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My treatment did not improve much inside the classrooms. In my music appreciation class, we were one day required to bring a selection of music and explain its meaning to us. Most in the class brought music by bands that are named after human body parts. I brought Mozart. As I got up to explain the piece, there was a general outcry. By the whispers that I overheard, I discovered that classical music was not considered cool. How dare I be such a nerd as to bring Mozart, unlike the others who brought selections by Marilyn Manson, Saliva, or the Insane Clown Posse. How could Mozart compare with Saliva? How very foolish of me! (Fortunately for me, however, Mozart was the only musician listed above that showed up on tests.)

I excelled in my English class although to this day, I still believe that I was invisible to my English teacher. Regardless of my apparent transparency, I looked forward to the Shakespeare unit with much anticipation. I have read and loved Shakespeare since I was eleven years old. When it came time to read Romeo and Juliet out loud in class, I was assigned the part of one of the men at the opening scene. A young lad informed me that the casting was quite appropriate, since I looked more like a man than a woman. (At least my voice didn't crack like his!)

Among my peers, I had a reputation for being a brain. I never submitted to an IQ test, but people seemed to treat me like I was a genius. How could they possibly know that? They didn't; they merely assumed it. When people took one look at me, I'm sure they thought, "Well, she's got to be smart, at least! That poor girl must have something going for her, so I bet she's a really good student." One would think that being perceived as gifted would increase my popularity, but it didn't. In fact, it only worsened matters. The smart kids were mocked instead of admired. In fact, it seemed far worse for smart girls than it was for smart boys. (Truth be told, I really don't think I was all that smart; I just happened to be ugly and untalented, which others mistook as a kind of eccentric symptom of possessing super-intelligence.)

Instead of reverence and acclaim for my supposed smarts, several tried to take advantage of it as best they could. I distinctly remember how some of the more popular people, for whom I have named, "the elite," would sit next to me and pretend to be friendly to me long enough to copy my homework answers. Finally, I learned to stand up for myself for the very first time,

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