endless competition - academic rivals

|chapter one| change

mira's pov, start of snr year:

a lot of things had changed during the year of 2008. mira had changed too.

she no longer found joy in acing a test or having her essay read out in class. instead, she felt obligated to do well, to act well, to talk well -- it no longer brought her satisfaction. regardless, mira felt the need to constantly beat mateo santos, and the only way for that, was to immerse herself into her schoolwork. spend hours at a time studying, reviewing, writing, and then repeat. she would enroll herself in clubs and teams and whatever she could, just to beat him. 

but that was all an excuse for why she would dedicate all her time to her schooling. 

the real reason was that mira's grandmother had been diagnosed with alzheimers. during the summer, mira's grandmother had been moved to a recreational facility due to her condition. 

the two were close, possibly closer than even a bond between a parent and their child for mira's grandmother was like a mother to her. 

despite growing up in a conservative indian household, mira's grandmother constantly encouraged mira to follow her dreams for she was forbidden to. mira's grandmother was forced into an arranged marriage with a man ten years older than her. she moved to the US in the sixties when segregation was outlawed. she had two children: priya, mira's mother and anand, mira's uncle. mira's mother was incredibly goal oriented and determined. priya became a lawyer and opened her own practice. when she was pregnant with mira, she and mira's father divorced. priya, unable to take care of mira on her own, asked mira's grandmother to live with her. ever since then, mira's grandmother had been the one to take her to the park, host her birthdays, and buy her clothing.

mira resented her mother for her absence, but her grandmother always told her that "your mother is successful, and when you are successful, you cannot stop wanting to accomplish more."

the only reason mira wanted to become something in her life was her grandmother. she wanted for her grandmother to feel the same success her mother did, for her mother did not deserve it. if her grandmother did not exist, mira would not care at all -- she would allow herself to drift into whatever darkness took her first. 

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mira rao would never care about her appearance. not when there were so many other important things -- i.e: grades, grades, grades, etc. every day, she tied her just-below shoulder length, brown hair into a ponytail and let it be. she never applied lip gloss or makeup to her face, except a little bit of chapstick when her grandmother told her to. the worst part, according to lia, was her wardrobe: a few pairs of jeans and sweats plus five hoodies. 

the first day of twelfth grade was no different. however, looking into her mirror, she had noticed the addition of eye bags and puffy cheeks. that was different. 

"mira, you're going to be late to school!" her mother called.

mira almost laughed -- her late to school? her mother really did not know her at all.

mira woke up at 5:30 a.m, made breakfast, studied, washed her hair, watered the plants, and even folded the laundry. however, when she pulled open her phone, the time read: 7:55 a.m. her school started at eight.

it sickened mira how her mother was right as she picked up her backpack. it further sickened her when she saw the resemblance of her and her mother and she walked down the stairs.

they shared the same upturned brown eyes and same pouted lips. her mother's hair was tied back into an oiled braid, but when they let their hair out, the resemblance was unremarkable.

her mother sat at a long wooden table, eyes glued on a mac book. 

"well? what are you waiting for?" she said as she saw mira's relfection in her screen. "get walking."

"oh yeah, bye mom" mira muttered, eyes rolling as she walked out her house.

thanks to mira's mother's workaholism, mira lived comfortably. and as mira walked outside, she resented her mother for providing her with such an extravagant house, but none of her time. she felt a tap on her shoulder as she walked on the sidewalk.

she turned around, ready to punch the stranger when she met with familiar honey colored eyes and a lopsided grin. she punched him anyway.

"hey neighbor!" mateo feigned pain as he continued, "why such a warm greeting?"

"go away mateo," mira grumbled. "i've been annoyed enough for one day,"

"oh really, neighbor?" mateo chuckled. "well, the day's just started."

"yeah, and you make me look forward to its end." mira quipped back. 

mateo put his hand to his heart. "that hurt rao! anyways aren't you driven to school?"

mira's grandmother used to drive her to school, and she was a, to put it nicely, horrible driver. regardless, mira loved driving with her grandmother, and they would blast music and songs and mira would tell her all the drama at school.

reminded of those memories, mira glared at mateo and quickened her pace. 

"you haven't answered my question!" as mateo ran up beside her.

"ok-" she replied. "new year, new me"

mateo burst out into laughter, his white teeth shining in the morning light. "you? change? never."

"shut up." mira took a deep breath as she turned to look at lincoln high.

it was probably the most unassuming thing she had ever seen. it stood on a slight hill and was built up of smaller buildings, each the size of a small house. the buildings were all a tan color and the field was bordering overgrown. there was a drive through next to the entrance where cars were honking at each other to get in.

but the mere idea of leaving made mira want to hurl. she hated change, especially after experiencing it so frequently recently. she couldn't imagine making new friends or moving halfway across the country for college.

mira turned to see mateo, slightly smiling at the image of the high school. his cheekbones were incredibly prominent even though they were hidden by his fluffy hair. he looked... excited. 

and mira was nowhere near that. but she would fake it, and pretend, and deceive until she became part of the web she was spinning

mateo caught mira staring at him," what are you looking at rao?"

"a dumbass" she replied very plainly. 

she checked her phone and it read 8:00 a.m. mira's school did not really start at eight and actually started at eight fifteen. but to mira, fifteen minutes early was on-time. and apparently to mateo too. 

she saw mateo debating what to say, shrugging his eyebrows very slightly. 

"did something change over the summer?" mateo asked.

"weren't you the one who said i was incapable of change?" mira shot back.

then mira saw something she never thought she would see: mateo swallowed his words and muttered, "i know, but you look different."

mira felt her guard go up. what did he mean "look different?" why did he care? but she just responded, "so what?"

"nevermind, forget that i asked that." mateo pushed it aside.

as they walked onto campus, mateo asked her something else, but this she would answer immediately with no hesitation, "are you ready to be beat this year?"

and she finally replied confidently, "i've beat your ass five years in a row. don't expect that to change."

but in what was mira's world, everything was changing. 

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a/n: i hoped u liked this chapter!!!!