Back at school, I whizzed through my subjects. I was no longer very anxious or sleep-deprived. The walks certainly helped, but so did the casual environment at school. For the first time in my life, I didn't worry about keeping up or slowing down to match my peers. I was my only competition. But I pushed myself hard, and I worked harder in school than I ever had before. It just didn't feel like I was, because I enjoyed school. 

I was very surprised when Eric told me that I was holding a solid A in all of my classes, which was something I had never achieved before. Back in regular school, I was a straight C student most of the time. My dad did his best to encourage me by saying, "C's get degrees!", but I never accepted that as truth. I've always been very competitive in everything, including and especially school, and my confidence suffered severely when I went through most of school, always being a couple grades below most of my peers. Because of that, I went through most of school believing I was an idiot, even for part of Homebound. 

But, that slowly started to change. When I finished Economics a few weeks before summer officially began, despite having been out of school for a combined 4 months, it really made me rethink my intelligence. I wasn't slow or stupid at all. In fact, it was quite the opposite. But, for some reason, I refused to believe it. In my mind, I was still the biggest idiot in the universe. Before, I was constantly left behind in school, and accused by past teachers of being lazy, slow, and even stupid. The students further pounded this into my head by bullying me, and many of my grades ended up being the final nails on the coffin that held my confidence. I had buried my confidence years ago, and I had no plans of reviving it. I was only confident in one thing, and that was my stupidity, and I constantly made self-deprecating jokes and remarks whenever someone tried to compliment me. This frustrated many people, especially my parents, who voiced their concerns to me.

When my mom found out that I finished Economics in record time with an A, she was ecstatic. While she danced around in the kitchen, I stared at her blankly and asked, "Why is this such a big achievement? I've still got English and Geometry I've gotta complete in the summer, and I'm not even sure I'll finish them in time. Plus, I'm still technically behind everyone else, so..." 

I'm pretty sure the only thing preventing my mom from strangling me at that very moment was the law. Meanwhile, I reached for a glass of water as if I didn't just say the worst thing possible.

"Are you serious?" my mom asked in a stern tone, "You still think you're stupid? After all that you've accomplished? You aren't stupid, Maya. Clearly, you aren't stupid! If you want to know what stupid looks like, just look at aunt Shirley's sister!" 

I choked on my water and wheezed and coughed for a good five minutes while my mom stood stoically on the other side of the kitchen bar, staring me down the whole time. My great aunt Shirley was the woman married to my grandpa's brother, Gary. Her sister was severely mentally handicapped. She had the average mental capacity of an 8 year old. While she could read books, feed, dress, and bathe herself, she couldn't do basic math, learn basic reasoning skills, or have any boundaries. Her speech patterns and overall behavior reflected those of an 8 year old. While I understood what my mom was trying to tell me, I could not believe that she said such a thing. She always lectured me when I cracked dark jokes or made some minor judgmental remark about someone on the street. Suddenly, her attitude completely changed, and I knew that she really wanted to get a point across, even if it meant saying such a thing about a distant member of our family. 

When I could breathe again, I looked at my mom, and she cocked her head to one side and gave me a "I told you so" kind of look. 

"You're believing lies, Maya." my mom continued, "You need to start believing the truth, and that truth is that you are very smart. Gifted actually. Just like Jack."

"Jack's smarter than me, mom!" I argued, "He basically skipped two grades!"

"He also doesn't have Cystic Fibrosis." my mom retorted, "And just because he's ahead in his classes, doesn't mean he's smarter than you. In fact, he's probably, well..."

I squinted my eyes, "Well?"

"He's definitely not smarter than you." my mom smiled, "You're the one who has common sense around here. Jack would totally get in a stranger's car."

"You've got a point." I shrugged, "But the midget's still better than me in school. He's got all A's and a social life. When I was his age, I wasn't doing so great."

"You were also sick a lot." my mom reminded me, "Yet, you still haven't fallen behind."

"But-"

"And you're gonna catch up this summer very quickly! You're graduating on time! So you're not behind."

"Bu-"

"No buts!" mom stopped me, "You're doing great. You're smart and you're going to graduate on time! And if you don't believe me, just look at your grades!"