Elise Pope,Aleah Shallack

-Elise Pope

eS"ulolure QorJnn

ory Aleah Scffillack

Her stun agonized me, marble spine under scathing fire Wash away frigid blisters,let blind light in a jar

Twist yesterday closed and peel it from your glass body Silent past wanders about us, a simple blessing of hours

Our home is clear fields,milky windows I still see through Purple flowers that fly my way if we glance strikingly

She can melt away my steal face,slippery to touch These thoughts corner me,should we finish this sharp day?

The maze closes until paths grind like dry black coffee Her marble spine will have wandered to me without scathe

Jo"llnl

by Bridget Pierce

This summer,my cousin came back from Juvie. \A/e received a call from my aunt late in the afternoon. The nonchalance of her cigarette stained voice wafted into the living room as lVIom, Dad, and I huddled around the phone. "lake?" Mom asked, "already?" Mom's face crumbled. She took a deep breath. "Tell him to visit us soon," she said.

When I was ten, Jake showed up on our doorstep with a busted lip and an offer to mow the lawn for a week. Irrlom pulled him into our house,Dad cleaned the wound on his lip,and I made sure to remember to set an extra place at the table. Iake woke up at six a.m the next morning,but my dad had gotten up uncharacteristically early and had already taken care of the yard work. I remember being stirred awake by the sounds of footsteps across the creaky flooring of our house. I peaked my head out of my bedroom and peered into the living room. I watched Dad put his arm around Iake's shoulders, "you don't have to earn a place in this

house."

I heard a broken inhale,and Iake began to shake. Silently,l closed my bedroom door on the sound of Jake's sobs and snuck back into bed. Jake never explained why he came to our house with a split lip and a red stain on the crisp white of his school uniform collar, and I never asked. Instead, we spent the week side by side with our knees knocking, playing video games, and watching reruns of old black and white T.V shows. We gorged on junk food,and I almost choked on a french fry from laughing too much at Jake's horrible impression of one of the snotty old detectives on the show we were watching. At the end of the week, I awoke in the middle of the night, still lying on the couch and surrounded by empty cookie tins. A pink blanket was draped over my shoulders,and I had felt the fading touch of someone kissing my forehead before whispering, "goodbye." That next morning my breathing seemed to echo off the walls of the house. I turned on the T.V to watch the same show Jake and I had found so funny the day before,but none of the jokes seemed to land. I was alone.

My parents don't talk about my older brother often. I was seven when it happened. We got the phone call in the morning, and suddenly I no longer had a brother. It didn't rain at Jamie's funeral like it does in the movies. But I cried until my body didn't have a drop of water left to spare me. Jamie had been sixteen. Four years older than Jake. ]ake is the only one who offers me his memories of my brother. Once,in the fall,we were outside kicking around a soccer ball. I had managed to sidestep lake and had landed a smooth shot into our makeshift goal. Jake smiled, "Your brother always beat me too."

74 cleats I felt the wind whip through my hair,and for a second,I sitting in the doorway, tracking mud into the house. remembered my older brother,s soccer I have carefully stored every memory Iake has gifted to me. They are dearer to me than the dainty silver locket Dad only wear for fancy gave me dinners. on my 12th birthday. More precious than thL gold barrettes Mom insists I

Last year on October 30th,an normally chatty parents,lake landed unsuspecting Tuesday filled with on our doorstep. He waved to my long hollow silences from my parEnts,who were sitting pen-sively at the dining table and then motioned me towards the kitchen. Hi ope.red his backpack ind set alily-white box on the marble tile of the kitchen island.I opened it.lnside revealed a small cupcake with orange frosting and bat-shaped sprinkles. IVIy gaze shot up. He looked bashful, "lt's perfect." "it's all I could find," he said while scratching the back of his neck. cake. Together,we stuck a candle shaped like a 2 and another shaped When Iake lit the stems of the waxy 21,my eyes began to water. like a 1 into the top of the cup"Happy Birthday, Jamie," I whispered,and I blew out the twinkring double flames.

