How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"Haven't you ever felt good after doing something really difficult?" She has the nerve to ask me this, wearing a cashmere cardigan she didn't buy on a guidance counselor's paycheck. (14.14)
When Leticia goes to the office to try to get her class changed, the receptionist refuses. So Leticia assumes that the receptionist has a partner who provided the money to buy the expensive sweater, and that the receptionist never did anything difficult either. Stay classy, Leticia.
Quote #5
I'm not trying to go to college when I get out. I'm not trying to be a doctor. A teacher. A lawyer. […]
I'm just a baller. A guard. A floor general running the show. Making plays happen on the court. This is it. This and Fourth Street is what I got. I have to fight grown men just to be picked to play. (15.15-17)
Dominique's perspective of the world is real, all right… real depressing. She recognizes that the other girls on the team, the all-rounders, have a better shot at college than she does. It's just one way, albeit a sad one, that social levels in high school prepare students for life beyond high school.
Quote #6
So this team is all the shot I get. I'm done once I'm out. So this can't come down to five points in science. This isn't a "Do better next time, Dominique." This is "Fix it now." (15.17)
For Dominique, there is no next time. She doesn't think she has a future beyond high school, and she's stuck in the social level she's in. The only place she's able to increase her social value is on the basketball court, so we don't blame her for wanting her minutes, if her time on the court makes her who she is.