Gabbiella reminded me everyday while I was single as fuck. Women were irritating.

So irritating that at only 33 years old I already had strands of gray

hair in my fade. I named them after the five women I had serious

relationships with.

Nah, Gabriella was no lover, only my student, but she landed her name on the top of my head.

She recently turned 18 and was nowhere near graduating. She still had 10th grade classes. She hadn't passed not one in three years. I had done everything as her counselor, from notes

in home to recommend and tutoring to offer him to put her in credit recovery. All of my efforts

were met with silence, indifference, nose.

What made this shit aggravating was that she was actually smart. I had done research on her academic past,

looking for a forgotten IEP or something,

only to find that she made honor roll every year from first grade to 10th grade.

She had unbelievable potential.

Then this drastic decline happened out of nowhere.

Well, it wasn't even a decline, it was a fucking stop.

I tried visiting her home for a face to face with her parents.

Her pristine mother sitting with me in their pristine living room gave me no explanation.

I only promised to make her daughter do better, to get her to graduation day,

but nothing has changed.

I was done with the situation, even though I was done with the situation even though I had promised I never give up on a

student since the teacher's persistence got me out of the streets and into my books.

Middle school me had the desire to do something better, a desire that could be singing.

And Gabriella, however, there was no such thing.

...