"I don't understand why Claire hates me," I whined to Jane. Suddenly I was seventeen years old, sitting on a pile of red cushions in the school library. "She's just so mean to me. I never did anything to her. Why does she hate me?"
"Honestly," Jane shrugged, "you're like a blinding light. You're too perfect."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, think about it. You're freakishly smart, and you don't need to study anywhere near as hard as us mere mortals do. I've seen you memorize entire essays, word for word, in just a few hours so you can recite them in an exam. Like, what the fuck? It's so unfair. I struggle to even write a good essay, let alone memorize it that quickly. And all of this might be okay if you were just good at English or math or one particular subject, but you do all of them well. And you're a freak at art! It looks like you don't even try-"
"Hey! I spent ages teaching myself to paint. It's not like I tumbled out of the womb with a paintbrush in my hand."
"Do you remember a few years ago, when a professional art dealer saw your sculpture at the school art exhibition and tried to buy it? We were, like, thirteen! You're just naturally talented. Not just at art — at everything. It's like you win a new award every week at assembly."
"I'm not very good at sport," I said.
"You play in the top softball team and the second hockey team. You're not bad at sport."
"Yeah, but I'm not particularly good," I rebutted. "It's not like sport is my 'thing.'"
"You've got enough things going for you," she said. "Leave something for someone else."
"What about music. I don't do music."
"Exactly! It's infuriating. I remember our end-of-year exams in grade eight, where we had those bonus marks in the exam. You somehow managed to get full marks on the main component, and then all the bonus marks in the listening component too. You got 110 percent and then dropped the damn subject. If I could get even close to 100 percent in a subject, I'd be holding on for dear life."
"So, she hates me because I'm good at exams?"
"Come on, Nikki. It's not just that. Think about it. She's earning minimum wage at a shitty retail job, and you're making all this money with your online business-"
"I've worked really hard on that business! We all have the same number of hours in the day-"
"Not when Claire or Rachel or the rest of us have to study five times as much as you, just to get a mediocre mark," Jane replied.
"I can help her start her own online business if that's what she wants-"
"That's not the point. All of this might be fine if you were hideous-looking, but you're not. And you're a nice person, so it's not like your personality is shit. Oh! And to top it all off, her ex-boyfriend is madly in love with you-"
"We're just friends."
"But he wishes you weren't. Everyone knows."
"How is that my fault?"
"It's not. But can you see why she makes your life a living hell? Social power is the only thing she has over you. You're just too bright. It makes everyone else uncomfortable. From our perspective, life looks so much easier for you. It's unfair."
