I remember the bell ringing
Starting to walk away
Excited to finish a book
Then she calls me
“Come back here”
In a shrill condescending voice
I turn around
My heart dropping out of my chest
“That book is too advanced for you”
No please don’t do this
I silently beg
“Hand it over”
I give it up
Back into her cold bony hand
But I remember
Downloading an app to change my life
Wattpad
Oh fanfiction galore
Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, original stories
I can read what I want when I want
No one can tell me otherwise
I remember a life of online learning
Being forced inside the house
Nothing but a book to keep me company
Getting lost in the worlds
60 books in one year
Living in between the words
I have proved that teacher wrong
No book is too advanced for me now
Because I am publishing the books
Their future lives in my hands
I read and I edit
Thousands of books a year
And I remember
No one believing in my reading skills
But I have finally proved them wrong