It was Christmas the last time we saw Jake. He had been staying with us for a couple days,andthe night before,l had heard him on the phone with his father. Snippeti of their conversitiorr,is small and indecipherable It had been another as paper gone through the shredder,had slippld one of uncle Richie's angry drunk monologues. under my door and into my room. That morning when Iake came into the dining room,hiseyes were wine rimmed,and his jaw was tightly clenched. He didn't speak a word all throughout brealifast. Still,the three of us tried to make pleasant conversation,and once the pan of blueberry pancakes was empty,we circled around the Christmas tree.lake lingered in the back. he "Come and sit," my dad had said,pulling looked startled by this proposition. a ribbon wrapped box into his lap. Jake's eyes widened, "l think I need to leave." He inched further away from us. to find "Don't leave now,we all got you something," the one we had picked out for Jake. my mom said,riffling through the gifts and trying "No,I need to leave." He turned around and grabbed his coat from the banister. "fake,wait," I said,standing up. He whipped around, his expression was dark, "No. Okay? I don't belong in this house.,, trying Mom frowned, "honey, to sound the words out. that's not true. We want you here." She spoke ilowly, almost as if she was That seemed to irritate lake, his face flushed and hijmouth turned sharpand ugly. "If you want me here,it's only because you need a replacement for him." Mom, Dad,and I all froze. All caught by the cruelty of the phrase. Our momentary pause was enough for Jake to slip away and disappear into the cold Christmis morning.

A week later,Aunt Wendy gave us a call to tell us that Jake had been sent to a Juvenile Detention

Center.

"What happened?" my mom had asked. "Does it really matter," I could hear the shrug in Aunt Wendy's voice, "l've told you time and time again: that boy is bad news." I had to bite the inside of my cheek to prevent myself from screaming.

It was a lazy summer Tuesday when the doorbell rang. I opened the door and found )ake standing on the doorway. His t-shirt was blue, and his eyes didn't meet mine. "Who is it," my mom said,coming to the door with my dad behind her. They both froze when they saw |ake, "oh." Iake shifted from side to side, and his ratty sneakers kicked up dust. Then he looked up through his dark brown bangs, "l don't want to bother you guys, but I just want you to know how deeply sorrY-" I pulled him into the house. My dad held Jake when his shoulders began to shake. I\rly mom set four places at the dinner table.

-Tyler Williams

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Ot;ng I Q."en in @h;.f lCompleted layout during quar antine ! l Doniel Weiss Relation: The father of Crest Quote: "1walk in.l open my arms.l scream,'daddy'shome!,,, Likes: Spending ll hours on layout in one day,flannel coats,finding ways to bring up Dungeons & Dragons,chocolate milk Dislikes: Gamer dudes, freshmen, neon sock boys

S,ilgd Q\erc,e Relation: The mother of Crest Quote: "l can't tell if things are good or if I just can,t see.,, Likes: Geoscience, stationery Dislikes: Wearing glasses, reading sentences aloud

AilNAIIESE BATGR

Relation: Red wine aunt Quote: "You guys are oxymoronic." Likes: F. Scott Fitzgerald novels, Silicon Vattey (the show), Ratatouille

Dislikes: SAT prep booklet, s u b i t , Silicon Valley (the place)

Heidi Enger Relation: Prodigy younger sister Quote: "She laughs like a Windex bottle." Likes: Ballet, cello Dislikes: Having Instagram

Kira Imowitz

Relation: G reat grandmother Quote: "Heyo,som ebody should abstain, hello!" Likes: Cardinals Dislikes: Walking to class, calculus

Q***A.-* -/

Relation: Extravagant fashionista uncle Quote: "Cows!They go moo." Likes: Cats he knows,his selfies Dislikes: Cats he doesn't know GItioD $ennison Relation: Storytelling grandfathe r Quote: "He is making fun of a tragedy and he will find himself at the butt of a new one." Likes: Leading lines, BOATS,f.ountain pens Dislikes: Spiders Lucy Jordan Relation: Sleeping on the couch "'til they're back on their feet" Quote: "Shorty,that ain't water." Likes: Stephen Hawking Dislikes: Spicy things,small dogs Samuel Warzecha

Relation: Daddy Quote: "l want Bernie Sanders to win just so we can hear more of Seth IVIyers'impressions of him." Likes: Ieff Rosenstock, Pokemon Dislikes: People who say they don't have Instagram Thank you to Ms. Lee and the administration for allowing us to produce this book even despite a global pandemic! And thank you to the student body for all your submissions. Picking pieces was extremely difficult this year. Stay safe and stay healthy!