Saturday afternoon. I went out and ran some errands and then it happened. We had gotten to the dollar store, the best place ever. I was eating my bagel, so I didn’t go in. I stayed and was bored. I checked the 49ers vs. Rams tickets because I knew they were playing tomorrow, but I knew it was far-fetched of me to think I could go. Then it happened. I told my parents about it and the unthinkable happened. They handed me the card and told me to buy it.

The next day was October 30th, 2022, the greatest

day of my life. I couldn’t sleep throughout the night. I remember waking up earlier than I anticipated. I showered, got ready, and walked over to my friend Ivan’s house. We waited for a good 20 minutes and then he got the call from his sister that she was outside.

30 minutes later we got there, standing outside Sofi Stadium. The moment was surreal, my heart was racing, seeing red jerseys all around me. I was taking the whole moment in that I forgot to download Seatgeek to access my tickets. Waiting for the app to download was rushing chills down my spine. When the app finally downloaded, I got through check-in.

I remember after passing the check-in the guard saw my jacket and let the Rams fan in first before me. That was a taste of our rivalry. Sadly since we were at Sofi, they only had Rams towels. Still, they were good, nonetheless I can wipe my shoes with it. But that’s a towel I’ll always remember, not because it had a Rams logo but because I made a once-in-a -lifetime memory. I had never been to Sofi or any stadium for that matter. So I was completely lost. I had to follow my friend and we took the wrong set of stairs at first so we had to rush down the stairs again so we didn’t miss anything.

The next few moments were a serendipitous feeling. Walking in, seeing the giant screens and hearing the chants from the fans made a tear trickle down my cheek. I remember not knowing where I sat, so I sat in the wrong seat for the first two drives until I realized and got my actual seat with a better view. It was Christian McCaffrey’s first start as a 49er which made it feel more special.

Half time came around, and we were losing 14-10. I wasn’t worried. We hadn’t lost to the Rams in the regular season in three years. I had nothing to worry about. I remember CMC delivered the performance of a lifetime in front of my very eyes; he had one rushing touchdown, one receiving touchdown and one throwing touchdown. Many times I kept saying to myself, “please don’t let this be a dream,” “please don’t let this dream end.” It didn’t feel real, it was such an amazing and wonderful feeling.

The clocks ran out and I was on the winning side of that. The 49ers beat the Rams 31-14. I didn’t want to leave just yet. I was waiting my whole life to witness something as amazing as this. I didn’t want to leave yet. My friends Ivan and Sapo, who I went with, walked around looking for a towel to take home. All that to take home a towel. But I took more than that towel home, I took memories with me, I took a win with me, I took a dream with me. After walking out the stadium seeing just red jerseys all around me was the real gift. Knowing we (49ers fans) made that game feel like a home game was amazing. My day didn’t end there. To our surprise there was a Sizzler right next to the stadium, and we were hungry so we stopped there and ate. It was such an amazing and funny experience–we spilled tea and it was such a surreal moment. Watching 49ers fans walking in and having Ivan being the only Rams fan in there was funny.

I always watch movies and shows about certain characters having a once-in-a-lifetime moment. People dream about winning the lottery or traveling all around the world. As amazing as

that sounds, my white whale, my lottery moment, was watching my team play and obliterate the rams 31-14. That whole day, October 30th, 2022 was the greatest day of my entire life and I will never forget that I, Carlos Trigueros, went to watch the 49ers obliterate the Rams in an old-fashioned way. October 30th, 2022 a day that will remain in my heart forever!

REALIZATION

EDWARD M.

Edward M. is honest, outgoing, and funny. He was born in California, Los Angeles. He is also a Football Player.

I Am on the field

I Am watching the sun go down

I Am seeing the play unfold

I Am waiting for the blitz or Zone Coverage signal

I Am meeting the RB in hole

I Am stopping the run play

I Am the inside LB (Linebacker)

I Am trying to catch my breath back

I Am trying to read the next play

I Am gassed from the previous play

I Am on island with the slot receiver

I Am on a swivel looking for the run also

I Am still prioritizing the run

I Am still the LB regardless of positioning

I Am lost in thought during the moment

I Am not thinking straight

I Am making a mistake

I Am blamed for the Flag

I Am the cause of said flag

You see, I lost my thought & Focus, I stand on the turf realizing my mistake

I stand on the hash mark ready to make up for the flag

I stand in our huddle ready to jump for the ball on snap count

I stand rushing & make the play & running it back to the end zone for 6

You see, I Am a LB, The LB.

SOCCER

FHER X.

Soccer

Practicing in the rain

Can be a pain

The thing is we don’t mind at all

We just wanna play ball

Laughing all the time trying to do simple stuff

CORRUPTION

ANGEL A.

Angel A. hates writing.

They deceive us.

They pull the strings.

They silence our voices.

They have the most power.

They use countless masks.

They watch our every step.

They plan our downfalls.

They twist our morals.

They kill our world.

They won’t stop.

They never will.

DRIFTIN’ ON A MEMORY

GISELLE L.

Giselle L. is a half-Salvadorian, half-Hondurena girl from Los Angeles. She enjoys playing her guitar, drawing, playing softball, cheering, and most of all listening to music. She may seem serious or introverted when first meeting, but she is very extroverted to the people she enjoys being around and who bring her peace and tranquility.

Music for the soul

For me music holds memories kinda like how they do it in the movie Inside Out Though instead of keepin’ them contained, they flow through

Most of my memories lie in oldies

Artists & groups like Etta James, Smokey Robinson, Little Anthony & the Imperials, James Brown, Ritchie Valens, The Shirelles, The Temptations, Mary Wells, The Delfonics, Brenda & The Tabulations, The Ronettes, The Manhattans, & Otis Redding, just to list some of my favorites

Some oldies take me back, I still remember that one summer

I was about nine in a bright red Mustang convertible

Crusin’ through LA

The sun was shining bright, the air was crisp

Streets filled with endless rows of palm trees

Every once in a while we’d pass those streets that had cherry blossoms

It was always raining petals, shades of pink and purple

Maybe even blue

I remember feelin’ like I was in paradise

Regardless of my struggle that summer

My mind likes to see the good in every situation

Forgiving the negative but never forgetting,

Me and my mom use to take long car rides

Passin’ the 6th street bridge

Seein’ the lights of downtown

Every time we sang our favorite songs

“I’d Rather Go Blind” by Etta James & “Misty Blue” by Dorothy Moore

We use to sing to the top of our lungs with such passion

Acting as if someone had ripped our hearts out Oldies have a way of “gettin’ you in your feels”

As my mom likes to say, Whether you’re madly in love, heartbroken, happy, sad,

whatever you may be feelin’

You align with the waves of sound that portray your emotions

Music for the soul

FOOTBALL

SUPAVIT J.

Supavit J. is a student athlete who loves football. He values his friends and family. Football made a huge impact in my life. It gave me an experience that I’ll never have again. I learned to have commitment, discipline, heart, and respect. I learned how to work hard. I met people who I can look up to. People who taught me many things on and off the field. People who I could trust and have my back. In my rookie year I was basically carried all the way to winning league champs.

My junior year was when I had to step up and feel all the pressure. All the things I have learned from the upperclassmen had to be put to use. I worked all off-season to get to where I am.

I played every game with all I got. It wasn’t enough. At the end of the day football is a team game and you can’t do it by yourself. Took loss after loss and had one of the worst seasons in

MCLC history. Lost a big game, felt like I hit rock bottom. But that sparked something in the team. It brought people together to work even harder. We won our next game against our other rival, one of my best games stats-wise. Now that the season is over I have experienced playing as quarterback, wide receiver, running back, outside linebacker, safety, and corner. I even won MVP. I’m going to use all the experience that I have in the future and farther. I will get Crown Hill back for my senior year.

arrival & exploration

THE DASH TO MY LIFE

DAISY C.

Daisy C. was born in Detroit, Michigan, but her parents are from Mexico. She enjoys watching and playing basketball with her friends and family. Her favorite team is the Golden State Warriors. Daisy is a dog lover and likes animals too. She is also a Christian and loves her church family. She was adopted at 15.

Dear Habibi (Dash my dog),

I appreciate you so much for all the great things you have done and even the bad things. Something that I really appreciate is that you always light up the room whenever something is going wrong. You always brighten my days and make me feel calm when you’re by my side. I am so thankful that you came into the family. Thank you for all the times that you sat by me, knowing that I’m not your favorite person. Also, you are just a fun dog, yet you can be very lazy at some points.

