Elliot Valentine Lee, Mel Hornyak - Ghost Writer

BEATRIX
My grandmother says girls like us are like ghosts
Who nobody sees ‘til they’re gone
You can try to get noticed, but nobody cares
They expect you to fail and move on

I tried to impress with reliableness
Working weekends to best everyone
But the newspaper’s just like the rest of this school
They don’t see what I do, only things getting done
I’ve always been a ghost writer
Slipping through the cracks
Overlooked and overskilled
Told to just relax

A ghost writer
Always left behind
I’m done with condescending
And pretending I don’t mind

My grandmother says I should strike from behind
‘cause no-one will notice before
There’s no honor in trying to battle them all
Those who live through the day win the war

I can’t let them know that I’m not giving up
And ambition won’t leave me alone
They’ve ignored me so long, why not let it go on
Prove I’m not unskilled, just unknown

When you’re a ghost writer
No-one knows your name
But they won’t try to cheat you
If you aren’t playing their game

You stay a ghost writer
Lonely but secure
Relying on your lies is what
You must do to be sure
Going here I have the power
To lift up the girls unseen
No more hiding from the headlines
Nothing’s coming in between
No one needs to know my name before
The good I’m gonna do
I won’t let their deaths be pointless
There’s more good I’m gonna do
Would I win this if I didn’t?
Would I prove my worth to you?

PORTIA
Did you ever write a story that shook the world to its core?
Did you publish an indictment of the wrong side of a war?
They were children, too, how could they deserve what they got?
(spoken)
You want to change the world, Bea?
(handing her a typesetting stick)
Now’s your fucking shot!

BEATRIX
My grandmother says you can lose half your soul
Pleasing everyone all of the time
We know each winner has trampled their classmates
We’ll publicize every crime
We can challenge injustice right here in this school
Make the admin all see what they’ve done
We’re meant to be separate and fight with each other
‘cause they can’t have us fighting as one
BEATRIX/PORTIA
Been a ghost writer
Letting life run by
But I need to stop this game now
Or at least I have to try

Been a ghost writer
But no one else should be!
No more hiding, I’m deciding
I’m the one they’ll have to see

The one they’ll have to see…