“WHAT???” Boots asks
I Try to Be
Logical one
Point out Dash too impulsive
Boots too sick
Dash pays me no mind
Announces proudly
“I have the perfect party hair
For tonight!!!”
Note to self: Logic is useless in face of
Stubborn Trekkie
And boy with extensive
Wig collection
“NO. N-O. NO!”
I protest loudly
Boots uses her best “sick person” half smile
“NO!”
I remain firm
Boots tries again
“Shay, I Don’t Want . . .”
I don’t want my last days to be spent
In this bed in this room
I don’t want my last glimpse
To be of me in paper gown
I don’t want my last breath to be taken
In a place so filled with last breaths
“Shay, please?”
Damn. Them.
“Okay, Okay!”
Dash says
We will show those
B@$@#$%
I am still unsure
Till he reminds me
What I gave up
Have Perfect “Screw ’Em” Costume
Dash lights up
When words
Pass his lips
He Says, “They Think You’re a Pig?”
Be MOST
Fab
Pig
Ever!
Miss PIGGY, Baby!
Noooooooo!!!
But the more Dash pushes
The more I
Like it
Boots Sneaks Past
Nurses’ station
And heads to
Exit
Meet Up at My House
Dress Boots up as
Mental patient
Dash Dresses Up Like Soldier
Pink fatigues
And lip gloss
He Dresses Me in Bedazzled
Pig snout
Curly tail
Blond ringlets
He Makes a Call
Out in the hallway
Won’t let us listen in
Before We Can Object
He rushes us off to
Crash and party
As We Near Hudson’s House
It starts
Pain inside chest
Losing Godot
Still hurts
Enter Hudson’s Home
“Fairies” “Monsters” “Rappers” “Cops”
Eating. Laughing. Dancing.
All stop
They Look Up As
“Mental Patient” “Soldier” “Piggy”
Enter
Maybe This Is Bad Idea
Dash holds hand tight
The Room Fills With
Laughter. Mocking. Pointing.
Dash Does
Not Care
Boots’s Glare
Scares Them
Me?
Yes, I Care . . .
Remember
When I once had Godot
As a shield
Now I’m defenseless
How Could I
Have given him up?
How do you hand happiness over?
In His Emails
Texts
Sounded
Lost. Sad. Broken.
Tears. Now???
No No No
Don’t cry
Here
Too Late
They come slow
But steady
Dash Turns Me
To face staircase
Everyone Watches Him
He Wears
Green Gloves. Green Makeup. Green Collar.
Godot Is . . .
Kermit!
As he parts crowd
And heads for . . .
Me
I Want to Be Cool, Godot Says
But how could you
Cut me off just like that?
Just like that . . .
I Explain It to Him, Best I Can
Alone and I are old friends
Grew up together
Meet the girl who couldn’t outrun
Emptiness out to get her
She hides secrets behind her eyes
And hopes her tears won’t give her away
Godot Reveals
Alone and I are old friends
Grew up together
Meet the boy “trending” and “accepted”
Who doesn’t care to be either
He Wants Her to Know
It’s okay
To not be okay
It’s all right
To not be all right
He wants her to know
He loves places where she is fractured
Gaps in confidence cracks in her armor
He wants her to know
It’s okay if she’s broken
’Cause he’s broken too
He wants her to know
The one who gets overlooked
Is the only one he sees
I Wonder
Could Godot really be
My Romeo Tristan Edward
Even if I am not
Juliet Isolde Bella
Beautiful?
Godot, Girls Like Me—
He stops me midsentence
His fingers on my lips
His fingers . . .
My lips . . .
Shay, There Are
NO girls
Like
You
He Extends His Hand
Asks if I’d like to dance
He asked ME!
Shay Summers . . .
I Swallow
Hard and confess
“I DON’T OWN ANY SKINNY JEANS!”
He Beams
One less article of clothing
To try and get you out of
I laugh
He brushes my cheek
With warm hands
So . . . You Wanna Dance?
He asks again
Miss Piggy, Would You Like to Dance?
Can’t Find Words
Where
Did
I
Misplace
Them
Damn it!!!
Just Nod, Shay . . .
We head to dance floor
I’m floating
In arms of frog
Everyone
Is too stunned
To move
Crowd Fades
From mind
Only us
Us . . .
The Poet
Uses words because
She never learned how to
Apply makeup
And now she is
Out of words . . .
Defenseless, Huh? Godot Says
Then smiles, whispers
You can lower armor
You can drop shield
You can be here
Here
Where weapons
Aren’t needed
“Godot, I’m—”
My name is Blake.
Not Godot.
Not Kermit.
BLAKE.
Hi, Blake
Hi, Shay
Dash Explains That He Called Godot Blake
And told him
Why I
Let him go
Blake Says He Doesn’t Want
Them
He
Wants
Me
I Ask a Very Important Question
“So, Blake, how do you feel about turkey bacon?”
We laugh.
“So . . . you really like me, huh?” I say.
“No, Ms. Piggy. I love yo
u. You get that?”
“Yeah, I think I finally got it . . .”
It’s Just That for So Long . . .
He doesn’t let me finish
His kiss
Stops
E V E R Y T H I N G
Hudson Comes Over
The two stare
Each other down
Midnight
In bad gunslinger flick
Hudson Turns to Me
“Blake says you’re funny. Say something funny”
“Unnecessary roughness . . . I like that”
Blake, We Good?
Hudson
Waits . . .
He Admits
No invite was
Kelly’s idea
Something in Me
Has Had Enough
I March Up to the Canyon
She looks like gator
After swallowing live prey whole
“What is your problem with me?”
The music stops
No one
Dances. Moves. Breathes.
“Excuse Me?” She Says Innocently
“Why are you always on me, Kelly? What’s your problem?”
Pause
Pause
Pause
“You’re a Fat Loser Who Doesn’t Deserve Anything”
There.
Plain. Simple.
Black. White.
“Got it, piggy?”
Fearlessly
I stare
Into the Void
That is Kelly
And say
“Maybe We Are All Animals . . .
And maybe I eat too much
But better a pig
Than a
Bitch”
I Hear Laughter
As the Void stands in shock
Blake reaches for my hand
Blake: Miss Piggy, shall we?
Shay: Yes, Kermit.
We head back to the dance floor.
“You Were Wrong to Go Along, Hudson”
“Yeah, I know. My bad”
“Whatever, man”
“C’mon . . . what do you want, tears?”
“Yeah, and maybe a serenade or two”
They Exchange a Look
Friendship intact
Hudson walks away
Some Still Whisper About Us
Blake and I
Too in love
To care
Slowly Shock
Wears off crowd
Dance music comes on
Dave Cutter smiles at Boots
From across the room
Boots whispers
“Tonight, Dave may go where
No man has gone before”
We laugh while
She heads for Dave
Dash eyes Sam dressed as
Human “bedazzle” machine
They exchange
Suggestive smiles
Blake and I
Go back to dancing
And Just for a Moment
The Pig and the Frog
Blend in
SingularReads.com
About the Author
LOLA STVIL was seven when she first came to the United States from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. She now lives in Hollywood, California, where she also acts and writes screenplays. Lola is the author of the best-selling Guardians series and the Noru series.
Visit her website at www.lolastvil.com