In first grade you accused me of having a stutter, just because I couldn't speak as fast as the others. So I studied really hard, and now I speak just fine. But in third grade that didn't matter, cause you'd made me a sign. You labeled me something, now it's stuck in my head. Along with all the other names and mean things that you've said. In fifth grade I didn't try out, for the cheer leading team. You said I was too fat and that I couldn't fit my jeans. Seventh grade came around, and I was slim as a stick. I didn't eat much anymore, so you labeled me an anorexic *****. Each day that went by, I got more and more depressed. Until one day I decided to just not get dressed. I slept all morning, and woke up that night. Then for hours with my thoughts I did endlessly fight. Ninth grade crept up, there was a huge school dance. You knew who I liked and said I didn't have a chance. Everything you said, I eventually believed, until that one day senior year, I saw what most didn't see. I saw your father hit you, I found out your mother had died, I watched you run into the bathroom with tears in your eyes. I found out you were failing, and heard your boyfriend had cheated. And it was right then and there that your spell I defeated. It was the end of senior year, and I knew I wasn't the problem. I had been living to please you, and you pinned me at the bottom. You had the issues, you were in pain. But I'm my own person, and that you can't change. You brought people down, because your ship was sinking. But I've abandoned ship, from now on I'll do my own thinking. I'm not stupid, or fat, and I didn't have a stutter. I'm not ugly or worthless, and my crush said we're perfect for each other. I'm following my heart, I'm chasing my dreams, and from this day forward. I'm living for me.