Excerpt from: a baker's dozen
david matherne

i ain't no valedictorian. i'll give you that. but i'm certainly not the loser my step-father johnnie likes to think i am, either. mr. oh-so-famous local johnnie pipehead of "johnnie on the spot plumbing." (real clever name, huh? ) just because he only took the requisite twelve years to make it through school and graduate from his alma mater, and i took slightly longer, that doesn't make me a loser. so what if i took "the road less traveled by" and added a one-year, scenic detour to my journey-- to algebra, physical science, and . did i mention chemistry? let's just say i liked latin but latin didn't much care for me. just because i took thirteen years in all to get out of melancholy high with a diploma doesn't make me some loser. being nothing at all, now that would make me a loser.

based on the first paragraph of the passage, what inference can you make about the speaker?
a) the speaker is lazy and did not excel in high school.
b) the speaker respects his step-father and regrets disappointing him.
c) the speaker is intelligent and clever, but did not excel in high school.
d) the speaker thinks he is a loser because he did not excel in high school.