Verse 1

At the bell, the hallway snaps to line

Chalk dust hangs above the lesson sign

Miss Petrova taps her ruler twice

Every late excuse gets cut to size

Pre-Chorus

We bite our tongues, we count the minutes

One more page, then we are finished

Chorus

School walls shake when we stand our ground

Strict old teachers, hear that sound

We take the test, we take the day

Then we walk out our own way

Verse 2

Red ink marks the margins of my notes

“Show your work” beneath the words she wrote

Mr. Sidorov guards the classroom door