Set a Purpose

Find out how Angela feels about her unpopular classmate, Peter.

In movies, geniuses have frizzy white hair, right? They wear thick glasses and have names like Dr. Zweistein.

Peter Lu didn’t have frizzy white hair. He had straight hair, as black as licorice. He didn’t wear thick glasses, either, since his vision was normal.

Peter’s family, like ours, had immigrated from China, but they had settled here first. When we moved into a house just two doors down from the Lus, they gave us some good advice on how to get along in America. I went to the same school as Peter, and we walked to the school bus together every morning. Like many Chinese parents, mine made sure that I worked very hard in school.

In spite of all I could do, my grades were nothing compared to Peter’s. He was at the top in all his classes. We walked to the school bus without talking because I was