""Wow." I always thought of college as a place for stars like Aisha, who does everything that her teachers expect from her, even down to hanging out in the right cliques. And all of us can see her there as clearly as if we had a TV screen of her life at school playing in our heads. But for the first time I actually start to imagine me sitting on steps like this, or in a classroom reading lots of fat books and saying what I think. It suddenly feels natural as sitting next to this girl, who is back to drawing with her colored pencils."

Finally, Nadira is starting to wonder if there is a real place for her, a place that is other from the shadows cast over her sister's shoulder. I think that if she can really go to college, and get away from Aisha's influence, she'll be able to find herself. I understand that Aisha isn't evil incarnate, but i do think that her presence does Nadira no favors, and that in order for Nadira to really step, there has to be room for her to step up to. Without people calling her fat and no one caring about her beyond her status of "Aisha's little sister" maybe, instead of being that, she can be Nadira.