Speaking directly to a classmate who bullies her, the speaker describes a hard-working girl who is easy to overlook. She gives out answers, lets others copy her notes, and gets shouted at on her way home. Behind this is a harsher picture: parents who are never satisfied, sleepless nights spent studying, and a loneliness so heavy that she thinks about hurting herself. The repeated question, "Do you ever think about her?", sounds like a plea to be noticed as a person.
The mood is sad and quietly accusing, but also tender. The girl admires the very people who hurt her and wants to be "like you." She smiles in public and cries in private. The ending hits hardest. Insults like "nerd" and "geek" can be borne, but "genius" is the word she refuses, because she feels she could never earn it. The poem suggests that her struggle with self-worth cuts deeper than any name-calling.