One (Sarah Crossan)

Maybe more than that

For all her silly hair

and thin bones

Yasmeen is not delicate or lace-winged.

She swears at anyone who gives us

a slanted look

and threatens

to break the fingers of a freshman

who smirks when he sees us.

Yasmeen doesn’t have an entourage

like the prettiest girls,

the blonde ones with bouncing breasts and

invisible bottoms,

but still,

no one gets in her way.

And she seems to have only one friend,

or maybe he’s more than that,

a boy called Jon

who introduces himself in art,

holding out his hand and

looking at Tippi and me

in turn

like we truly are

two people.