Something that I love about you is that you are so fluffy. You still stink, but it’s ok. I love how you get so excited when we say the word “walk” because of how much you really want to go outside. I admire how you get cheerful when you go on walks with Gramma and Gramps. It’s so funny how you act when we point to mom and dad’s room, knowing that we’re going to give you a bath. You get so afraid that you hide under the dining table and it’s very hard to catch you. But once I catch you, you try to hold on to me with your claws and it hurts. Then when I’m able to put you in the bath, you shiver as if it were snowing. In the end, you smell good and you’re a clean dog.

I remember the first time I met you; I held you for a couple minutes and I’m so glad that I got to see you grow up even though I didn’t see you when you were a young puppy. I am so thankful for all the days I get to spend with you and the family. I am also thankful for getting to do so many activities like taking you camping, giving you baths, going on hikes, and many more things. I have just been able to have a happier life with you and all the memories that I get to have with you makes it feel special.

The years 2019 and 2020 were hard years for me. I had so many problems with family and friends that it just made me feel depressed. I wouldn’t want to talk to anyone and would want to stay in my room for most of the day. But I always needed you with me. You are such a joyful dog, and my sadness would go away for a bit as you cheered me up. It took lots of time to heal from everything and to be happy once again. I can enjoy my life and the time that I have.

You make me realize how much I care about animals and want to help them not to go extinct. You had some part in helping me become the person I am, but God has been the biggest helper. He is the one who brought you into my life as a gift. Yes, I may not be like the people in my church, however I am happy to be a follower of Christ.

P.S. I know you can’t read this, but I want others to know about you.

GOODBYE

JENNIFER V.

Jennifer V. is a person that will give her life for someone else’s happiness or someone else’s safety. A person that will try their best no matter what the situation is. A person that likes learning new things.

I say goodbye a lot

And some hurt

But your goodbye hurt me the most

Every little thing reminds me of you

I see kids with their grandparents

And I wish I was them

I wish I got …

To hug you one last time,

To tell you I love you one last time,

To tell you how thankful I was for all the stuff you’ve done for me

To see that smile of yours

One More Time

The day I said goodbye destroyed me

Standing there with a flower in my hand

Placing it beside your cold body

Breaking down just looking at you laying there

Without me seeing that smile of yours one more time

People say life moves on

But mine stopped when I said my last Goodbye

SEVEN RED HEARTS IN ONE

CHRISTOPHER H.

Chris H. is a happy person outside of school and loves and cares for his family. He enjoys listening to music, drawing, cooking, and most of all likes to spend time with his family. One of his biggest dreams is for his family to stay together as they get older.

Knowing I have seven important humans in my life

My Family as seven to one

Adoring both Mom and Dad

Cherishing my five siblings including myself

Looking forward to being together in the evening

From beginning to end

Never wanting to let them go

Them having a great impact on me differently

Wishing they will stay close with me forever

Follow me wherever I go

Not having a huge gap of hours of not seeing each other

Wanting to hang out and stay together

But remembering that everything is temporary

Having to deal in the thought of mind that they will go

Not knowing how long we will be together

Who will break our bond in the future

Will we stay like this forever

I’d like to hope that we do

To stay as seven red hearts in one

DEAR ARI

NAYELI A.

Nayeli A. wrote this poem about her favorite book, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. She is a person who enjoys creating and making items. She enjoys being in her own bubble, has a lot of mini hobbies, and loves coffee and spicy food.

You saved my life

Am I breaking the rules?

“I can teach you how to swim”

Are the words that brought me closer to you

Our friendship was nice

Almost as nice as not wearing any shoes

I’ve been hiding a secret

A secret that just grew bigger when I went to Chicago

I tried to lie to myself but couldn’t do it anymore

Drawing, painting you

Admiring you

My feelings grew

I knew it wasn’t right

But I couldn’t stop it

That time we kissed

It felt right

But not for you

I was disappointed

I was hurt

How could I ever love someone else

As much as I love you

Turns out you lied

You lied about not liking the books I gave you

You lied about being okay

You lied to me

But most importantly, You lied about not liking that kiss

You kissed me again

It felt right

Not only for me

But for you too

Finally, All that hurt

Didn’t matter anymore

No pain, no fear

Just the desert, Your red truck, The breeze, And us.

I love you Aristotle Mendoza.

MY SADNESS BLOOMS

JOSEPH P.

Joseph P. is a human male who hates reading, but thinks writing can be fun sometimes. He loves to paint things like shoes, phone cases, bags, and other cool items! He also enjoys playing video games and has tried making a YouTube channel for fun, and has a dog named Shark. Joseph is also lonely, has no friends… but loves his girlfriend!

It was a dark and stormy day, well, at least it felt like it to me, Levi. Every day felt dark and stormy to me. I spent every day alone, I didn’t speak to kids at school because they didn’t speak to me. People saw me as the weird kid even though I wasn’t weird in any way. I was a junior in high school. I did really well in my classes. The teachers didn’t even pay attention to me because they just didn’t want to–they only spoke to me if it was absolutely necessary. I tended to wear black clothing with my hood on my head since it helped me block off the stares I received by other students. At home, it was a little different. My

parents tried to give me attention, but I rejected that attention because I felt that they were obligated to since they were my parents. I tended to lock myself in my room and journal.

Tuesday, September 2nd

I sat alone. Again. Today was fun though, I got to write a lot today in my History class and started working on my short story that I’ve been working on since I finished my work early. Too bad it’ll never be read by anyone since nobody will care after all. After that, it was lunch, the food was alright, sucks that I can’t enjoy the food at a table with anyone else. After I ate though, I continued working on my short story.

It was the next morning and I woke up late, but it didn’t matter to me since no one cared. Every day was the same. I got ready and made my way to school, but got there about ten minutes late. When I walked in class, everyone stared at me, but no one greeted me. Though, today felt different. I couldn’t tell what it was, but there was something that felt off. As my day went on, everything was normal until my English class. There was a new student. Her name was Bella, and she was beautiful. She was walking in my direction, and I didn’t expect her to talk to me, but she did.

“Hi, I’m Bella, it’s nice to meet you, what’s your name?” Bella asked.

“Levi,” I responded.

Bella eventually realized that I wasn’t speaking much and she was called back to her table by the teacher. I couldn’t help but stare at her though, she was so pretty. I started feeling uncomfortable

because I kept glancing at her. I was waiting for the clock to strike 2:00pm so I could go home. Class finally finished and I walked home so fast. When I got home I instantly started journaling.

Wednesday, September 3rd

There was a new student in my English class. She was so pretty, but unfortunately there’s nothing I can do about it since nothing will happen between us. School on the other hand was boring. Last period I felt sleepy… until she arrived… what did she say her name was? That’s right, Bella.

I didn’t finish my journal that night. All because I started crying, just because I knew that nothing would happen between her and I. I felt it all in my heart, I ended up crying myself to sleep that night.

“Damn I’m late again… doesn’t even matter,” I said as I woke up and saw the clock on my wall with its hands showing 8:00am. I got ready and walked to school.

I was late once again. I turned in some assignments I had worked on and started my next assignments. When I finished all my classes, English was next. I was excited to see if Bella was there, and she was. I saw her, laughing and talking to her new friends. I was surprised how fast she made friends, and I’d been here for so long and hadn’t made any. She had a really nice smile. She was also kind, very smart, and funny.

Bella

“Hey, Levi just got here, I’m going to talk to

him,” I said to my friends.

“Trust us, you don’t want to talk to him, no one does,” my friends responded.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“I don’t know. Nobody talks to him though.”

“Then nothing is wrong with him. I’ll go talk to him,” I said with a smile. “Hey Levi, what’s up?”

“Oh, hi,” Levi responded with a stutter, sounding as if he was cold.

“So what are you working on?” I asked him, but he wasn’t responding or looking at me. “Is something wrong? S-sorry for bothering you, I can come back another time, byeee.”

My friends called me back to my table, so I walked back and continued doing my work.

Levi

I made my way home and I couldn’t stop thinking about what happened in class today. Once I got home, no one was there. I got to work on my journal while talking to myself.

Wednesday, September 4th

I messed up. That was my chance to speak to her but I blew it. She was dressed really nicely and I got nervous to speak to her. She just got here, she might not find me weird like everyone else, but by now, she probably thinks I’m weird. But the fact she spoke to me left me in disbelief, nobody talks to me. She’s the first person

I’ve wanted to talk to. Is it because I like her? Or because she’s new and doesn’t know me or think of me like the others do? Wait…do I like her?! Never mind, why does it matter, look at what I’ve done to myself.

I set down my journal and saw that no one was home, so I took a walk outside.

