My friend group is known for being quite a handful
but if you were to hear them out you might see their point of view
even though they are loud and reckless
they weren’t always like that
sometimes they are spreading their childlike nonsense to every lunch table but we all pretend they aren’t there
it’s not as if they are troublemakers
but if you were in my shoes for a minute
you feel as if you need to put leashes on them
even though my friends gets glances from the crowd
with shared whispers of annoyance in the public eye
my peers never cared one bit of their opinions at all
every day with them is like a wacky episode to rewind on
but I am not a mischief myself
but I am a quiet observer
and my friends don’t mind me being one at all
when they are causing their daily havoc I am their along side them
watching them with an open mind
they don’t pressure me to do the things they do and I’m glad
in fact they like my quiet persona
but even though they don’t have a good reputation
they don’t know their stories of why they are the way they are
some days I watch them act like ruthless hyenas
but on other days my friends talk to me alone in private
talking about their lives outside of school
or they’ll tell me about what their going through
or even the thoughts that haunt them at night
and I’ll just sit back and listen to it all
sometimes I’ll act like the guidance they always wanted
and in the our final hours of me hugging them in my arms
I tell them “I’m here for you and I ain’t going nowhere”