Bitter Melon by Cara Chow Read Free Book Online

with the following list of quotes.
    In serving your father and mother, remonstrate with them gently. On seeing that they do not heed your suggestions, remain respectful and do not act contrary. Although concerned, voice no resentment
.
    A person who for three years refrains from reforming the ways of his late father can be called a filial son
.
    When your father and mother are alive, do not journey far, and when you do travel, be sure to have a specific destination
.
    Children must know the age of their father and mother. On the one hand, it is a source of joy, on the other, of trepidation
.
    Then I read my last quote, a Chinese proverb.
    Vicious as a tigress can be, she never eats her own cubs
.
    Tigers and cubs … My mind drifts back to the zoo and what my mom said about the difference between animals and humans.
    I begin my speech. As I write, I imagine delivering it in the school auditorium. Ms. Taylor is sitting in the front row, her stained-glass blue eyes glistening with pride. Hidden from my view in the back row are my mother and, next to her, the spirit of Popo. They are angry with me for defying their orders.
    As I finish my speech, the whole audience stands up and applauds loudly. Their applause beats against my eardrums and vibrates the floor under my feet, like heavy raindrops in a downpour. As my mother sees the sea of hands clapping for me, she has tears in her eyes. She regrets being so hard on me. She sees that she was wrong to have hidden my talent from the rest of the world. She realizes that she has been wrong about me all along, that I am beautiful, smart, hardworking, and loyal, the best kind of daughter. She vows to her mother that she will never take me for granted again. She will never again need to compare me to someone else, because she knows now how lucky she is.
    Even as this image fades from my mind’s eye, the sound of clapping remains, fueling the enthusiasm in my heart, and I continue writing.

Chapter Three

    The closest Princeton Review class is held at St. Augustine’s College Prep in the Sunset District, so I have to take the bus from the Richmond District through Golden Gate Park to get there. St. Augustine’s is the most prestigious—and most expensive—of the Catholic schools in San Francisco. In contrast, St. Elizabeth’s is the least expensive. Traditionally, Catholic high schools have been either all girls or all boys. This year, however, as Catholic schools struggle to keep their enrollment up, some of the boys’ schools are going coed. St. Augustine’s is one of them, and many freshman girls have flocked there. Their parents want the St. Augustine name to help them to get into the Ivy League schools. The girls want to be the precious female minority in a large pool of cute, preppy boys.
    Because it’s the first day, because I’ve never been on the St. Augustine campus, and because I’m bad with directions, it takes me a while to find the right classroom. This reminds me of my confusion on the first day of speech class. What if I think I’m in a Princeton Review class and it turns out to be acting, painting, or underwater basket weaving? On the positive side, it could be calculus. Then I could kill two birds with one stone.
    I pass by several classrooms and some flyers for the St.Augustine fall dance before I finally find the correct room. I check the number on the door with my confirmation sheet several times just to make sure. I feel like I’m the last one here. Most of the seats are already taken up by the St. Augustine students. The majority of them are boys in crisp white shirts, navy pants, and matching ties and V-neck sweaters. The girls are wearing the same, except that they have on navy pleated skirts instead of pants. I am suddenly aware that I haven’t shared a classroom with boys since the eighth grade. The very thought floods me with self-consciousness.
    The instructor asks me to sign in. He is an older man with white hair and wears a polo shirt and