It was a little windy but it was fine with me. While I was walking around I noticed some kids from my school, and I noticed them playing with their friends. It sucked because they even stared at me when I was just walking around. Well anyways, I was still thinking about Bella and I started getting frustrated and was planning out what to say just in case she talked to me again. I hated it because I kept coming up with different scenarios in my head while doubting that she’d even want to speak to me. I stopped after a bit, I turned around, and walked home.

It was the next day, I woke up early, but had no motivation to go to school. I saw the time and just decided to go to school early. I got ready, and I was on my way to school. To my surprise, Bella was walking right in front of me. Thankfully I had thought of something the day before that I could say to her. I was approaching her from behind but I was nervous. I didn’t know she walked the same path I do to school.

I finally had the courage to go up to her. I didn’t think, I just acted. I looked at her and I started walking faster. I was coming close and my emotions took over and I didn’t realize what I was doing. I reached my hand out to tap her shoulder to say hi, with my heart pounding. It felt as if

I was racing my heart from how much I sped up, but suddenly, her two friends approached her. They spoke to her. I stopped and just stood there, staring. Her friends turned around and looked at me and I ran. Bella turned around to see what her friends were looking at but I was gone. How stupid of me, what was I thinking? I wasn’t even mad. I was disappointed in myself for trying something like that. I didn’t think of what I was doing. I just did it.

I kept walking to school at a distance behind her. I didn’t want to get into her line of sight. I thought that her friend would’ve told her something. I didn’t want her to question me or think I was weird for following her even though I wasn’t. We got to school and she turned the corner. I then turned the corner and she popped up out of nowhere.

“Hey Levi! How are you? I noticed you walk through the same path I do. Why didn’t you say anything?” Bella asked me.

“W-Wait, you saw me? I-I-I’m sorry I promise I wasn’t following you,” I responded, tripping over my words as we walked together to class.

“Nah it’s okay, my friends said you were following but I didn’t believe them. So why didn’t you come up to say hi to us?”

“Sorry, I saw your friends arrive and I’m just not good with people, not sure if you’ve noticed.”

“Oh I’ve noticed, but it’s fine, you’ll get over it soon,” she said with a smile on her face.

“Anyways, this is me, I’ll talk to you later okay?”

“Oh, um, okay, see you later.”

I had been walking with her with a smile on my face. I hadn’t noticed that lots of people were staring at me since I was talking to Bella.

“What the hell was that, did you see that?” a student asked their friend in a whisper, but I heard it.

“Yeah, that’s weird,” the friend responded.

I heard more and more people talking about what they saw. I realized what I’d been doing, and that it was ruining Bella’s reputation in this school. I couldn’t speak to her anymore. What kind of idiot was I? I kept letting my emotions take over. I ran to class, hearing the echoes of everyone begin to get louder and louder. I rushed to my class and when I got there I put my head down. Suddenly, everything was quiet.

Bella

I didn’t get to talk to Levi yesterday like I told him I would. God, I feel bad now. I tried getting ready fast to hopefully talk to Levi as we walked to school. Luckily I saw him! I went to talk to him, I said hi, but something felt off about him.

“Good morning Levi! How are you? I’m sorry I couldn’t talk to you more yesterday but I didn’t—”

“I know, it was a good thing you couldn’t see me,”

Levi said.

“Oh. Why do you say that?”

“You shouldn’t talk to me anymore. It’s not worth it,” he told me, trying to walk away. What happened to him? He was smiling just yesterday and now he seemed more sad than usual. I tried to keep up with Levi but he kept speeding up. I decided to leave him alone and hope he cheered up soon.

As I made my way to school, my friends showed up.

“Oh my god, Bella did you hear what they’re saying about you at school? We told you that you shouldn’t talk to Levi!”

“Wait what? What happened? Why would you say such things?”

“Almost everyone is talking about you and Levi talking to each other! They’re calling you weird too for talking to him because you’re the only one talking to him! This is bad, you can’t be seen with him anymore—”

“So? Doesn’t matter if they call me weird. I enjoyed talking to Levi and I hope he did too. I’m going to head to class, I’ll see you both later.”

I was connecting the dots when I got to class. That must’ve been the reason Levi wasn’t talking to me. I had to talk to him as soon as possible, otherwise this wouldn’t end well, especially for him.

Lunch came around and I saw Levi sitting alone. I was walking towards him until he looked up from writing his paper. I looked away because I got

scared. What if talking to him during lunch was a bad idea? He might push me away. I then decided to wait ‘til after school where fewer people might see us.

It was finally after school. Those were probably the longest hours of my life, but I could finally speak to him. I walked for a few minutes and it started to rain, but I saw him. My heart was racing. I was nervous, but I spoke to him anyway.

“Levi! Wait up!”

“No, you shouldn’t talk to me. Your friends were right. I heard what they told you in the morning. You should’ve listened to them. I don’t want you to end up like me,” Levi said.

“So what if I end up like you? Wouldn’t that be better? Then you and I can be friends.”

“Stop, you’re only saying that because you feel bad for me, for being alone.”

“No I’m not. I’ve seen how you are and you seem better than the rest. I’ve seen you doing your work right away and finishing it in class unlike the others, I’ve seen how smart you are, and I can tell you’re caring. If you care about my reputation then you must find something about me worth caring for. And because of that, I want to be your friend.”

“It’s raining, you should go home,” he told me.

“I don’t care about the rain Levi, I care about you!”

A long silence came between us, leaving us both standing in the rain.

Levi

My heart dropped. She said she cared about me. Did she really mean it?

“You’re right. I do care about you. And I do want to be your friend, but I don’t want you to hate me when others treat you the same way they treat me.”

“Okay, I won’t hate you then, so please, let me help you,” Bella said, walking up to me. “I promise I won’t.”

“Bella, really, why do you want to be my friend?”

She didn’t respond for a bit. I was about to start walking away, expecting her not to have an answer.

“I know how you feel,” she said. I was confused.

“What? How could someone like you know how I’ve felt?”

“My family. It’s like they don’t care about me, especially when I need them. My parents gave me no attention at home, so because of the way they made me feel, I didn’t like to do anything with others. I would ditch school a lot. Eventually, my mom and dad left. I went to live with my grandma and my life changed, and I’m here now,” she said as the rain started to get stronger. “I’ve noticed you, and I know that I was similar, but I let myself make friends and I know you can too.”

“I see … you should get going, it’s raining pretty hard now.”

“Okay. I will,” she said sadly.

“See you tomorrow morning,” I said. You could see the shock in her face, with a bit of excitement.

The next morning I woke up, and to my surprise, Bella was at my front door waiting for me. I got ready for school in a hurry. We walked for a bit in silence. It was a bit awkward until I asked her a question.

“Are you sure you don’t care about what others say?”

“I promise I don’t. And if I’m being honest, whenever I see you, I get this weird feeling. It doesn’t feel like I need to talk to you, but it feels like I want to talk to you.”

“Oh I see,” I said with a smile that Bella noticed.

“You have a nice smile, you know. You should show it more often, but before you say you can’t, I’ll help you, okay?” she told me with a smile.

We got to school and I noticed all the stares from people. Bella saw I was looking and she started talking to me to distract me. I felt comfortable though. She made me comfortable.

5 Months Later

Bella and I have been hanging out for quite a while now. Honestly,

I’ve enjoyed this time I spent with her a lot. I actually feel happy for once. We’ve gone so many places together and it’s been so much fun. Luckily for us, summer just started, so now we have more time to spend with each other. We’ve been to places like the mall, parks, the movies, and soon we’re going to Disneyland! My life has honestly changed, thanks to Bella. I don’t know what I’d be doing without her.

I feel like we’ve gotten so much closer. I’ve gotten better at ignoring the others who think I’m weird which is nice, again, thanks to her.

I finished my short story a few weeks ago. Since I based it off of my life, I thought I’d let Bella read it, since she was the best part of it. So I planned for us to meet at the park the next day to hang out, and so that she could read it.

The next day, I was nervous. I didn’t know how she’d react. Anyways, the time had come, she was with me, I should show it to her…

“Hey Bella!” I said. “I have something I wanna show you…”

“Oh sure, what is it?”

I handed her the short story I wrote. As she read my story her facial expression changed through a few different faces. By the end of it, she cried.

“Oh Levi, I am so sorry,” she said, and she continued to cry. “I’m so sorry, Levi.”

“Bella? What happened? What are you sorry for?”

“I’m sorry that I wasn’t in your life sooner!”

I felt like crying too.

“Me too Bella. That’s why I feel lucky to have you in my life. That’s why the whole tone of the story changed, that’s why I’ve changed, all thanks to you.”

