"Is it cool if I sit here?" a voice rung in the air. Alaska looked up from her chemistry notes, Demetris next to hers as she copied them, changing the words a bit. A lanky boy stood before their table, a bit flushed in the face with his school lunch in hand.

"Ooh." Demetri said with a inhale, "Sorry, tables really blowing up right now. I can put you on the waitlist, but it's probably next semester at the earliest."

"It'll cost you too, a pay in advance." Alaska added in with a nod to her head, propping her head on her elbow and giving the boy a knowing look. He let out a sigh, going to walk away before her voice echoed again, "We're kidding, don't be so serious. Sit down, you look like a awkward worm that can't find a bird to eat him."

The boy blinked with a odd look before sitting down rather quickly, shrugging his bag off and taking the empty chair on the other side of Eli, who was eyeing him with a gentle stare, looking away quickly each time their eyes met.

"I'm Miguel." he introduced as Alaska hummed with a nod.

"Miguel Antonio Diaz to be exact, you have physics first period and gym last." Alaska said with a knowing look across her face, picking up her pen and beginning to copy the notes again, "You live in the apartment building in Reseda near that convenient store the old woman tried to steal money from and your emergency contact is your mother and grandmother."

Alaska didn't have to look up to see the wide eyed and frightened look that was adopted onto his face.

"Shes office assistant, handles all the schedules of the new kids." Demetri informed him quickly as Miguel sighed in relief, putting the straw into his milk.

"And the report cards if you ever fail a class and need it to be changed." she said, pulling her eyes away from the notes and holding her hand out across Eli, "I'm Alaska."

"Hi." Miguel said with a clear of his throat, shaking her hand as the coldness of her ring pressed into his sweaty hands, "I doubt i'll do good in Physics so.."

Alaska mearly smiled at him as she pulled her hand back.

"Demetri." the dark haired boy announced before nodded toward Eli who was leaning on his hands, "This is Eli. He's a man of few words."

"Makes a fine listener though." Alaska said with a snap of her fingers toward Miguel, rubbing Eli on the back slightly as he leaned his head onto her arm for half a second before pulling back. Miguel's gaze focused on Yasmine and Samantha as they walked past the table, standing tall and confident as their shoes clicked under them.

"Dude, don't torture yourself." Demetri said quickly as Miguel looked away, "Those are the rich girls."

"Yes, with bible verses in their instragam bios." Alaska said with a knowing look across her face.

"Do you ever talk to them or.." Miguel trialed off, eyeing the two with curious eyes.

"Samantha lives a few streets down from me, we talk sometimes but I can't stand to look at her since she started hanging around Yasmine." Alaska said, shutting her notes and putting them into her bag quickly, "She's the worst, once shoved me off my bike, I almost lost a eye!"

"A eye?" Miguel asked with a worried expression.

"She only hit her face on the bars, wasn't anywhere near her eye." Demetri said with a eye roll, waving the girl off as she gasped in disbelief.

"Say that to my left cheek bone, Demetri, go on, she's listening." Alaska said as she pushed her head toward him, only having her face shoved away gently with a playful eye roll.

"We talk all the time, we hang out after school, make out, give each other hand jobs." Demetri said, answering Miguel's previous questions, nodding toward the three girls with a snort.

"You can't give a girl a hand job." Alaska corrected him with a eye roll.

"And Eli here is the homecoming king. Gets laid more then anyone. Isn't that right, Eli?" Demetri mocked as he leaned past Alaska to pat Eli on the back as he grinned with a flushed expression. Miguel rolled his eyes at the amount of sarcasm that had been passed around in the last few seconds he'd been here, "Talk to them? You realize what table you're sitting at, right?"

"Only the best table in the whole cafeteria but that's beyond the point." Alaska said with a wave of her hand, her ring flying off and hitting Miguel in the chest as he blinked in shock before handing it back to her. Eli took it from her hands, looking down at the shiny yellow eyes of the badger.

"You've pretty much signed away all hopes of losing your virginity before college." Demetri said as Alaska smacked him in the arm.

"Hang on, Miguel might not even still be a virgin." Alaska announced to the three as she looked to Miguel in questioning as he flushed and looked down, "I stand corrected, he most definitely is."

