Count Me In

Content Warning: This section contains references to and descriptions of racism and anti-immigrant violence.

Karina Chopra is disappointed when she starts seventh grade at Spring Hill Middle School in Houston, Texas, and discovers that her neighbor Chris Daniels is in most of her classes. They’ve gone to school together since they were young, but they’ve never been friends and Karina often feels they’re from separate planets. However, she is glad she’s in Ms. Trotter’s homeroom and social studies classes as she is her favorite teacher.

In homeroom, seated near Chris, Karina remembers what happened last year. While on the bus home one day, a group of bullies made lists about the girls in the class. They made one list about who had the hairiest arms and put Karina at the top. Karina was embarrassed and felt worse when she saw Chris laughing with the bullies, including their leader, Quinn. Chris’s older brother, Matt, used to be nice to Karina, but by then, he’d already left home for college.

For the rest of the year, Karina wore long-sleeved shirts “to cover up [her] arms” (5). Her parents, Jay and Trisha Chopra, eventually noticed and tried to comfort her.