Bella hugged me. I hugged her back.

“Levi, I’m glad I could do this for you. Thank you for letting me.”

“Bella, I should be thanking you . ”

10 Years Later

I was on my way home and I passed by a flower shop. I got the idea to get Aurora some flowers because I knew she was waiting for me at home. I got her the biggest and brightest flowers I could find. I also got her some chocolates because after all, she brings more happiness into my life. All the things I went through, it’s amazing to remember the things that changed my life around.

I got home and she was waiting for me. I got to the door, and I greeted her with a big hug and some kisses, and surprised her with the flowers and chocolates. It wasn’t her birthday, it wasn’t Christmas, and it wasn’t Valentine’s Day. I got her flowers and chocolates because she is the best daughter I could have hoped for. Don’t think I forgot about Bella either. I got her a nice necklace. It was shiny and really pretty on her. I got it for her to show my appreciation towards her for changing my life.

Thank you, Bella. Thank you.

FOR THE LOVE OF SISTERS

YENNIFER J.

Yennifer J. is a student at ALC who likes playing volleyball and has participated in DANCE her whole life, plus is part of the ALC cheer team. She also is a student with good grades, and enjoys spending time with friends and family.

I sometimes wonder what life would be like without my sisters

Life would be quiet and boring

I wouldn’t have anyone to ask for advice

I wouldn’t have anyone to sing along to my songs

I wouldn’t have someone to talk to about boy problems

I would be one lonely girl

My sisters know how to make me laugh

I was sad seeing my older sister leave for college

Knowing she’s the oldest and she was like my second mother

Not saying my mom was not the best mom

But my sister always helped me when I needed her the most so obviously

I wasn’t ready to say goodbye

Now I hardly ever see her

My younger sister is growing up so fast

We may have our arguments here and there

But I know she’s the last child and that I need to be there for her

She makes my days when I’m not feeling too good

She knows how to make me laugh

Knowing that soon I’ll be off to college

Moving away from home and my sisters

It’s quite hard to think about

Time goes by in a blink of an eye

I’ll be off to college

My younger sister will be a sophomore

My older sister will be graduated and coming back home

I will forever be thankful for my sisters and our amazing journeys spent together

Will always remember our childhood memories

Enjoy the moments left with your siblings because sooner or later we will all go our separate ways

TO MY SISTER

DAISY C.

Daisy C. likes to try new things such as playing volleyball, embroidery, painting, and drawing.

Dear sister, growing up without you I always wondered how it would be to have an older sister— to share those good memories with one another, to protect each other from harm, to share a bond that can never be broken. How I wished that you were with me to see me grow up. With you by my side I’ll never feel lonely again.

But when I hear your name, even if we didn’t grow up together, even if you’re in another country, I know from the bottom of my heart that you’re my sister. And I will always love you.

I AM MOTHER

PRINCESA R.

Known as Princesa, a very social person, is on the varsity cheerleading team and has been for around two years. She has had straight A’s since middle school and continues to. She plans on attending a four year college to study medicine and real estate. If it does not go to plan, she will start her own business.

Most of the time people appreciate their parents because they love them, whether it’s their mother or father or both. While this piece is for my mother, the reason isn’t about love, though I do love her. I appreciate her because of her actions. What I want to thank her for are too many things to name, but I’ll discuss a couple. For putting us first, us as in me and my older brother. Sitting here now, I realize I am her age when she realized the life she wanted wasn’t going to be hers to live, and that she would have to give up hers for another who hadn’t even come into the world yet.

I admire her raising two kids only two years apart all on her own as well as having to pay the bills. I admire her for always making sure we ate though

at times she didn’t. I admire her making sure we had clothes during the winter, though at times she was freezing. I admire her for giving us a place to sleep even if it was in the back of the car. I admire her for not making us move schools and lose all our friends even when we lived 47 minutes away. I admire her juggling jobs and going to college even if it meant we had to stay after school for hours.

I admire her never bad-mouthing our father. I admire her letting him come to my fifteen.

I admire her for being in a room with him and making sure I had him for those special moments. I admire her for always making sure we went to buy him a Father’s Day or a birthday gift even though he never did. I admire her for telling us the truth even if it ruined what we actually thought. I still admire her for trying to have us fix things with him. My quinceañera was the moment when I really appreciated all the actions she had taken to make sure I was healthy and happy even though it cost her so much.

GRATITUDE LETTER TO MOM AND DAD

AMAIA Q.

Amaia Q. is a big cat lover and a supportive person to the people she cares about. Cold and rainy days are her favorite days because she can get cozy. Most of all she loves her parents.

Dear Mom and Dad,

I am incredibly thankful to you who gave up everything so your kids could have a better life without the struggles you had to go through. You work so much to give your kids everything they have right now and I appreciate it. I don’t just appreciate the things you both give me physically, but also emotionally. You give me love and kindness through hugs and kisses or holding hands.

I don’t feel embarrassed with this type of affection from you because I want to let you know that I am not ashamed of you. I’m thankful for the advice you both give me when I need it and I’ve used it.

Mom, you have taught me to put myself before others and not care about what others say or think about me. You’ve said that, “you shouldn’t care what people think about you, caring just wastes your time and energy which could be used to move forward.” I’ve used this and it is a part of my mindset which I’m trying to improve.

And you, dad, have told me to do things like study and get a good job but for myself–not for you or anybody else because it’s my future. It’s not gonna affect anybody, only me.

You both listen to what I have to say and you make me feel like I’m a person who is worth it and that’s all I need. I don’t need it from friends, teachers or anybody, just from you. I aspire to be like you, people who don’t care what others say. I want to be as strong and hardworking as you and independent as well. Thank you mom and dad for absolutely everything and I’ll continue to feel grateful because there are no other people like you.

THE VALUE OF FAMILY

FRANKLY P.

Frankly P. likes to exercise. It makes him happy and in that space his mind feels relaxed.

I believe in my family because when I am feeling alone sometimes my brother comes to me and he asks me, “Why do you look sad?” and that helps me to keep going, to continue to be happy with them.

I don’t like to spend too much time with them, but I think family in this life is the most important because when you have problems, accidents, feelings, and so on, the family can help.

Two years ago I cut my hand. It was bleeding a lot, big and deep. That happened when I was playing with my friends and I was crying because I was scared and my mom was scared too, but she cared for me.

I believe in my family because they motivate me to keep going in my studies and they support me in my interests. They always give me good advice and their advice motivates me to not give up doing things like high school.

My family shows me how important they are. They make you happy with small things. Small things are too much for one person that doesn’t have a family. A lot of people live on the street. They want to have a family like other people. I say this because when I was separated from my family for a time, I felt so lonely, empty, as if nobody cared about me. So, I just wanna say to young people: value your mom, dad, brothers, and sisters because they are so important.

BETRAYAL

JENNIFER I.

Jen I. loves to go out. She drinks coffee every day and she is an athletic person. You’re always gonna see her doing something outside of school. She mostly reads poetry from an author called Rupi Kaur.

Betrayal

I never thought it would be you

You made up everything

And for what

People think you’re nice

Don’t get me wrong i thought that too

But you stab people in the back you made it seem like you cared

Unfortunately you were lying

You said things

That you were always gonna protect me

That you were always going to be with me

But those words were a lie

i wouldn’t have ever thought It would come from you

The least unexpected person

The one that was a nice, friendly, and helpful person

It took me time to cut you off It was difficult but I managed it

Time went by without talking

Seeing each other everyday in the hallway

Sometimes I just missed being your friend

But then realized what happened so I rethink about it

Makes me realize that friends come and go

But i’m just grateful you’re not here

Not a part of my life anymore

DO YOU BELIEVE IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT?

AHLEEYAH M.

Ahleeyah M. is lovable when she needs to be. She is very energetic and responsible. She spends her quality time listening to music and watching YouTube videos about moving and furnishing and cleaning. She is a neat freak so when anything is out of place she tends to fix it.

She has many siblings which brings chaos to her home but she keeps to herself. She is a closed book and sometimes open with people she is close with.

Today was my first day of school. I decided I was going to wear a green Michigan state hoodie, gray long flares that reached the floor, black and white Jordans that made me feel a little bit tall, and my pink tote bag. I didn’t really like backpacks, so I left for school. A lady at a desk gave me my schedule with a bright smile.

