Asian Tiger

2 Ashlyn

All throughout fourth period, Kyle has been trying to get my attention. I keep ignoring him because, why the heck would I want to hear an apology from him when he doesn't even understand? He won't realize that he was stereotyping me. And it is an obviously fake statement! He doesn't get that the phrase "dumb blondes" is a total lie. Who even believes that anymore!? Well, apparently most people in my school do.

The only person who really understands, other than my friends, is Naomi. I overheard her standing up for me at lunch yesterday. It was really nice of her to talk back to her friends that way over someone she barely knows. She is really pretty, I don't know why she is so unpopular. Oh, wait, I think I do know why. BECAUSE OF FREAKIN' STEREOTYPES!! All popular girls in movies are white right? RIGHT? Yeah, that's what I thought. So because she is an Asian she is discriminated. HOW MESSED UP IS OUR WORLD??? Seriously, there are some stereotypes I can understand, but this is just stupid.
Brrrrrriing! Finally, it's lunch. Now I can sit far, far away from Kyle and not be bothered by him and his pathetic apologies. I walked over to Kaitlyn and Natasha, and sat down next to them.

"Hey girl!", Kaitlyn said, "What's up?"

" Oh, you know, the usual, trying to avoid Kyle and his pathetic apologies."

Natasha frowned, "Aw baby, don't get your day ruined by him. He should feel bad for what he did.", she said as she hugged me.

"I don't care if he feels bad, I just wish he would realize why I'm mad, and figure out that he was stereotyping me."

Kaitlyn replied,"Well, if he is dumb enough not to realize what he did, then you shouldn't even bother thinking about him."

     Just then Kyle walked up to our table.

Natasha put her game face on. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh um, I was wondering if I could talk to Ashlyn for a se-"

"No can do buddy." Natasha said. "Go on now."

"But it's really impor-"

Kaitlyn glared at him. "You heard us. Shoo!"

He opened his mouth to speak, but Kaitlyn interrupted. "I said, SHOO!"

He walked away, constantly glancing back at us.

Natasha looked at me." Now don't let that ruin your day."

Kaitlyn's face brightened, like it does when she has an idea, "Let's all have a girls night out!"

Natasha looked at her, " Girl, it's a Tuesday. You think every day is Friday." She rolled her eyes.

"Well, it doesn't have to be a Friday to have some FUN!"

"Kaitlyn!" I said, " Shut up, people are staring at us!"

" I don't care, let them know that we are gonna have fun. Anyways, we can hang out tonight! Do you guys have anything after school?"

Natasha replied, "I don't."

I said, " I do, I have to go to Math Achievers."

Kaitlyn frowned," Oh Ashlyn, you smart aleck, you always have something to go to. When does it end?"

" Five."

" Can you leave early?"

" Kaitlyn, come on, I have to go to this it boosts my g-"

" Ya ,ya, boosts your college credit grade stuff blah blah blah, can't you just leave early this one time? Pleeeaaase!? For us? For our girls night out? For you???

I couldn't resist those pleading eyes. "Okay, fine, I'll leave at 4:30, but no earlier. Ms. Hawkins is very strict about late notice."

"YAAAYYY! Let's meet at my house at 4: 45, Ashlyn you can take the bus in that time right? You know what, never mind, we will all stick together. No, point in leaving Ashlyn all alone. Natasha, we can hang after school and wait for Ashlyn. Then, we can all go to Starbucks and get some lattes. After that, we can go to my house and chill for a bit. We can have dinner, ooooh I can ask my mom to make her famous chicken pot pie! And apple crumble muffins for dessert!

Natasha said," Um, Kaitlyn, one thing, when would we do our homework??"

" Oh, well you and me can do all the homework us three have classes in, so that when Ashlyn comes she can just copy our answers."

I said, " Kaitlyn, really, copying?"

" Hey, it's our night out, so what if we copy? It'll get the job done. We can finish the rest of our homework at my house and still have time to chill."

"Sounds like a plan.", Natasha said.

"Cool." , I said.

" Whoo, hoo!", Kaitlyn said.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!", a familiar voice said. I whipped my head around and saw Naomi, standing before Royce Emerson, the fastest runner on our track team. His Coke bottle was on the ground. "No problem, it wasn't even open.", Royce said as he smiled at her. She looked relieved and sat down at an empty table.

"Hey guys", I said," Do you mind if I go sit with Naomi for a second?"

Natasha pointed, "Her? Sure, why?

" Well, I'm helping her study for our biology quiz." The real reason was because she seemed really lonely and I just wanted to get to know her.

" Go ahead, we'll miss you!", Natasha said sarcastically.

I walked over and sat down next to her. She looked up at me.

" What are you doing here?" she said.

"You look lonely, why are you here by yourself?"

" Don't pity me.", she said a bit too sharply, " I uh, don't really want to talk to my friends right now."

"Why not?"

"I'm just a bit upset at them."

"What happened?"

"Um..."

"You can tell me."

"I just didn't like an opinion they were talking about."

"About dumb blondes?"

"How did you know?"

"I overheard you at lunch. It was really nice of you to stand up for me like that."

"Oh, you're welcome."

      There was a long silence between us. But within that silence, there was a lot being said. I was feeling gracious, Naomi was feeling vulnerable yet thankful, and both of us were feeling understood and thanking each other silently for it.

      I was looking at Naomi's flawless face when I saw a red mark on her cheek. It was so out of place on her otherwise beautiful face. I didn't want to be rude but I had to ask.

      "Hey, what happened to your cheek?"

Naomi looked nervous, "Oh, um..I was...accidentally hit by, uh, my...be- I mean, bag s-strap."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, as I flung it onto my back, uh, those straps with the buckles on them flung around and hit me."

"Oh wow."

"Yeah, my straps are really long."

The bell rang, and I stood up. "See you tomorrow at my house.", I said. 

     She waved and looked relieved as I turned around to walk out.