Ladies First: Chapter One

They knew I was different from the very start. Not only was my hair as white as the moon, everything I heard, every single thing, was stuck to my brain like a fly in honey. I heard the midwife say, “Well, she’s a girl.” I said the same exact thing right back to her.

She was so startled that she dropped me, way to treat a baby, lady! When my mother found out about my smarts, she almost disowned me. Women weren’t allowed to be smart. But of course, I didn’t show it. I acted like a child, I learned what Mama does at home. She was a stickler for rules. I was almost never out of her sight, but in my free time, I would dig through the basement, and find anything and everything that had words in it. 

By the time I was five, I had the knowledge of everything in my home. No one knew, not even my own mother. I got bored, with no new information to learn. I was like the stomach of a baby bear born in the winter, always craving. I couldn’t deal with it any longer. I started to pack my bag. The few things I needed. Clothes, food, money, lots and lots of money. 

Earlier that week I had sent a letter to a college. The best one – Gogenschmere college. It only accepted the best of the best. It didn’t matter how many sports achievements you won. All that mattered was the power of your brain. You had to work day and night. It was as if half the kids made something that could keep you awake, and stop you from being tired. 

I applied. As a boy. With my bag packed, I left in the darkness of the night. Of course I had never really encountered the real world. To me, the world was full of candy, cuddles, and secrets. Little did I know that being a 5 year old girl is the opposite of good, especially a smart one.

Everywhere I went people were offering to help me get home, they leaned down and babied me. That was until I went to the business section of our town. Wandering around, I looked at all the shops. I stopped and stared. What is this place? I thought. There were math equations in the window, and more importantly, a picture of a girl.

The bell rang as I stepped inside. At the front desk there was a lady.

”Are you the owner of this store?” I asked. 

“Why yes I am,” she replied with a southern drawl,” and what are you doin’ out here this early young lady?”

Stamping my foot, “I’M NOT THAT YOUNG!!!” I scream. Then with a much more civilized tone, “Which way is Gogenschmere College?” 

“Aren’t you a bit young and, um, the wrong gender?” she pointed out. 

“Look at you, and you doubt me,” I seethed.

“I’m 25, you’re 5,” she insisted.

“I don’t care,” I raged, “talk to me as if you were talking to your elder. I’ll ask one more time.”

“Fine,” she said, backing away in fear, “If that’s what you want. It’s that way, ma’am.” she pointed to Gogenschmere street, bowing towards me.

“Finally, the respect I deserve.”

“I will be on my way then.” I walked down the road. People stared. 

“Why is that cute little girl walking right to the Gogenschmere,” I heard their whispers, saw their shocked faces. Rolling my eyes, What is up with these people? I marched onto the campus with authority.
I marched to the building, pushing the doors open. There was the headmasters office. 

BAM BAM BAM!!! I knocked on the door. 

“Whadda ya want,” he yelled, the tv blaring in the background. 

“I’m the newest person to apply?”

“Come in,” he replied gruffly. I inched my way into the room. The principal was a large man. His body looked permanently stuck in his small chair. He hands were greasy, and the only decoration in the room was huge tubs of empty fried chicken containers

“So your name is Daniel?” he said as he glanced up, surveying me, “Oi! Where is Daniel?!”

 “This is Daniel,” I replied stubbornly as I stood on my tiptoes to look over the desk, my white hair shone with defiance.

“This here says Daniel is a BOY,” He jabbed at the paper to prove the point. 

“So? What is wrong with me being a girl?”

“What wrong is GIRLS, aren’t smart,” his spit landed everywhere on my face.

As I wiped away the spit, I climbed on a chair and said with my chin held high, “Bring in your smartest student, or a teacher and see who is smart.” I could never back away from a challenge. 

He pressed the button for the intercom, “John Miles, please come to the headmaster’s office immediately.”

 With the announcement out he turned his attention back to me. “How old are you and what is your real name?”

“I’m 5, and my name is Danielle”

“If you are smarter than the smartest person in this school, you can stay. If not, well you don’t want to know about that.”