Walking down the empty hall, classrooms passed

by, every number but the one I’m looking for, room numbers passing by slowly 123, 124, 125. I looked down at my paper, in bold print: RM 145. My shoes clacked and echoed through the hallway. 135, 136, I heard talking and laughing on my way to the next hallway. I saw someone walk down the hallway but not paying it any mind. “Hi,” he said. I glanced at him for a second, then again for the second time, and I didn’t realize I was staring at him for too long until he said something again.

His light brown eyes reminded me of caramel, his smooth brown skin, curly short hair, he was about 5 ‘8, but that’s just me guessing. I stood in front of him basically drooling.

“Are you new here?” he snapped me out of my trance. “Oh yeah,” I said looking down at my paper. “I’m looking for room 145,” I said, giving him my paper. “Oh, I have that class right now,” he replied. We walked down the quiet hallway only our voices echoing.

We departed to our seats. I sat next to a brunette girl, her hair was wavy and shiny. She smelled like vanilla perfume, the one my mom would always use. I tried ignoring the scent but she kept moving and flipping her hair and it gave me a headache. I moved to the back not noticing I sat next to the guy who I forgot to ask for his name. He looked up. “Oh hey again,” he said. “Hey,” I replied.

He smiled. “I forgot to ask,” I said. “What’s your name?” “Damien,” he replied. “My name is Liah,” I said. We kept eye contact causing me to smile. That day forward we became close not knowing one year from now we would be dating.

A LION’S PATH

JOSELIN C.F.

Joselin C.F. was born in Los Angeles, California, is 16 years old, and her family came from Guatemala. She has an older sister and a younger brother and loves to draw and paint. She picked up her painting hobby from her sister who used to always paint and was allured by it. This poem is from a dream she had about three years ago that’s been stuck with her ever since.

On a night as dark as this, I stared out to look at the sky

With the stars lighting up the road. I wonder will I have a dream this time?

Laying down with a red blanket covering me on this cold night

As the feeling of fatigue encroached over me, eternal darkness was all I saw.

When a swaying bright green grass path with beautifully bright trees on the sides Appeared in front of me.

Suddenly coming upon three paths filled with lions with no fear

I wonder what this means?

On the top path there stood a male lion with a big mane on the swaying grass filled with confidence. It felt like the most promising.

As I stood in the middle of the three paths barefoot,

The middle path had a maneless lion on the green grass sleeping peacefully as if I was nonexistent.

I lastly look over the third path

There laid a female lion with her three cubs surrounding her

Heading towards that path I felt conscious and nervous

Walking through this final path I see her but she didn’t bother with me

I felt out of place ‘til I reached the end of the path where barrels of logs stood up next to each other like a gate, protecting the inside

When suddenly I get blinded by a light making my eyes open wide, back in my room once again

As I felt cold I covered myself and Reminiscing, it makes me believe that I chose that path because of an unconditional Feeling of comfort and nostalgia for my mom and siblings.

CHAPTER 4 sunset

I AM THINKING

DAVID R.

David R. is a student from ALC at the Miguel Contreras Learning Complex.

I am looking at myself in the mirror

Seeing where it’s gotten me

Seeing how I’ve grown as a person

Feeling the anxiety through my veins

Feeling the overthinking eating me up from the inside

Day by day I succumb to the overthinking

Feeling defeated by it

A travesty of myself

As my confidence, self esteem, integrity, and purpose, and much more plummets

Debating listening to the thing on my shoulder

The unidentifiable entity

As if it were from a cartoon with the angel and devil on their shoulders

But the voice is very much there

Telling you every second it can:

“You’re worthless”

“No one loves you”

“Are you really helping people?”

“Are you happy with who you are?”

“Don’t you think you cause more harm than good?”

“Are you worth more dead or alive?”

“Someone who can’t protect your friends or family.”

“Someone who can’t secure a response.”

“Hesitant to do anything and everything.”

“Look at yourself, your hands are shaking now.”

“Are you really going to tear up now?”

“Heart beating fast?”

“Scared of knowing it’s true?”

“Do you want to hide away?”

“Feeling like crumpling up to a ball?”

“Pathetic.”

As I keep looking at the random person in the mirror

Unable to identify him

He looks scared and vulnerable

Seems as if the person in the mirror can’t contain a single thought

I turn from the mirror

Since I can’t fathom looking for more than five seconds.

VOICES

CHELSIE C.

Chelsie C. (Chels) enjoys reading romance novels and loves having someone to talk to about a novel. She’s an introverted person, but with her friends she’s extroverted. She’s always looking after her family and friends and makes sure they’re not missing anything.

Never caring how much food you eat

Never caring about the calories

Was the best feeling

But now it’s a nightmare.

Every single day there’s voices in your head

Telling you to check the calories

Before you eat anything

Telling you to not eat

Or else you’ll gain weight

And you try not to listen

But it gets louder and louder each day

And it’s hard to ignore

So you start listening

You start checking calories

Every day

You stop eating

After it becomes your routine

And it takes a turn for the worse…

You start feeling light headed

You start feeling dizzy every time you get up

You start feeling your body get weaker

You start getting extreme headaches

Day by day

It’s horrible, but you can’t stop

You keep on listening to the voices

And the more you listen

The worse you keep getting

No matter how much you try

You keep losing and the voices keep winning

A SENSE OF ADVENTURE AND WONDER

CHRISTIAN P.

A place where I feel calm and relaxed is when I take a walk around downtown or just in general with music playing in my ears. My thoughts calm down and relax just looking at the blue sky and the clouds, feeling the wind in my face, feeling the warmth of my sweater, feeling the sense of freedom of calmness in my mind, just relaxation.

It feels like the world is speaking to me in the wind and noises that hit my ear. I zone out all my surroundings. I just take the time to look at people or buildings wondering what was their origin, what caused the person to be walking or driving right now–is it work, family, friends? All these thoughts come into my head. Then it’s the buildings. I wonder who created them and who took the time to make the structure that certain way. All those thoughts come up in my head, the sense of adventure and wonder of what is the story of

the things around me.

While I keep walking I notice my body is calm. The thoughts of all things I want to do or ask go away. It’s just the sense I want to keep walking. It helps get my head clear. I’m not worrying about a test tomorrow. I’m not worrying about what my mom or teacher thinks. Time to take a break and look at things and just walk and explore and look at how beautiful the outside world is. This, instead of sitting at my house stressing about all the things I need to do. It’s just me and my thoughts wanting a break from everything and the problems holding me back.

A SINKING FEELING

ADRIAN C.

Adrian C. is a very sleepy human; he would sleep all day if he could and he likes being with friends. He loves his family but is a very quiet person. He puts himself out there even though it’s hard but it’s been working slowly. Something he favors more than anything is the sky whether it’s the night sky or the sunny blue sky. Landscapes are his favorite view and he likes cheeseburgers with strawberry Fanta.

No one was around, it was dark, quiet and cold. He sat all alone in the pool no one knows. He looked around the pool with nothing in sight. “Splash,” a silent noise indicating that he’s now in the pool. As he fell deeper and deeper he lost his breath. The hope that he had was gone when no one showed. This pain was numb from the cold but there was a smile on my face. I felt happy, but sad thinking of a bittersweet end, thinking no one would pull me up. I thought I’d drown, sinking deeper and deeper and then I realized I was wrong, that my feelings weren’t strong.

I sunk and I sunk. There was no way to stop. I paddled and paddled until my arms gave out, maybe

it was my mind, maybe it wasn’t real, maybe I’d wake up with this sinking feeling clawing at my chest. Messing up my mind, confused in these times, I tried to push forward but I felt I got slower with no sight for hope. I was isolated, alone, with my mind trying to go. I opened my eyes to see it was real, what I did was real. I regret what I did and the thoughts that I had, but soon came to realize there was no going back. I lost all hope and I closed my eyes as I woke up to see the brightest of lights.

It wasn’t what I thought it was, it was the light of safety. My mind had someone to hold for a while. I was saved from my drowning which may have been mental but I was pulled up from the water that I thought I’d stay under. My reason to be happy grew as I put on a smile that wasn’t from the lost and found but hidden away in my closet. I’m happy again and I deal with my problems. Knowing that you’re not alone can save you from drowning from that pool of thoughts you thought you’d never get out of.

TRAUMA AND GRIEF

NATALI G.

Natali G. is a student athlete and is on the girls varsity soccer team. She loves playing soccer, spending time with loved ones, and hearing music. Her wish is to successfully enter a college or university that offers the major she wants to study. Lastly, it’s okay not to be okay and reach out for help if you need it.

There was once a joyful and happy teenage girl that had the almost perfect life she could have wished for. Her name was Guadalupe but was often called Lupita for short. Well Lupita was an average Mexican-American girl who lived in a Mexican household. She started growing up and started seeing and realizing how this world in reality is and the struggles an adult has to face.

