The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth - Alexandra Robbins [88]
“You think he’s the only one you can relate to,” I said. “You don’t know that you don’t relate to anybody else.”
“Oh yes I do,” Blue insisted. “I’ve hung out with everybody in school at least once.”
“Once is not enough to give someone a chance.”
“But there are no ‘groups of Tys.’ I’m not saying that those groups are bad; I actually like a lot of them.”
“What is it about Ty that you relate to so well? Because he hasn’t shown himself to be a one hundred percent devoted friend whether you relate to him or not.”
“I know. But, I mean, we understand each other. Like we can make anime references constantly. He actually enjoys doing things with me, like going downtown and stuff. And he lets me teach him things. Really scary things, like when I taught him how to speedboard. That takes a lot of trust.”
“You’ve been friends with him all year and that didn’t stop you from feeling incredibly lonely at times.”
“Yeah,” Blue said. “I just don’t know whom I’d branch out to. Even the nerds think I’m crazy.”
“Crazy like how?” I asked.
“Well, for one, the most obvious thing is that I’m gay. And just in general, I’m really different from other people. I wouldn’t be able to stand hanging out with a bunch of underachievers. I need people who will help me keep moving up, not bring me down, like Jackson.”
“Yes,” I said. “That was exactly my thought when I said nerds or ‘smart kids.’ ”
“Well, then I’d ideally be hanging out with Angelique more, but even that group of people thinks I’m a big weirdo. That’s the smart kids. A majority of them are in AP Gov. They could never see me hanging out with them,” Blue said. “I’m at a point in my life where I’m trying desperately to find my place in the world, you know?”
“Yes. But how can you find your place if you don’t at least peek at other places?”
“You’re making it sound like I haven’t tried over nine thousand things. Ever since I was in middle school, I’ve gone from popular jock to anime freak to hardcore skater to overachiever to computer builder and all back again,” Blue said.
But he was willing to try once more.
DANIELLE, ILLINOIS | THE LONER
Danielle was doing homework in the dining room when her mother returned home from parent-teacher conferences. She called Danielle into the den. Danielle sat down on the couch and stretched her long legs onto the ottoman, curious about what her teachers had to say this time.
Danielle’s mother recapped the meetings. The AP Government teacher reported that Danielle was doing well on homework and tests and that she was a strong writer, but she was so quiet that he couldn’t hear her when she spoke from her seat in the corner. Because class participation counted in both AP Government and Spanish, Danielle’s reticence was dragging her grades down to high Bs, while in her other classes, in which participation didn’t count, she had all As.
Government was especially difficult because Tabitha was in that class. The day before the conferences, Tabitha had volunteered to be the group discussion leader and did not call on Danielle, who raised her hand a few times. Danielle didn’t feel comfortable interrupting the discussion without being called on, so she waited for the right moment to make a point—but that moment never came. Danielle earned zero points for the day. Her teacher called her a church mouse.
Danielle’s mother told her that the Spanish teacher provided similar feedback. For the first time, Danielle was pulling a B rather than an A in Spanish, because of class participation. The teacher told Danielle’s mother that while Danielle had never been good about speaking in class, this year she was doing worse. Students frequently paired up to work on projects or discussions, and the teacher had noticed that once Danielle chose to go to the restroom at precisely the moment that students were coupling off. The teacher didn’t think the timing was coincidental.
The teacher also mentioned to Danielle’s mother that she was scheduling a class trip to South