I looked down at the paper on my desk.

The “Getting to Know You” paper.

At the top, Mrs. Willibey had written “Charlemagne Reese.”

I put a big X over Charlemagne and wrote “Charlie.”

My name is Charlie. Charlemagne is a dumb name for a girl and I have told my mama that about a gazillion times.

I looked around me at all the hillbilly kids doing math in their workbooks.

My best friend, Alvina, told me they would be hillbilly kids.

“You will hate it in Colby,” she said. “There’s just red dirt roads and hillbilly kids there.” She had flipped her silky hair over her shoulder and added, “I bet they eat squirrels.”

I glanced at the lunch boxes under the desks around me and wondered if there were any squirrel sandwiches in them.

I looked back down at the paper in front of me. I was supposed to fill in all this stuff so my new teacher could get to know me.

On the line beside Describe your family, I wrote, “Bad.”

What is your favorite subject in school? “None.”

List three of your favorite activities. “Soccer, ballet, and fighting.”

Two of those favorite activities were lies but one of them was the truth.

I am fond of fighting.