At a very young age she experienced bullying. She was questioned a lot and made fun of by classmates or other children outside her classroom. There was this kid named Kyle who always picked on her and told her mean stuff. “Why are you so tall? Are you a giraffe? Are you supposed to be in this school? What is that on your arms?” and “Why does

your face look disgusting?” She then realized that she started hitting puberty at a really young age while her peers were still in their child forms. She started to hate herself and felt disgusting.

Sometimes she would go home and cry all day long until no more tears could come out from her beautiful big doe eyes. Eventually Kyle moved schools and the bullying stopped but the hurtful words that constantly got repeated to her over and over again day by day stayed in her mind. She never told anyone and it was hard for her to trust people and communicate with others.

Lupita told her mom because her mom didn’t see the same Lupita with the cheerful and happy personality. “I got bullied every single day… I can not make friends because of it. I started to believe those words were true, that people don’t wanna be friends with me because of the way I look!”

Her mom didn’t know what to do and felt guilty. So Lupita’s mom decided to take her to therapy and help her overcome this experience. Things were eventually going smoothly for Lupita, the therapy session was helping, and she was slowly regaining her confidence back. She started making friends little by little and didn’t feel disgusted with herself. In the following year after the bullying occurred and all the therapy sessions, Lupita didn’t know her father was running out of time and didn’t know he was going to leave her forever. Her dad got vastly sick. Although he was improving little by little, his previous medical health issues didn’t allow him to fully recover from the disease. It was a peaceful night and everyone was sleeping. Suddenly, her mom was awakened due

to movements and noises of gasping. Her dad was struggling to breathe. Lupita’s mom was trying to help him out but couldn’t so she had no other choice but to wake Lupita up and tell her to call for help.

She was anxious and freaking out, the operator answered and Lupita told the operator to send help because her father was having difficulty breathing. During that moment while waiting for help and trying to see what the paramedics were going to do, it was too late. The paramedics told them that they were sorry and there was nothing else they could do to save Lupita’s father. He was gone forever.

That day her heart shattered into a million pieces. Days followed and everyone was shocked, feeling numb and emptiness. They still couldn’t accept the fact that Lupita’s father was gone. Lupita had to deal with school and grief at the same time. She would go to school to see if it would distract her. She would do her work and even joined a sport to at least not feel that emptiness. There were days that she felt sad, depressed, and unmotivated to finish school and just thought about dropping out of school. But Lupita always remembered her dad’s saying, “Yo quiero que estudies y te gradúes de la escuela. Quiero que saques tu diploma y una carrera corta o larga en el futuro por que yo no tuve más oportunidad de seguir yendo al la escuela por la circunstancias en que yo viví.”

This was a motivation for her to keep on going and make her dad proud. But she had to go to therapy and find activities to help her relax, including

when she was feeling down and had the urge to cry because bottling up emotions isn’t good. She had to talk to someone if she felt lonely.

THOUGHTS AND MINDS

EDWIN L.

Edwin L. is an ALC student with low expectations on everything.

The best part of the mind is when you can just do and think about whatever you want; it could be illegal or legal and no one would know. The thing is that there are so many possibilities of infinite creativity that it’s just amazing and stressful. As a kid you think about what if we had super powers and what our lives would be like or we would think about our dream jobs like firefighter, police, doctor, athlete. It was the best and life was nothing but fun and dreams.

The more we grow, our mind also develops and we start to think differently. We now are teens, we now start to think about our appearance, relationships, school, fake friends, and people. We also develop more emotions and start to have intrusive thoughts. We suddenly become more aware

and paranoid about everything around us, like the world just started to notice you and won’t let you be like you once were–you are now in your teenage years.

The more you age and grow the more standards you start to have. You now have to act mature and responsible. You can’t be free anymore without consequence. You are now stuck in what I like to call “the cause and effect cycle.” It’s a hard time in life for many because we all take different paths and that leads to our probable future. After a while you start to think like an adult because you are now an adult. The mind mainly focuses on money, jobs, family, rent, food, friends, and their partners and kids (if they made it that far in life) as an adult.

But also like previously stated, in the mind of the teenager, we start to develop intrusive thoughts. You might have depression in those times, and thoughts of self harm. Depression usually leads to challenging things, but if you manage to stay strong, it builds motivation and discipline. The feeling inside of you starts to help you realize that those sad thoughts and feelings you had were useless and you start to change yourself for the best and now in a couple years, by just that feeling, you could be living the best life possible and your hopes and dreams were made possible. Then there are the ones who weren’t able to do that. Those people usually were led to bad things due to just their emotions and their feelings. Even if they were able to have everything they wanted with the mindset they had, nothing good really came out of them and, yeah, that’s adulthood.

Later we reach the elderly stage of our minds. As elderly people I would imagine that they just thought about how fun their lives were like in the good old days and their family and friends. They are basically retired and don’t have to worry about much but that doesn’t really mean that they are safe from their own mind. As the elderly grow older their mind starts to play tricks on them and they start to do unusual things like they can start seeing things and start to talk to themselves and also they might not be able to control their bladder and might suffer from memory loss. It’s really tough for them still even if they don’t do much, it’s all in their mind and thoughts. They have to be watched at all times like little kids because like little kids they are also capable of doing things that might not be the safest or smartest thing in the world.

We just have to help them and stay strong because like little kids they are also stubborn and want things their way and stuff like that. We have to make the best possible decisions for them because their minds don’t really work like they used to so yeah, that’s basically elderly life. The endgame is the afterlife. You’re dead, so you don’t really need to think, but who knows? You never know what happens in the afterlife.

THE BOY I WILL MISS

PHOEBE C.

Phoebe C is a writer. She would say she is not crazy, she is just creative. How did she start writing? She started writing when she was in middle school, maybe at age 11-13. Her imagination for writing grew stronger as she entered high school. Writing isn’t easy, she’ll tell ya that…

I am not like Romeo or Juliet nor like Disney.

The story I will tell you will be my least favorite:

The story starts with two eleventh grade students. A girl who is creative and passionate about her writing and a boy who is enthusiastic and creative for his music. They were good friends, had ups and downs, and kept each other happy. Until one day, the boy made an announcement that he was leaving for another school.

The girl was surprised about his announcement and

asked why he was leaving. “I am just starting a new chapter for myself. Yet, I shall miss all of you. You are great friends to me,” he replied as he smiled sincerely. “There will be a lot of people that will miss you,” the girl sighed and focused on the class.

They were talking until lunch struck. Everyone was talking to each other, playing around, and hanging out with friends. The girl, however, hung alone all by herself as she walked around the school campus during lunch trying to forget the boy. But her heart kept on telling her, “Love is like oxygen. Release it. Let it out.” But she couldn’t let it out nor stop thinking about the boy.

She had feelings for the boy because they had some strong connections for each other. So I think, when the next day came, the girl was eager to see the boy again and she saw him with someone else.

Her eyes widened with shock as her smile turned into a frown. She took a deep breath and counted from one to ten. “1..2..3..” She counted in her mind, knowing there wasn’t hope to express her feelings for the boy. So, she let him go. By Friday, the boy wanted to talk with her about what happened on Thursday when she saw them together. The girl hushed him and said: “You were with someone. I am letting you know that I loved you more than anything. I was thinking of confessing my love for you because you made me happier than anyone. You made me realize what it is like to feel joyful. But that is all a little too late to confess. Knowing you were with someone, I am happy with that. So, I am letting you go.”

The boy froze and was speechless by the girl’s words. Shocked, he put his head down and tears formed as he was feeling guilty. “I am sorry that my heart was filled with so much grief that I forgot about the person I care about the most. Which is you and only you. But why let me go?” he questioned, and the girl turned away and sighed.

“It is too late either way,” she said. “You are a good person. But I won’t let your happiness go to waste because of my own problems. You focus on yourself rather than me. I have to let you go, even if it means letting go of my love for you.”

They both looked away from each other with grief and guilt, knowing they wouldn’t see each other again. The boy sighed and looked at the girl walking away from him as he let her go. They both let each other go, knowing that their love for each other was never going to work or was never right for them.

Weeks passed by…

The boy had his last day of school before moving away to another school and was picked up early. The girl was running to find him until it was too late, the boy had left with his family to begin his new chapter. The girl didn’t get to say goodbye and had to stay in the same school all alone, living her life with guilt and agony, knowing he was in a relationship. The End.

IWONDER

(A Response Poem to “The Delight Song of Tsoaitalee” by N. Scott Momaday)

RONALD A.

