Free Forget Me Not by Carolee Dean Page B

name.
    And there once was a prophet
    who was fed by ravens
    while he was hiding
    in the wilderness.
    She said the prophet never died;
    he just rode to heaven on
    a flaming chariot.
    But I can’t imagine
    ever being desperate
    enough to eat anything
    that came out
    of those nasty black beaks.
    And who wants to live forever, anyway?
    I don’t want to go back
    to the hallway,
    but I don’t want to go back
    to my old life either.
    Maybe I could just stay
    as I am right now,
    hanging out with Elijah
    and Oscar.
    That wouldn’t be so bad.
    Is it a possibility?
    Is there a door number three?
    And if I open it, will I find
    anyone waiting there
    for me?

SPECIAL ED
    Elijah comes back for me
    for third period and we go
    to special ed, where he’s
    a student aid in Oscar’s class.
    When Oscar sees me,
    he starts pressing buttons
    on his device that have been
    programmed with redneck jokes.
    They’re stupid, but I still can’t help
    laughing, because he changes the
    voice with each joke.
    Elijah sets up a chessboard
    and they play a game.
    I like
    how Elijah positions
    Oscar’s wheelchair so he
    gets the view out the window.
    I like
    how unobtrusively he wipes
    the spot of jam from Oscar’s chin
    that’s left over from breakfast.
    I like
    how he talks casually, to pass the time,
    like he’s got all the patience in the world,
    as he waits for Oscar to push the pieces
    into place with his pencil.
    I like
    how proudly he says, “Oscar took
    first place in the district meet last fall.”
    And I like
    how when Oscar’s machine says Checkmate,
    Elijah gets a bigger grin than Oscar does.

ELIJAH’S ISLAND
    The kids from special ed
    get to go to lunch before
    everyone else.
    Elijah pushes Oscar outside
    with his tray piled high with
    pizza and fries. Then we sit
    at a table on the quad, where
    Elijah cuts everything into chunks
    that Oscar can pick up with his fork.
    Soon it will be too cold
    to eat outside,
    so everyone is relishing
    the last few days of sunshine.
    The bell rings and kids
    pour out of the buildings like
    mobs of ants scurrying from
    their holes. They walk right by us
    like we’re not even there.
    I know they can’t see me,
    but nobody acknowledges
    Elijah or Oscar, either.
    A few minutes later, they come
    back out of the cafeteria carrying
    burgers and salads and chocolate milks.
    They sit all around us but never look
    in our direction.
    “We’re our own little island,”
    Elijah tells me,
    “in a sea of wannabes,
    princesses, and studs.”
    “Does it ever bother you?”
    I ask. He shrugs. “I’d rather
    have one or two friends I know
    I can depend on than a crowd of
    sharks just waiting for the
    scent of blood.”
    I nod
    because I know
    popularity
    isn’t what it seems to be.
    So why can’t I picture
    life without it?
    They say people’s greatest fear
    is public speaking.
    I’ve got that one down.
    My greatest fear
    is disappearing.
    But isn’t that
    what will happen
    if I go back to the hallway?
    How long would it take
    for folks to forget
    I ever existed?

SURPRISE VISITOR
    I’m surprised when someone sits
    down next to Elijah, and I look up to see
    my former best friend, Bri.
    She shakes her head,
    looks at the yellow tape
    across the quad, and says,
    “I miss Ally.”
    I miss Bri too, and that surprises me,
    after what she did to me.
    “She’s not gone yet,” Elijah tells her.
    Brianna shakes her head.
    “She’ll never forgive me.”
    I get up and go stand where I can look her in the eye.
    “Why should I forgive you? You ruined my life.”
    “I didn’t send that picture of her and Davis,”
    she tells Elijah.
    “Yeah, right. It came from your number.”
    “I admit I took the picture,
    but I never sent it to anybody.
    Someone else must have done it.”
    “Who?” asks Elijah skeptically.
    “Somebody who’s at my house all the time.
    Somebody who saw my cell lying around
    and figured she’d get back
    at both me and Ally.
    The same person who sent the picture of her and Will.
    I