your best american girl ✓

01 | diamonds are a girl's best friend

My mother always says if you have money, you can make a ghost push a millstone. In other words, money could make anyone do anything. When I was younger, I brushed it off as a quirky immigrant thing to say. My parents were both born in Taishan, a small city in the Guangdong province. My mom's cousin got their citizenship when she was 17, and they sponsored her to immigrate as well. My father had a similar story, except most of his distant relatives had already settled in America via the Gold Rush. It was only a matter of time he had made his own journey, where he came to America with the clothes on his back and 70 cents in his pocket. Both of them had one goal set in their minds: achieve the American Dream.

Shortly after arrival, my mom worked minimum wage paying jobs while trying to get her degree at our local community college. Unfortunately, she was unable to continue her studies because the language barrier was too great, but she was still determined to make it in America, she just had to find another way.

Before my dad died, he was self-employed, fixing houses of people that never looked friendly. Despite being a one-man-team, he had established quite a name for himself. When I was 7, he died of a heart attack. As one can imagine, my mom and I were devastated. It's only us now since my grandparents on my dad's side hate our guts and her parents had died when she was still in China.

And that's where I come in, my mom's trump card—the person my mom swears will be successful in the future, thereby bringing honor to her name. She's basically sacrificed all her best playing cards on me, which wasn't much in the first place. It's a lot of pressure, but I thrive off of a challenge. I like proving people wrong.

Some people might say all her prayers were answered. I'm attending St. Addams Preparatory, one of the most prestigious private high schools in America on a full-ride scholarship, as long as my grades are perfect. St. Addams boasts some of the most successful alumni to ever grace the Earth. Most of which go on to obtain one or more Ivy League degrees and work at wildly profitable companies.

But my time at this school has definitely had its cons. For one, the school is approximately 99.9% white, so I stick out like a sore thumb. Secondly, the unofficial social hierarchy at this school is rigid. Even amongst the richest in America, there is still a ranking based on how influential one's family is. So obviously, I've been subject to some not so nice comments.

"Lee," Faye Zhang, my best friend calls, reeling me back from my thoughts. Being the only two women of color at this school, Faye and I instantly hit it off. Unlike me, her family's pretty wealthy. In China, going to school overseas basically solidifies one's social status. She's what people in the states describe as "fresh off the boat" even though she doesn't look like your stereotypical fob. Her bangs are cut into a straight line a centimeter above her perfectly drawn eyebrows. She's also wearing thigh-high celestial printed boots, the most she gets away with without violating the dress-code. The dress code at this school is strict. Skirts are either plaid or a solid red and they must at least cover half your thigh. White shirts must be unwrinkled and ties need to be straight.

We're seated at some random table in the cafeteria, far enough from all the other kids that would laugh at our ethnic lunches, who seem to be doing their own thing at their tables, whether it be scrolling through their phones, making out with their significant other, or poking at their dry salads.

"What?" I reply, trying to make it sound like I was paying attention the entire time.

"Do you want a reading? I got a new deck of tarot cards recently," she tells me, shuffling the aforementioned item. The backing of the cards is quite beautiful—a medieval drawing of a woman with a sword is featured.

I roll my eyes. Typical. Faye's really into astrology and other spiritual stuff. I, myself, am more of a skeptic, but she knows a lot of people think it's bullshit as well. Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, when we first met, I thought that shit was weird, but I've gotten used to it once I realized she's not a satanist. "C'mon, you know I don't believe in that stuff."