Ronald A. is a sixteen-year-old kid living in Westlake, Los Angeles trying to make his family proud and make it out.

I am the self doubt

I touch the sky but I know it’s out of reach

I touch the sky with my imagination

I am the shark who swims next to the shore

I am the hunger of a young lion

I wonder about the future

I wonder if I’ll make my family proud

I wonder if I’ll make their sacrifices worth it

I remind myself where I come from

I live 5 minutes away from the skyscrapers

I am a product of my environment

I am a flame of 6 colors

I hope I can retire my grandparents

I am the motion

I hope to improve

I am the motivation to the process

I am a process

ANYWAY, WE HAD TWO GOALS

BRYAN A.

Let’s go back to January 2022 when I was a 140 pound teenager with only one close friend. He and I would do everything together. I considered him my best friend at the time. Anyway me and him had two goals at the time: pack on muscle and get money.

We decided to start going to the weight room together. After that we would share a $5 Hot and Ready pizza. I don’t even think they’re at that price anymore due to inflation. We kept doing this until mid-February and we decided to get an internship together. Meanwhile, we were both gaining strength but I was gaining a little more since I’d never lifted weights before.

About a month later, he talked about joining the football team. He insisted on me joining. After

that we stopped hanging out as much. Meanwhile my school life was going pretty well. My brother introduced me to his friends. At the time I didn’t know why, but now I know he felt bad for me that I didn’t have friends to hang out with. I do this weird thing when I feel timid––I don’t like to socialize with anyone.

April hits, and we only hung out three times the entire month. I remember calling him and asking where he was. He said something about football. I asked how he’d been and if he still worked out. He replied, “I stopped working out, it’s a waste of time.” I asked him if he still wanted to hang out later that week. He said, “Bro I don’t think we have anything in common now.” I knew he was right. We were the opposite. The only thing we had in common was building muscle and getting a paid job.

After that, life was good for me. I continued to work out and work at my paid internship and meet new people. I met a few people from my brother’s friend. At the end of the semester, I gained a total of 25 pounds standing at 22% body fat. I overall gained confidence. Overall, I think the people you meet can help you in a good way because you can always learn from them or learn from a mistake and avoid it next time. Oh yeah, he blocked me on Instagram.

IAM

SOLEIDY L.

Her name is Soleidy L. Her hobbies are listening to music, reading, and she very much enjoys going to the gym. She is chill, outgoing, shy, and sometimes talkative. Soleidy’s goals are to do better in school, be more consistent in the gym, learn how to drive, and learn how to cook more meals.

I am a star in the sky

I am a bee in a hive

I am an ant in a colony

I am a bird in a nest

I am a goose in a flock of geese

I am a sheep in a herd

I am unnoticed, unheard

TILL DEATH DOES NOT KEEP US APART

STEPHANIE E.

As I walked up to the staircase I went to the tallest floor which was the rooftop and I sat down by the edge and stared at the sky that shone like a dark blue topaz. I stared at it just like a never-endless loop while a small teardrop fell down on the left side of my cheek. Tears streamed and streaked, glinted and glistened. I realized that I was crying for the first time in years since my two brothers and sister died when I was a middle schooler. My tears were dropping nonstop as my vision started to blur when I suddenly remembered a person. He wanted to save me from this darkness that I had been corrupted with. He was like a ball of energy that would never be broken. His smiles always wanted me to keep going to the light even though what kept me going was his eyes. His eyes shined like a beautiful sky/ ocean. But, stubborn me, I didn’t want help from

anyone or even him….he was the most important person to me.

I kept remembering the times me and him were inseparable, along with him smiling to me whenever he saw me. We always went for a ride on my motorcycle and stopped by a beautiful sea that was surrounded by birds chirping, people laughing and talking, and the breeze hitting us in our hair. We always sat down on a bench with him being on the right side while I was on the left. As we kept looking at the ocean that was a beautiful shade of blue, I took a quick glance at him and to my surprise, it was similar to an ocean or to a sky. I almost cried when I saw him looking towards me smiling at me with his big doe eyes in front of me. How could I not forget this feeling? He was just so precious to me, just like a pirate finding his treasure. I moved closer to him, closing my eyes, and kissed him. He was shocked at first but kissed back as he knew his feelings too. His lips felt soft and his mouth tasted like cotton candy. As our lips parted we stared at each other and laughed.

As months passed by we had the courage to tell our friends that we were dating. They were happy, and some others already knew because it was too obvious, as I was too touchy with him. Every time I saw him I was the first one to hug him since I was so happy, but my friends always yanked me away from him because I was too possessive around him. He didn’t seem to mind though. I was so happy! But things always have to go wrong…

Years passed by and I was walking down a sidewalk with my boyfriend and having a goofy smile when

we were walking. My phone rang so I took out my phone in my pocket and said, “Hello! Who’s this?” Someone from the call said, “Is this ------?” And I responded yes. He told me he was from the doctor and informed me that my sister was in the hospital. I told my boyfriend I had to go to the hospital. He asked, “Why?” and I told him “My sister is in the hospital.” He was surprised but the surprise didn’t take long as I yanked his arm and opened my phone to Google Maps and dashed to the hospital. When we got there I had to check in with the counter people and as we did I went to the doctor and asked if she was okay. The doctor gave me a sad face and said to me, “She didn’t make it. I am sorry for your loss.” My eyes widened so hard that they might have popped out but they didn’t, and as soon as I heard those words my heart broke into a million pieces. My whole body collapsed to the floor as I broke down crying. I looked up and asked the doctor what happened. He said, “She was hit on the head but they don’t know who the suspect was.”

My mind felt blank as soon as my mood turned dark. All I felt was anger bubbling through my veins to my head, that is until my boyfriend hugged me to comfort me. I felt peace as soon as he hugged me. His comfort made me feel like I was just laying in a big fluffy cloud. All my anger disappeared into thin air. He told me it was gonna be okay and I just cried more because of his embrace. He knew that I had a dark impulse in my body when we started dating. My mind kept getting blank as I cried more and more. When I suddenly stopped crying, he kissed me, and I felt like I was on cloud 9 as he kissed me. When our lips parted again he smiled at me and told me, “Even through

the toughest times I will always be with you.” My eyes sparked when I heard those brave words. I hugged him and told him thank you. He smiled at me and told me, “Anytime.” He was my hero…

Two years passed after my sister’s death and I felt happy again but it faded as soon I got a call again. I was buying groceries from the store and my phone rang. I got the phone out of my pocket and opened my phone and saw one of my friends calling me. But it wasn’t my friend, it was his mother. The mother told me that my friend passed away for an unknown reason. My heart shattered again and I broke down again. Half of me was filled with silence, but the other half filled with hatred and anger. It kept coming back, the angry half of me, and I couldn’t control it. I hit a nearby wall. It left a crack and I realized what I had done. It was my dark, angry, and hateful alter ego. I had killed those people unconsciously.

Months kept passing and I kept hearing about my friends dying for an unknown reason. My heart felt empty…I stared to the floor with an emotionless face. I had enough, even though my boyfriend kept comforting me, but this time as he tried to comfort me again I pushed him away. My anger got the best of me when I realized what I had done.

I was about to comfort him but my mind told me I didn’t deserve him so I left and ran away with a mumble of “I didn’t mean to.” I think he heard it and called for me but I didn’t look back because I was scared to face him. I moved away and never returned to my house since I was a coward to face him.

Month after month and more months I kept hurting people for no reason. All I wanted was a happy ending for me, my friends, and importantly my love… I just wanted to end it already but things kept getting worse, and I kept seeing him everywhere. I was scared to look at him. He had the courage to stand up to me, to follow me around, and ask me why I was doing this.

He still had his adorable smile on him and his eyes got me mesmerized just like a siren calling me. I asked him why he was so stubborn about me and kept coming back. I still remember what he said to this day. He said, “No matter where you are, I will always come to save you.” My eyes widened at what he said and my tears almost came out when I heard it from him, but my dark impulses acted up. I quickly wiped my tears and charged him. To my surprise he dodged. I was shocked when that happened––nobody had ever gotten away from me. This got me to swing my legs but he dodged that too.

Suddenly I felt a pair of his hands on me and he hugged me. He said, “Even though you’ve been consumed by darkness I will always be by your side and will never let you go because I love you.”

He said that as his mouth was bleeding and blood dripped down to his chin. This got me to soften myself up, and I felt my dark impulses fade away, and I saw him clearly. I realized what I had done.

He fell to his knees. I quickly fell with him and told him to stay with me as I called the ambulance. To my surprise he grabbed my face and I flinched at his touch. He said, “Hey, don’t worry.

