I SIT ALONE at lunch until a tiny blond girl sits across from me with Charli. That's good that he moved on.
"Hi, I'm Alaska, his twin."
I wave thinking to myself ohhhhhh as I say, "I'm Indiana."
"You're named from a state, too?"
"Yeah, bizarre, right?" I say.
"You already know me."
"Yeah, Charli. My cousin Amilla has a crush on you."
"Really." He stares at me.
"Stop starring you're making her uncomfortable."
Thank you, I wanted to say.
"Where are you from?"
"Uh, Oberon, Tennesee."
"Oh, I know that place!" Charli exclaims.
"Really?"
"Yeah, our Aunt lives there!"
"Yeah," Alaska calmly says, "We go there almost every weekend."
"DUH!" he yells drinking the rest of my milk. I watch him crush the empty bottle and throw it on the ground aggressively.
"What did the poor bottle do to you?" Alaska softly asks.
He darts his angry eyes towards me and asks shaking me, "Are you sure?!"
My heart pounds against my ribs as his strong fists clutch my noodle arms. Alaska gasps, "Let her go!"
He lets go and rushes over to Amilla.
"You know Amilla?" Alaska asks as soon as Charli runs over to the girl that's not my cousin.
"Yeah."
"Amilla Reremeréz is your cusin?"
"No, no. She's country, not Hispanic. She's nothing like Amilla Reremeréz."
"Oh."
"Yeah, it's confusing."
"What brings you here?"
I tell her that I live with my uncle and aunt and explain what happened to both of my parents.
"Wow," she says her voice in a sympathetic tone.
"It sounds more dramatic than it already is."
She says, "Yeah, my ex raped me at gunpoint." And she describes how awful it was and how she thought it was her fault and she's more acceptable to talk about it, now.
"Where is he?"
"She's in juvie, now," Alaska corrects me.
"She?"
"Yeah, I'm pan."
"Oh, cool. My uncle's gay."
She nods as the bell rings. I wait for her to throw her food away as we sling our backpacks on our shoulders.
"What class do you have next period?"
"Oh, history."
"Oh, me too!"