A Different Life, A Different Story

Indie - We're In a World Fulls of Wonders

"Hey, kiddo" Uncle Kimmy says opening up the blinds.

I groan, "Just five more minutes, please."

"No, you don't wanna miss the first day of school, do you?"

I pop up out of the covers as light fills my room. "School?!" My voice still has the bass from a heavy sleep. I get up. He doesn't have to tell me twice. I get ready shimmering through my closet and dresser to find the perfect outfit: a tight striped shirt with sweat pants. I ravel up my phone charger and hurry into Uncle Kimmy's car.

"When will I go back to therapy?" I ask throwing my backpack in the back seat just like old times.

"Soon."

"Good." My insides feel like they're about to explode and my stomach knots up like a pretzel because of my mixed emotions.

He pulls up to, what looks like, an old church with kids standing around it laughing and talking. Uncle Kimmy hugs me, "Good luck, Indiana, love you."

"Love you, too. Text Cass and tell her that I love her and miss her with four heart emojis, please."

He laughs, "Okay, new kid."

I hug him one more time as if I'm never going to see him again. I walk up to the wooden doors. "Okay, Indie, you got this," I say to myself. I look up at the big bold words: West World High School. I exhale. I'm the new girl in a new life. In a new world.

When I go inside, the first thing I notice is the stained-glass windows perched up high in the arched windows. A heavy black woman approaches me.

"Hello, I'm Miss Retro."

"Mrs. Retro?" I politely ask looking into her dark eyes matching the blackness of her hair that mixes in with her dark skin tone.

"Miss Restro," she corrects me. "I'll be showing you around the school..." she tells me in her sassy voice where the restrooms are, the office, the clinic, and where the four grade rooms are. "This will be your class." She explains. "And yes, we do switch between periods." She tells me 1st period through 9th period. "There's a split period between history and lunch for outside activities like walk for the cure, activism, BLM, feminism, LGBT, etc. "If you don't support basic human rights, then you sit with the homophobe Trumpies on the bleachers making jokes for changing society." She leaves.

The classroom was where Sunday school was taught. The same glass windows that I saw in the hallway are everywhere. Most with Jesus holding the cross or Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus in her loving appreciative arms. I've never asked myself these types of questions before, but did my mom ever love me?

The teacher escorts me to an old pew filled with kids laughing and talking. The two girls at the end scoot down, "Five to a seat, ladies. Mariah sit here." The teacher points to the pew in front of the one I enter. The teacher has blond, wavy hair. Just like most of the people in my old school. Me and my two friends were the only people of color in that school.

"Hi, I'm Amilla Remeréz and she is Alaynna," Amilla explains in a faint Hispanic accent.

"Amilla," Alaynna wines, "you know Rebirto?"

"Yeah, what about him?"

"Well, he invited me to go to his best friend's birthday party and he broke up with me." She cries. "I thought he loved me, but I guess not."

"It's okay, Alanna." She embraces her.

"Hey I-I'm Indiana." I feel uncomfortable around the crying girl as her face buries into Amilla's chest.

She sighs, "The last month, Rebirto had a party and he invited her to the party with him and broke up with her."

"And he stole my heart and ripped it out and squshed it like-like-like I was an insect," she sobs.

I hear the girl in front of me, "I'm so glad I don't have to sit there anymore. Poor new girl. She has to put up with her whiney shit."

This school is a lot already. And it's my first day and my first class.

"Alaynna, do you need to go to the office until you're okay?" The teacher softly asks.

Alaynna nods as I scoot my legs in so she can get out. Amilla sighs and straightens up and explains the thing around school and what to expect.

During lunch, I sit alone 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, "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 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!"