Unearned and Unfair

It wasn't fair. Indira Patel wasn't a whiner; she had been taught that whining didn't accomplish anything, hard work did. But she'd worked hard while others hadn't, gotten good grades, striven for excellence to make her family proud, and yet she wasn't sure it would matter.

Miss Matthews stood at the front of the class, dressed in a pink blouse, skirt, and jacket, moving animatedly as she spoke about the conflict between British Canada and the United States. The markers in her hand swooped across the whiteboard, sketching out battle locations and key figures. Normally, Indira would be focused, absorbing every detail, ready to apply it all on the next test, but not that day.

That day Indira had noticed that something had changed in the balance of the classroom. That day Indira's mind was on other things than history.

All year Indira had paid attention in Miss Matthews' history class. All year she had studied for the tests, handed in assignments, and gotten good grades. Some students had kept pace, but not many. Most coasted by with a passing grade, knowing that their other courses would bolster their GPA. Some fell so far behind it was laughable. Joey Granger was one of those students.

It was very obvious to Indira that Joey was floundering, perhaps even failing the class. When called upon, he would give an embarrassingly poor answer. When he received a test or assignment back, his face always dropped. Miss Matthews was a great teacher, but she suffered no fools, especially those who decided to not put in any effort.

Well, that's how it used to be.

When Joey Granger walked into the class, ten minutes late mind you, Miss Matthews, who had been acting quite dour, perked up. Her face, lit with a thousand-candle smile, welcomed Joey to the class and asked him to take a seat. No pithy remark. No discipline. No disappointment.

She was happy that he was there.

What. The. Hell.

And so Miss Matthews had continued the lecture. Indira respected her teacher. Her parents had always taught her to respect her elders, but this was beyond that. Miss Matthews was a strong woman, young, beautiful, but no-nonsense. She hadn't folded to societal expectations, bowing to the male gaze, acting the part of the sexy young woman that Indira was sure many of Miss Matthews' age group was still doing. No, Miss Matthews showed up at work every day and fought for the attention of her students, modelling hard work and determination for all the young ladies in the room. Work hard, be yourself, change the world. Indira was going to do just that.

Then Miss Matthews called on Joey Granger with a question about a naval battle, which, of course, he had no idea how to answer.

"Good instincts!" Miss Matthews seemed to gush with pleasure as she beamed at Joey, despite the fact that his answer was utterly wrong, "Why don't you try again, this time think about one of the Great Lakes."

"Uh, Lake Michigan?" Joey said, uncertainty lacing his voice.

"You are so close, Joey," she said, placing her hands on the front of his desk, leaning forward, "You're nearly there," she paused, then, "N-Erie-ly there. Think you could take another crack at it?"

"Lake Erie?"

"Joey!" She stood up straight, both of them blushing, "I'm so proud of you! I think you're really understanding the material!"

What! The! Hell!

Indira was humble enough to know that there was plenty that she didn't know, but she was practically a Rhodes Scholar compared to him. If Joey Granger knew anything at all about the War of 1812, Indira would eat her pencil case.

And yet their teacher had been treating Joey like he was head of the class! Something was up, and Indira didn't like it.

When she woke up that morning, she had been certain that she had her grades, her future scholarships, on lock. A lot was riding on her academic performance. Her parents had sacrificed a lot to come to that country, had given up on careers, family, friends, all of it left behind so that Indira and her brothers could have a bright future. Like many immigrants, though, they had not been able to find work in their fields. Both her parents settled for jobs that paid the bills but weren’t fulfilling. The lower income, though, meant that there was no money saved for Indira's education. And so she needed, needed, to be at the top of her classes.

But what if what she thought would get her there was wrong? What if Joey Granger had figured something out that Indira hadn't? What if her future was far more uncertain than she had anticipated? Miss Matthews' sudden and unexplained admiration for the slacker student told her that something had gone sideways. And the growing ball of anxiety in her stomach told her that she had better get to the bottom of it before her future became as devoid of promise as what she had thought Joey's future would look like when they graduated.

If hard work didn’t matter, then what was the point? Why had she wasted so many nights studying while Joey coasted through life, only to be rewarded?

No, Indira was no whiner. She would work hard. She would find the answers she needed. She would do what it takes in order to get the future she wanted, that she deserved.