TEEN MACHINE

Why did everything seem so demanding, all of a sudden? And why did it seem to be easy for everyone else? Those Shark people were actually laughing at the difficulty level of the test.

Was I even made for this? The 1 per cent that I was trying to fit into, how would I ever get there?

I could finally feel the dread catching up. The dread that had been following me all throughout tenth grade, and I'd ignored it throughout.

The dreadful feeling of knowing that I wasn't actually smart.