“Full marks go to…. Amelia! Good work!

” Ms Vay
announced, smiling at her, while she collected her results. I glared at
her as she walked past me- she did not notice.
She was a transferred student from another nearby
school, before she transferred here, I was the only teacher’s pet,
with the best result a student from my cohort could never achieve. I
was the top student until she came along this year. As I did not have
any competitors before it was therefore surprising to see a student
score as well as me in all subjects. Before I knew it, she was “named”
my competitor or enemy in school. My impression of her was that
she is a “thief of my limelight” and an arrogant girl. I obviously did
not like her at all.
These little failures affect me entirely that my results
declined slowly but surely. However, the one that affected me the
most was the mid-year exams…
That day determined whether I beat Amelia or not, to
others it might determined whether they get to quit tuition or not.
The entire class was on tenterhooks, beads of perspirations formed
on their foreheads, the class was especially quiet today, all waiting
nervously for the results.
Finally, Ms Vay handed out the result slips. My hands
felt too clammy to flip open the sheet of paper, but I did it anyways.
It read: English -B, Math -A, Chinese -A, Science -B. That piece of
information shocked me till I almost fell off my chair – not a single A
plus! I peeked behind me at Amelia – straight A pluses! Tears
streamed down my face; I quickly wiped them away.
At recess, sitting alone, I ate until a familiar figure
approached me – Amelia. She plopped down beside me and asked,
“Look, I know you-you hate me, but-but I can help you, instead of us
competing against each other.” I turned to her, “Why do you want to
help me?”
She replied politely, “These people friend me because I’m
popular, but only you can be my real friend. So can I help you?”
I pondered – her words made sense. Then without
hesitation, I nodded.
Over the next few weeks, we often spend time together
studying. I then found out it was because of pressure to be first that
caused me to constantly feel stressed. With her help, I was able to
forget those thoughts of negative. My impression of her changed
too, from arrogant to polite and humble.
The end-of-year results were out within no time. Ms Vay
handed my slip to me with a big smile from there I knew I should not
judge a book by its cover like I did with Amelia