Please note this is fiction!

“Didi Chen?” The dudes in the class immediately glance around the classroom, like they’re searching for a hot new girl but there’s no girl, just me – a dude with a girl’s name thanks to my parents. Slowly, I raise my pen. “Yes?” Mrs. Adamson says. “Do you have a question?”

“No, I’m just answering to my name.”

“Right, Didi.” She marks the attendance sheet as snickers erupts around the room. “Zeal Colburn?” She continues to the next name as another round of giggles spews around the classroom.

A tap on my shoulder causes me to turn, “Dude, is that short for Diedre?” The dude behind me along with at least four other guys bursts into giggles but somehow, none of that got Mrs. Adamson’s attention.

Sighing as I feel my cheeks flush with anger and humiliation, I turn around, brush my long bangs aside and focus on the textbook in front of me – Chemistry – a nice and simple title. My parents are first-generation immigrants from China. I’m the second generation, having been born here in the U.S. They often tell me, “If we knew English back then, we wouldn’t had named you ‘Didi’. How were we to know that’s a girl’s name? In Chinese, it means ‘little brother’.”

Honestly, I don’t blame them for accidentally giving me a girl’s name. I guess I can always wait until I’m old enough to change my name. People do that all the time, right?

Theme: A Day in School

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