"Oh shit, Yasmines looking at us." Eli spoke quickly as he caught eyes with the blonde, looking away, "Probably just making fun of me."

"I wanna shove my foot up her-" Alaska began with a nasty glare before Miguel cut her off.

"I don't think she's making fun of you. I mean, just because they're hot, doesn't mean they're mean." Miguel tried to reason as Alaska looked at him with a crazy look across her face.

"Nigul, what part of almost loosing a eye did you not understand?" she spoke in disbelief.

"Miguel and cheek bone." Demetri corrected as she mocked him under her breath. Eli moved to hide the scar above his lip with his hand when Moon and Sam began to laugh alongside Yasmine as both their eyes turned to look at Eli.

"I don't care if Yasmine is the meanest girl at school. I'd kill all three of you just to get her to spit in my face." Demetri said with a nod of his head, staring at Yasmine and looking back at the three.

"Jesus, Demetri." Alaska said with a eye roll, "Have some standards, I could have lost a eye because of her."

"You wouldn't kill us if the hottest guy in school offered to spit on you?" Demetri asked in disbelief her way as Alaska gave him a crazy look.

"No way." she shook her head, "I'd only kill the three of you if Zendaya or Ryan Reynolds wanted to spit in my mouth."

Eli giggled slightly at her words.

"If you don't make a move you'll never have a shot with her." Miguel said as he gave a dumb look to Demetri.

"Zendaya? She doesn't even know I exist." Alaska said, thinking he'd been talking to her. Eli gently pushed her badger ring back onto her finger.

"True, but i'll also never suffer a humiliating rejection." Demetri said with a knowing look and a point of his finger back toward Miguel, "I'm at peace with my depression, last thing I need to be is suicidal."

"Don't say that." Alaska said quickly, "Miguel might not be okay with hearing that."

Demetri put his hands up in surrender as he picked at his pudding. Miguel suddenly stood up with his eyes focused on Sam, pushing his tray away.

"What are you doing?" Demetri asked with a odd look.

"Striking first." Miguel announced as he took a few steps toward the table.

"It was really nice knowing him." Alaska said with a nod of her head, sighing as she leaned back in her seat to watch the scene play out before her. Miguel got a few steps over before stopped when Brucks and Kyler moved in on the table, "Ooh, dramatic plot twist as the assholes that say there's only two genders ruin Miguel's big moment."

Miguel turned around quickly when Kyler gave his a playful, mocking wave.

"So, how'd it go?" Demetri asked as Miguel sat back down and casted his gaze down.

"You did better then any of us have if that helps." Alaska said knowingly toward Miguel, giving Eli the other half of the sandwich her mom packed, always making it big enough because she knew Eli had liked them from the amount of sleepovers they'd had.

"He's in there." Ms Moskowitz said as she let Alaska into the house, nodding toward Eli's door. She'd called after he cried to her about his lip and how kids at school where making fun of him, saying he wouldn't open the door. Alaska nodded her head as she crept into the room, shutting the door behind her softly.

"Go away, Mom!" Eli yelled into his pillow, his scratchy voice being muffled by the cotton.

"Not your mom." Alaska corrected as she pushed her shoes off, crawling over him to lay on his back, arms snaking around to hold him as he cried, "Don't cry, E."

He ignored her, pushing his head farther into the pillow to muffle the small sobs that left his mouth. Alaska sighed, though this happened more times then she could count, it had always hurt her to see him like this. Eli was so gentle, so insecure and innocent. Alaska always thought he was the last person in school that deserved to cry every day because of something so minor.

"I like it." Alaska said, though she had millions of times before, "It adds character, makes you unique."

"I don't wanna be unique!" he cried, moving his head so she could hear him. Alaska rested her head into the middle of his back, rubbing his neck with her hands that were under him, "No one thinks that but you."

She sighed, moving a hand to rub his head softly, "I know."

Eli sniffled, making Alaska roll off of him on her back, "Come up here."

Eli rubbed his red, sad eyes as he laid his head on her chest, painful sniffles leaving his body as she ran a gentle hand through his hair.

"It'll be okay."

•

kylie speaks

aw, little
lovers, so
sweet.

stan alaska
and her blunt
comments.