Kayla Character Analysis

Kayla used to be Nao’s best friend when she lived in Sunnyvale, California. For a while after Nao moves to Japan, the two of them text and email each other quite often. Kayla is popular and smart—and since Nao used to be hang out with her, Nao was part of the popular crowd too. However, Nao is shunned and bullied at her Japanese school, and she is embarrassed to admit this to Kayla because she thinks Kayla might stop wanting to associate with Nao if she knows this. Nao proves to be right. When she tells Kayla about her problems, Kayla sends back a “bright, cheerful little email” that makes it clear to Nao that Kayla isn’t interested in Nao’s troubles. Kayla and Nao’s relationship demonstrates the difficulty of forming true connections and highlights the fact that many so-called friendships are superficial.