As It Was: April Fools

1: April Fools

          It is already the second year of life in the States for Alexandra Zhang. But she still feels like an odd man out. Being an immigrant from China, Alexandra suffers from bullying. Today is April Fools’ Day, and once again, Alexandra and Dee, her only friend, are named April Fools of the Year. Being Chinese immigrants, Alexandra’s family had expected to find a better and brighter life in America, but things are not going smoothly for the Zhang family. First Alexandra gets bullied; then her dad loses his job as a college professor; now they don’t even have the money to pay the house loan! 

          To make their lives just a little better (not really for Alexandra), people’s idea of Asian immigrants has been a lot better in California the recent years. One time when Mrs. Zhang went to buy groceries, other American women in the store looked like they were desperate to ask her out to take a bite. One of them even looked like she wanted to meet the whole Zhang family as soon as possible!

          Alexandra did not understand why, but her mother seemed to know it pretty well. “So you see, Alexandra, American people somehow think that all Asians are smart and intelligent since Asian children usually perform better academically. And this makes all American moms want to let their children make friends with Asian children, like you. So I think that you, young lady, will make quite some friends when school starts,” Mrs. Zhang had said while nodding her head. This had made Alexandra feel more comfortable living in the United States, but that feeling definitely did not last as school began.  

          Mr. and Mrs. Zhang were both teachers when they were back in China. They didn’t have much time or energy to take care of Alexandra, so she spent most of her childhood with her grandparents. As long as she had fun, Alexandra was okay with spending time with her grandparents. And because of this, an unbreakable bond formed between Alexandra and her grandparents, especially her grandma, who was as sweet as honey when it came to Alexandra. 

          Alexandra remembered the day when Mr. Zhang received the letter that the California Lutheran University would like him to be their college professor; Alexandra was out of her mind. How could her father, someone who rarely spends time with her, suddenly want to move the whole family to the United States just because of a stupid job? He can’t even speak English! Besides, Alexandra doesn’t want to leave her grandmother, not after spending so much quality time together! She couldn’t bear it, but there was nothing she could do. When she was leaving, her grandmother, with a kind smile on her face, had told her in Chinese, “Just as a fence has to be built with pegs, a person needs the help of three others. Choose your friends wisely and cherish them. Go along, my dear. I know I will see you soon.”

          “I heard that every single one of your classmates wrote a short note to you to help cheer up your spirits,” Mr. Li, Alexandra’s homeroom teacher, said with a proud smile on his face. Alexandra’s friends and teachers in China also wished her well. Alexandra was touched and wanted to stay more than ever. However, she pumped up her chest and told herself that she was going to be okay, even if she wanted to cry so badly.   

          Thinking back, Alexandra wants to go back to China. Alexandra remembers the time when she first arrived in the US, she couldn’t even speak English properly. And Chiarina and Bella, the so-called divas of their school, had laughed at her for her broken English. 

          “Look at that Chink! Aww, what are you going to do now? Cry? If you want to speak that Chinglish of yours, then get out of my country, darling! Hahaha!” Chiarina said while twirling her hair and smiling that perfect smile.  

          That was when Dee first appeared in Alexandra’s life. She is also an American-American with dazzling blond hair like a lion’s mane and gorgeous brown eyes. But she never looked at Alexandra sideways or treated her like she was an outsider. 

          She stepped up to Chiarina and said, “Stop being so obnoxious. If Alexandra’s here learning in our school and living in our country, make her feel welcomed, will you?” That made the “mean girls” speechless. She then taught Alexandra various vocabulary words and corrected her pronunciation. With her lessons, Alexandra could now speak English fluently. Besides family, Dee was the only one that she could share her thoughts, even little secrets, with at Northville High, which made her days a bit more pleasant and the nasty comments a little more tolerable.

           “Hi mom, I’m back~” yelled Alexandra as she entered the front door of her house. Her voice echoed through the house. Alexandra was tired from a whole day of school. 

          “Hi, sweetie! I have a surprise for you! Come here and you’ll see!” Her mother replied. Alexandra was grateful to her mother. She always seems to have a way to cheer her up. She walked into the house slowly, as if something was going to appear out of nowhere. And then, she saw the most adorable, cute, and loving creature in the whole universe. It was a black labrador puppy! Alexandra was so happy that she felt like she was jumping on soft, bouncy clouds. She rushed over and embraced her mother in a huge hug. 

          “Thank you, Mom!” Alexandra whispered. Tears were starting to form at the edge of her eyes, “I think I would like to call her Polly.” Alexandra couldn’t help it; she started laughing when she saw Polly’s large, brown eyes looking up at her. 

          That night, Alexandra was sitting on the couch and rolling through Instagram. Living in California, Alexandra is a big fan of the Golden State Warriors. She was attracted by one of the posts by the Warriors, “At least nineteen children and two teachers killed from Texas mass shooting. As more cases of mass shootings occur, there have already been 246 mass shootings, 1,357 people shot, and 278 deaths in 2022. This is what Steve Kerr, head coach of the Golden State Warriors, says about mass shootings: ‘We can’t get numb to this [mass shootings].’ Follow to get more information. And remember, Dubs fans are the best!” Wow! Alexandra couldn’t believe it! So many innocent lives were taken just because of mass shootings, and the major cause of death for Americans in 2022 is actually because they were shot and killed! This was too much of a shock for Alexandra. 

          “What if there was a mass shooting in Northville High? What if the person dead was Dee or me?” Alexandra asked herself out loud. She decided to share and talk about the tragic news with Dee the next day, who seemed even more surprised than Alexandra. 

          Dee exclaimed while doing one of those movie-style faints, “We definitely need to be more careful! We’re way too young to die!” 

          Alexandra simply laughed in reply to Dee’s comment, but what she did not know was that something much worse and much more unacceptable was coming at her at full speed. 

English Corner:

Immigrant (n.) 移民: a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country

Academically (adv.) 學術上: in a way that relates to education

Divas (n.) 自以為是的人: a self-important person who is temperamental and difficult to please

Obnoxious (adj.) 討厭的: extremely unpleasant

Faints (n.) 發昏: feeling weak and dizzy and close to losing consciousness