ory was a tall brunett. She wore classes, studied hard, and was one of the smartest people in her garde eight class. Dory always got the praise from her teachers, she always got the best grade and never had any competion for test's. But than Cindee came to school.

Cindee was shorter, she had blond hair and pretty blue eyes. She wore the latest fashions, she made more friends in one day than Dory had in her life, and to top it off, she was smart. She was so smart that Dory looked as dumb as the other people in her class compared to Cindee.

So now Dory tried harder. Every day, she'd spend more time on her home-work, making her essay's perfect, working harder so she could be the best again. She even got her hair cut and permed, she spent her Christmas money on new clothes. She even tried nail polish and spending useless time at the mall.

This went on for the rest of the school year and most of the next. Dory was a whole new person because of Cindee. She was smarter, she got more attention, she even tried "girl things." One winter day, Cindee didn't come to school. It's not like it was the first time. Lots of people got sick. But as the days went on Cindee never came back. Her gold hair never bobbed down the hall way, her smile never passed almost everyone in her class room, and her talent never got her another 90% on the next math test.

Dory took her crown back as the smartest grade nine student. But now, it was know fun. There was know one to compete with. Know one to bother trying to beat. Things were the same as before and Dory didn't like it.

One day, as Dory was in the park baby-sitting her neighbor's kids, Cindee showed up. She was dressed in bulk clothing even though it was spring now. Her hair was cut much shorter, and she was very skinny and pale. She even looked like she had been crying.

"Hi Dory" Cindee said as she sat down on the bench beside her. Cindee's voice was dull without any expression left in it.
"Hi" Dory replied. "Where have you been?"
"Sick" Cindee replied. "I got horribly sick during the winter."
"Oh!" Dory said. She wasn't really suprised, she was just confused. Bad things never happened to sweet, loving, good people like Cindee. Cindee was the idle child of every mother. She was pretty, smart, friendly, popular and never made anyone feel bad.
"Whats going to happen?" Dory asked.
"I don't know. I don't think I'll be coming back to school. Not until September at least. But momma might want to keep me at home. Home-school me, just so I don't get sick again."
"That's to bad. Your the only reason I was ever any good at school."
"No Dory, you've always been good at school. You made me good, because ever since I was little I was smart. Very smart. I was even aloud to skip a grade in elemantry. But in my old school, I didn't stand out. I was just another face in the crowd. Here, I became popular, and I liked it. I've always wanted to trade my brains in for popularity, but never could. But here, I was just about to. And than I met you. And I wanted to be better. Your the only reason I'm not an air head that doesn't care about school."

Dory looked at her. She wasn't lying. She was serious about this. It suprised Dory. She never thought Cindee had to try. She always thought the girl was just plain perfect and never had problems.

"I have to go now. Momma's going to get worried. Keep trying. Be the best in school. And don't let anyone tell you your not. Because you are, and you deserve to be, too." With those words, Cindee got up and walked away. She walked home, and Dory never saw her again.

The End

Story by: Adrianna, age 14, Canada

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