Huiliang and Aiysha are an Asian American and an African American pair of very smart girls. When they walk into their chemistry class and find out they are partner’s the tension between them is clear but only from Huiliang. Aiysha doesn’t understand why her partner seems to hold so much attitude towards her. As the class continues Huiliang’s anxiety starts to boil over as Aiysha takes over the experiment and the girls begin to discuss the real problem: Huiliang has an issue with Aiysha because she’s black. This sparks a deeper conversation as Aiysha begins to probe Huiliang as to where this hate comes from. One would think that she would avoid this girl, her attitude and her comments that are not very nice but instead she wants to know why she feels this way and in her probe, it comes across that she clearly wants to help her. Through the scene we see that both of these girls are extremely smart, and dealing with some deep inner stresses that, in this moment has brought them together. Their mother’s, the meanings of their names, how smart both of them are and how in this moment maybe a chemistry assignment might just be their first experience with how difficult it is to forgive and how sometimes tolerance is the answer. This story explores how two very different people can figure out that they have something in common that could possibly take the pain away that is wrapped up in the word, “hate.” A story of two very different, very smart girls learning a lesson that would have never been taught to them in any schoolbook.
