I Threw Away High School Today

I did.

I went through 6 years, all hidden in shelves and drawers

boxes sneakily slid underneath the bed

notes pressed between alphabetised books

Honestly, I never really kept anything out in the open.

I threw away high school today. Everything

worksheets, tests, hall passes, translations, syllabi, cheat sheets, poems, letters, essays, post-its, binders, study guides, grade reports, rubrics

homework I never got around to turning in,

folders I doodled on like it would come to life and educate me itself,

pens that had burst and stained my jeans,

paper with ragged edges, notebooks with missing backs, and highlighters that did nothing more than draw neon-colored attention to the 6 years I spent in preparation for right now

I threw away high school today. And

I’d like to say I got rid of it all.

Well, everything except for the

late nights, early mornings, heartbreak, headaches, disappointment,

and the ever-constant feeling that I never achieved everything that I set out to achieve,

the jealousy that comes from comparing yourself to others.

I threw away high school today. I managed to hold on to

my best friend’s locker combination, to the quickest route from the 3rd floor to the dining hall, what the inside of detention looked like, the feeling after finishing my first ever orchestra performance, after-school conversations in the bathroom with people i would have never met if not by serendipitous chance

These are the things that don’t linger in scraps and college-ruled notebook paper.

In throwing away the things that I could, I made the conscious effort to live in today.

I threw away high school. Yes,

the last 6 years happened. Nothing will change that. And yes,

another 6 years will come by before I can ever try to stop it

But today is what matters the most

 

No, I don’t want to forget.

Trust me, all I want to do is remember

Just not today.