Einstein Girl.

"Hey Einstein Girl, where are your glasses?" The popular kids ask me. It's been my new nickname since the beginning of the school year. I wear glasses a lot, and I have to go to a lot of specialized classes. Little do they know, they are the classes that the geniuses go to. When I was little I was tested and people found I was extremely smart. That I was a genius. But I don't look very smart. I'm very good at acting dumb, so everyone calls me Einstein Girl ironically. It's very annoying, but I know that one day I will prove them wrong. That I really am an Einstein.

"I don't know, in my locker? Or maybe on my lunch tray? I don't know?" I usually wear my glasses. Today I decided to wear my contacts. It's my birthday tomorrow, and I decided I want to wear contacts from now on as much as possible. I've always had contacts. I just don't use them very often. They all laugh at me and squeal Einstien Girl at me even more. I have learned to think of it as a compliment. I know it's not, but I can think of it as one. Maybe that's why I let them do it.

For the first time in forever, I feel like I am pretty. My contact lenses aren't the only new thing. My grandparents gave me a dress when I went to their house yesterday. We celebrated my birthday there with them. That was kind of the only thing that we wanted to do for my special 15. I'm going to have a party next year, but for my 15 that's what we chose to do. Something little and special for me. My grandparents live two hours away, so I don't see them too often. They can't remember a lot of things.

Like my age. Or my gender. But that's ok. They at least make an effort. And half the time, they do remember my gender. But they have yet to get my age right. When I was younger I thought it was a joke. But as I grew older, I figured out the actual reason. I found out that sometimes when I was younger, they would exchange their gift for something else that I would actually like. Like one time they sent me a boy's outfit. It had boys' shirts or shorts, my parents would get me a Barbie or girls' shirts.

Yeah, I did have a stage where I liked Barbie. I was three, and it lasted until I was four and a half. My parents always say they wished my childhood was longer. I think they wanted a normal child at first. They learned to adapt to me being very smart. Even when I was obsessed with Barbie, I was very smart. I could tell my parents what her hair was composed of, how it grew, and what type of plastic was used for my very favorite Barbie.

My mother definitely wanted a little girl who liked girly things. She still dresses me like I'm little. It's not that I don't like fashion, it's that I don't really have the brain space to obsess over boys, clothes, nail polish, or make-up. I like reading about those things if I have time. But not very often does that happen. In fact, it's kind of rare. But I'm fine with that. That night, I slept very well. Sleeping for me was a good thing. I liked resting. The way my bed is is very particular. My sheets, pillows, arranged in the morning, scent, blankets, and covers are like an exercise.

I am very particular about the way I sleep. Like putting blankets on my matters or dripping them on myself. The softness, when and how they are washed and the combination of soap to water. My parents say I've always been like this. I think it's my intelligence seeping into things I like, but my mom reassures me that it's normal. She doesn't know how specific I can be about those things though.

Overall, my life is fine. One day, I will prove to my classmates I deserve the title Einstien Girl, and not just ironically. Because little do they know, I really am an Einstein. I am smarter than I look and I deserve the specialized classes I'm in. I know who I am. I am smarter than I look. One day, I'm going to show the world what I can do. Just, probably not any time soon. Mostly because I'm afraid of what could happen. People could use me for my intelligence. They could make me do their homework. I could be used as a friend for others to have better grades. I like my life the way it is, thank you very much.

But the next day, they stopped calling me Einstein Girl. Everyone had stopped even making fun of me. I felt lonely. No one wanted to even know me anymore. Not even make fun of me. Eventually, gradually, I started showing off. Little by little, people started being nicer to me. Then I solved this huge math equation at lunch. It was like there were a hundred eyes on me doing this equation. All the popular kids were so very nice to me. I helped them out sometimes, but I started to be one of the popular kids.

And then I remember all the kids that were like me. That was in that class. That was with me before I was popular. I went into my class that week and made friends with all of them. Then because I was so nice to them, everyone was nice to them. I watched as unpopular low kids with little to no popularity, maybe one friend at best became so incredibly popular, they became some of the most well-known kids at the entire school. It was amazing. All because they took a chance on me. Popularity will never be my strong suit, but it's much better than it was before.