Why do Asians really get straight A's? - Project Gutenberg Consortia ...

it but he says he doesn't smell anything. I guess he's so immune to it since he stays home all
the time.
I also don't want to go inside because Gabriel's parents are relentless with their
interrogation. They have this condescending way of conversing with people, especially with
me. They usually start off by patronizingly asking, “ Johnson. Are you doing well in school? ”—
which means: “ Are you maintaining a 4.0 or are you failing? ”
They would then ask, “ Do you plan to go to medical school after you graduate? ”—
which really means: “ Do you plan to sit around doing nothing all day if you don't go to medical
school?”
Finally, they would say, “ Jordan is so smart to get into Stanford. I know she'll do well
after she graduates, ” which ultimately means: “ Jordan is better than you and you're a loser
compared to her. ” It's no wonder that my parents and Gabriel's parents are such good friends
— four peas in the same, d@mn Asian pod.
Gabriel rushes out the front door, as if a mob is chasing him with torches and
pitchforks. I notice that he's only carrying a small backpack. That's the thing with Gabriel; he
always packs light wherever he goes. He says that Japanese people like to keep things
simple and compact. I think he's just pretty, d@mn lazy.
heaven!
As Gabriel opens my car door, he throws a bag of weed into my lap— my angel from
"By the way, thanks for coming. I really didn't know if you had a purpose in life, but now
I know it's to ride shotgun, so that we can get into the HOV," I say jokingly, just to annoy him
like a true best friend.
"Sure, no problem. But I thought my purpose in life was to satisfy your mom," Gabriel
replies, a supercilious smile on his face. He's always been good with comebacks.
"Yeah, that's really original." I've always been awful with comebacks.
"Nothing original about satisfying your mom. Everyone's doing it." See what I mean?
Gabriel's a natural.
"Okay, okay. You win. Let's get going or else we'll get stuck in traffic.”
The drive from Irvine to Palo Alto is about six hours. I usually take the 101 freeway, but
I'll take the 5 interstate this time, since I'm not too anxious to get to Auntie's place. Besides,
Gabriel and I are toking up so I shouldn't be driving fast. Orange County cops— I mean pigs—
love to pull you over for the smallest offense, even for driving one mile under the speed limit;