The first time that Maleeka lays eyes on Miss Saunders, it's fair to say that she's none too impressed. Worse than that, she gets a bad feeling inside, a foreshadowing of their future conflicts.

In keeping with how she will come to view Miss Saunders, Maleeka is very rude about her appearance. She says that Maleeka is a "freak" like her. One might think that that would make Maleeka feel a twinge of sympathy for her teacher, but that's not the case at all. Instead, she proceeds to describe Miss Saunders in the least flattering, most offensive terms imaginable.

As well as being a "freak," Miss Saunders is, according to Maleeka, "as different as they come." For one thing, she has a man's name, Michael, and Maleeka has never heard of a woman with that name before.

Maleeka then makes insulting observations about Miss Saunders's physical appearance, describing her as "tall and fat like nobody's business" and having the smallest feet she's ever seen. Even worse from Maleeka's point of view, Miss Saunders has a large white stain on her face which makes it look like someone threw acid on it.

It's all Maleeka can do not to stare at this "amazon woman-teacher." The last thing she wants is to attract another strange character.