Esti and Ruchi   

Esti

Hi,my name is Esti. Summer has flown by and it’s been great, baruch Hashem! I had a really great time in sleepaway camp with my best friend, Ruchi, and a bunch of other girls in our class. I’m really sad summer’s almost over. I don’t feel ready for school at all! I feel like I just put down my pen at the last final.

I don’t want to sound shallow, but there’s a bigger reason I’m not eager to start school again, something that’s been nagging at me over the last couple of days.

Ruchi has always been the genius of the class. She gets top grades on every test and report. She’s the one all the other girls go to if they need any sort of help with work. She’s the star student, the apple of every teacher’s eye, and, worst of all, my mother is always comparing me to her. “Ruchi’s mother told me she got As on every report this semester! I don’t understand how you can get Bs and B pluses! Isn’t she your friend? Can’t you get her to help you bring your grades up?” You can imagine how unpleasant it is to be Ruchi’s best friend during the school year. That’s why I love the summer so much — finally, we’re on even footing! We’re equally good at basketball, swimming, art, and all the other things that we do in the summertime.

But every year, school descends on me like a sledgehammer and puts me back into second place. This year is going to be no different. I do the best I can, but I just don’t do as well as Ruchi. And honestly, do I have to? I still do pretty well. I may not be at the top of my class but it’s not like I’m doing poorly or even close to failing! I wish my mother didn’t put so much pressure on me. Or I wish that Ruchi could somehow not get such perfect marks. It would make my life so much easier. But that’s not going to happen, so I need advice on how to deal with my mother and the way she compares me to Ruchi. Considering how our mothers are friends, it’s basically inevitable that she’s going to hear from Ruchi’s mother how absolutely wonderfully Ruchi is doing, and then my mother’s going to nag me about my grades. I’m so not looking forward to that. Is there any way around this?