The narrative is about a girl, Ali, who is recognized as a genius from a young age. Her parents, who are overly protective and controlling, push her to excel academically, often to the point of neglecting her social life. This leads to her feeling isolated and unloved.
Ali's parents are revealed to be her godparents, who exploited her for her scholarship money. When Ali discovers this, she confronts her parents, leading to a physical altercation. The police are called, and Ali moves out to a shelter.
A year later, Ali has moved back a few grades due to the cessation of the medication she was taking, which was causing her to think faster than an average 15-year-old. She continues to live at the shelter but has a friend, Jason, who helps her study. Ali has developed a crush on Jason, but she is unsure how he will react if she asks him to go to the movies with her.
1. The speaker was in the first grade when they were first recognized as a genius.
2. The speaker fell asleep in class one day because they were bored and had already finished their work.
3. The speaker's teacher saw them snoring and drooling all over their books, leading to a confrontation.
4. The speaker's parents were called in and they were terrified that their child was in trouble.
5. The speaker was bumped up a grade as they weren't being challenged enough.
6. The speaker's parents were over the moon about their child being a genius.
7. The speaker's parents started taking too much interest in their classwork.
8. The speaker's parents started giving them juice to drink.
9. The speaker got an A minus on a test in the third grade.
10. The speaker's parents took them to a doctor after the test.
11. The speaker's parents were upset when they saw their child struggling with the homework.
12. The speaker's parents started to restrict their social life.
13. The speaker's parents signed them up for the science fair.
14. The speaker fell while presenting their science project at the fair.
15. The speaker's parents were upset when they saw their child fall.
16. The speaker's parents were upset when their child was called "baby genius".
17. The speaker's parents were upset when their child skipped another grade.
18. The speaker's parents were upset when their child was humiliated at school.
19. The speaker's parents were upset when their child was caught skipping classes.
20. The speaker's parents were upset when their child was caught kissing a boy.
21. The speaker's parents were upset when their child was accepted into college.
22. The speaker's parents were upset when they found out that their child had been given a scholarship.
23. The speaker's parents ran away with the scholarship money.
24. The speaker's parents were arrested for trying to break into their old house.
25. The speaker's parents told their child that they weren't their parents and that they were the daughter of a distant relative.
26. The speaker's parents told their child that they had been feeding them medicines to make them smart.
27. The speaker's parents told their child that they had been making a lot of money from various scholarships and grants.
28. The speaker's parents were arrested and taken away by the police.
29. The speaker moved out to a shelter after the incident.
30. The speaker shifted back a few grades after stopping the medications.
31. The speaker still lives at the shelter and studies with Jason.
32. The speaker has a crush on Jason.