" Lauren Finch is pretty. Not just because she has good skin and the right clothes. She has the right everything. She's universally appealing. Her nose is tiny, her eyebrows are close to her eyes, and everything about her is bright and brilliant, like someone turned up the highlights on her real-life filter.

She doesn't have to wonder if guys like her because of her race. Nobody will tell her she's "pretty, for a white girl." She's just pretty, period.

I don't stand a chance.

Because I will never be bright and brilliant like Lauren. I have pale skin and dark hair, and my eyes are too small. She's colors and candy; I'm pencils and smudges. "

― Akemi Dawn Bowman , Starfish