Tyrone
- Tyrone notices that Lupe's different now. She doesn't look all dreamy and starry-eyed anymore, and instead she pays attention in class like she can't afford to miss a word.
- Yup, something's definitely changed.
Diondra
- Diondra's father is pretty ticked when he sees brochures for art schools lying around the house.
- He might want her to be an athlete, but she just doesn't have the heart for it. She's going to art school—that's her dream, and he'll just have to come around.
- Before she left for school today, she left him a poem and drawing of Michael Jordan.
- You know, since drawing pictures of basketball players is the closest she's ever going to get to the court.
Open Mike: Self-Portrait: A Poem for My Father
- Diondra's poem is addressed to her father.
- She needs to tell him that she can't follow his dreams; she has to chase her own. This is important stuff, so he needs to understand—like, for real.
Tyrone
- Tyrone gets Diondra's poem. He likes how they all keep writing about the future and their dreams. He knows they all have to find their own way.
- Tyrone actually read one of his poems for his mom the other day and she cried; she told him to keep on writing. Aw.
Porscha Johnson
- Porscha knows one thing: As soon as she's old enough, she's changing her name.
- She's sick of people making jokes about her name or guys asking her if they can take a test drive. Gross.
- Porscha can't believe how easily she got her bad reputation. Last year, this girl Charmayne bullied her for nine solid months. Porscha took it—until one day she couldn't take it anymore.
- She beat Charmayne up so badly that everyone thought she was crazy. Of course Porscha isn't, but that's not what people saw.
- Porscha does worry about her temper. Her mom could get really mad and start hitting her kids, and Porscha definitely doesn't want to end up like that.
- Now when she's feeling angry, she calms herself down before she hurts someone. Seems like a good idea.
- Leslie says Porscha just needs to let people in and suggests writing a poem. She uses Tyrone as an example: every week he reads something new, and his poems aren't just dumb rhymes about girls or sex or gangsters—they're serious. That guy thinks about things.
- Maybe Porscha could do that, too?