You don’t have to, I am already feeling my body fading away, all I want is for you to come back to your old self.” My eyes widened when I heard what he said. I grabbed one of his hands and kept repeating the word sorry to him. But soon I felt his head get heavy on my thigh and his last words were,”I love you.” My tears fell down really hard to my cheeks and I muttered the words, “I love you too.” After that, I passed out from so much stress in my body and slept with him on top of his back.

IN THE SHADOWS

(A Response Poem to “Between Walls”

by William Carlos Williams)

ALEXIA S.

Alexia S. is a tired old soul with a passion for anything and everything beautiful. in the closet of a dark and desolate room where no one will care to look is where the forgotten and torn threads of a dress reside

A NEW DAY

MARLENE P.

Marlene P. is an ALC junior who likes Hello Kitty, is currently ASB president, likes to ride her bike, and is a Pisces.

T to I to M to E

I seek something I can not see

For you’re the only one I need

You don’t believe what I believe

I run and hide but I can’t let go

Time it seems like an endless cycle

Too much to do, too much to be

I wish you can see what I want to be

I laugh I cry I feel I breathe

But I guess I’ll be okay for the time being

MEMORIES

JENNIFER A.

Jennifer A. was 16 when she wrote this. She actually had another poem but it was crappy (kind of). She talks a lot when she knows you. When you don’t she’s a random person who you’ll never see what kind of secrets she holds. She used to write on a daily basis for fun so to her this poem was not a pressured thing to write. This poem is about a loved one she lost. Also Jennifer says, “Thanks to my dad. Thank you for being patient and actually talking to me when I am down.” He’s supportive even when she annoys him too much.

In life every crazy, dumb, random, embarrassing thing becomes a memory

A memory that you will carry to your last breath

A memory that comes up once in a while

Sometimes it hurts

Sometimes it makes your face squeal

And sometimes it makes you feel tiny

But to me

Many of my memories are all Sad Crazy Dumb And random

But I carry a special one

One that a person told me could be erased

But to me

Erasing it would mean forgetting the person

The person who I love

The person who made me smile

The person who would brush my hair

The person who would dress me up as a kid

The person who would feel sorry for me when she had to leave me with my babysitter

The person who I stuck with

The person who I would look at for a long time

The person who I loved to see turn on the little “esterio” and dance

I loved seeing her dance so freely with my brother and I

I admire her and will never forget her

I stand here walking with a big piece of her in my heart

Trying not to forget her

Trying to know her story

Trying to figure out who turned her from a confident person to a worried person

The story I didn’t witness much

I wish I could travel back

But all it is

Is the best memory

WISH YOU WERE HERE

SAMANTHA G.

Samantha G. is a junior who has big dreams and hopes for the future.

She’s laid back and enjoys art, music, and playing video games.

I never thought you’d be gone so soon

I said my last goodbye not knowing it was going to be the last

I kissed your hand

You looked so serene, laying there

I vividly remember walking down that blank, empty hospital hallway

A day I’ll never forget, and now I sit here with grief

So many things I wanted to tell you, so many things we never did

I wish you could see me graduate

I wish you could see me get married someday.

I wish you could watch me grow up

I just really, really wish you were here.

Until we meet again…

EMOTION

(A Response Poem to “Between Walls”

by William Carlos Williams)

CHRIS F.

Chris F. just wants you to know, “The central idea of the poem is if you are depressed and you don’t feel any type of happiness you have other ways that can make you feel glad. Anything can make you more positive and it can be by a family member or maybe like a friend. One of my lines, ‘While the darkness seems to fade,’ I’m explaining how if you are sad in any way, you feel like the ocean which can make you calm and peaceful instead of depressed.

the ocean where all is hidden

deep in water with shadows

the waves calling my name

while the darkness seems to fade

the sand cold, ocean chilled to the bone, and mind at peace.

TIME

DANILO S.

Some people use the time they have wisely and some use it stupidly. Like how we all have decided to waste time rather than take an opportunity on something. Some people decide to not waste time, they use all of it with what they got and make sure they succeed. Once you realize that your time is gone, you’ll regret that you didn’t spend more time on that activity or with that person.

Time can be scary but time can be beautiful. Time can also be the day you see your life flash before your eyes. Or, when a baby sees light for the first time or when it sees its mother for the first time.

And yet, most people decide to use time stupidly. Instead of doing something good for themselves or for their future, they decide to go for the phone and scroll. I’ll admit I do that. But when you realize how much time you have, you have to make the most of it. Tomorrow can be your last day or

tomorrow can be the best day of your life.

As kids, we wanted to grow up and become a cop or a doctor or even a lawyer, but then later we might look back and realize that we could have done more with our time. Don’t regret how fast time moves on. Time will go faster and faster, and it will be scary when you realize you are out of high school and that you are going to college. It can be scary. But don’t view time as scary. Without time, what’s the point?

LOOKING IN THE MIRROR

ANGELA N.

Angela N. loves Fortnite Ninja Blevins’ sneako mentality. She pledges allegiance to the grind.

The emptiness in a room that was once filled to the brim with people, Is the most beautiful thing you could look at Nature’s creations in the midst of an urban city, Is the most beautiful thing you could look at Even the dullest of views, Is the most beautiful thing you could look at But watching you blossom into a person I cannot even begin to compare to your past self, Is the most beautiful thing I could look at

From the bottom of our hearts, endless thanks to: Mr. Molnar

Maddie Silva

Mari Zerbe

the wonderful and amazing volunteer writing tutors @ 826LA, Richard Gunderman, Mark Hayward, William Mahoney, William Zimmer, and Corinne Ruff.

Book Designer

Jen Chou

the Starbucks on 6th & Bixel, for hosting the Editorial Board (and for not kicking them out)

the enormously generous donors of this project: Ryan Carr, Mark Deason, Kevin Flanagan, Venessa Melendez, Tobie Whitman, Athena Valdez, and Ermelinda Viray

the student authors, for getting out of their comfort zone and writing something from within.

ABOUT 826LA

826LA OPENED OUR DOORS IN 2005, AS PART OF THE 826 NETWORK FOUNDED BY WRITER DAVE EGGERS AND EDUCATOR NÍNIVE CALEGARI.

826LA is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 who attend Title I schools with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.

We believe great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention, and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success. All of our programs are challenging and enjoyable, and strengthen each student’s power to express ideas creatively, confidently, and in their individual voice.

Join the Future Bestsellers Club!

Sign up to make a monthly donation to 826LA and you’ll join our Future Bestsellers Club. For as little as ten dollars each month, we’ll deliver writing from our brilliant, emerging authors right to you!

Go to 826LA.ORG/DONATE and click on FUTURE BESTSELLERS CLUB to join.

826LA PROGRAMS

826LA offers a variety of in-person and virtual programming.

TUTORING

Volunteers provide in-person, one-on-one homework help to support students as they navigate all subject areas. Write On! After School supports younger students, while Tuesday and Thursday Night Tutoring supports middle and high school students.

FIELD TRIPS

Our roster of virtual and in-person field trips includes Storytelling & Bookmaking , WellWishing & Poetry Writing , Choose-Your-Own- Adventure , and more.

IN-SCHOOLS, WRITERS’ ROOMS, & COLLEGE ACCESS

We provide personal statement writing support for college applications at Manual Arts, Roosevelt, and Venice High Schools and a number of other partner schools, as well as via the Great Los Angeles Personal Statement Weekend event. 826LA staff and volunteers work with teachers to support creative writing projects in the virtual classroom.

826LA.ORG

826LA Staff

Jaime Balboa Executive Director

Diego Quevedo Chief of Staff

Shani Foster Director of Education

Raeesa Hyder Director of Advancement

Pedro Estrada Programs & Operations Manager, Echo Park

Mike Dunbar Programs & Operations Manager, Mar Vista

Megan Acosta Senior Manager of Volunteer Programs

Alma Carrillo Development Manager

Christie Thomas Institutional Giving Manager

Carinne Mangold Store Manage r

Wendy Beltran

Program Coordinator, Writers’

Room Roosevelt High School

Marco Beltran

Program Coordinator, Writers’

Room at Manual Arts High School

Arisdeysi Cruz

Program Coordinator, Tutoring, Echo Park

Maddie Silva

Field Trips and Special Projects Coordinator, Mar Vista

Ariana Ponce

Evening Tutoring Programs Associate

Ariadne Makridakis

Arroyo Senior Volunteer Coordinator

Wilson Swain Echo Park Time Travel Mart Staff

Cole Montgomery Development Coordinator