Summary

The narrator wanted to be a gospel singer like the people she watched on TV because these singers were "loved by the whole wide world" (49). She went to a diner to play a gospel singer's popular songs and prayed to God for a gospel singing career. Nevertheless, the narrator had a terrible voice. Shannon Pearl, the narrator's albino friend with red eyes and white hair, also wanted more than she had. Despite her looks, though, Shannon's parents loved her anyway. Even though the narrator was jealous of Shannon, she protected Shannon from the other kids when she was teased at school. Shannon and her sister met Shannon when they protected her from jeering kids when she got on the school bus on the first day of school. The narrator continues to hang around with Shannon, even though she herself cannot understand why. She...