Expectations of the Average Overachiever

17 year old April Bliss is one of the best girls out there, the sassiest. Not to mention her 4.0 GPA and overachieving test scores. She strives for perfection, and according to almost everyone, she had met her goal. She was close to having the highest IQ in all of Harper High, not to mention being the most popular girl in school. April, though she had many men, had her best friend and a boyfriend all in one. Then he died. And everything, even her expectations that she tried so hard to surpass, changed.

What are expectations? The best definition I can come up with, won't be found in any dictionary you read. Do you remember when you were 2 or 3 years old, and you just sat around watching cartoons and eating the lunch mommy made you? I do. Then, when you turned 5 and went to kindergarten, you were expected to listen, do your work and be nice. You might not have realized it then, but the minute you followed through with those expectations, was the minute every one after it was born. Now things are expected, there are things that you have to do and if you don't, you're a disappointment or you're punished.
For me, those expectations were harder to accomplish than it may sound. Get all A's, B's aren't good enough. Get in all advanced classes. Do your chores, make friends, dress nice. Forget about loss and move forward. Be perfect. Eventually these things became reality, it was no longer exciting when I surpassed the expectations. If I got an A on something, it wasn't happiness I felt, but relief. These things were expected of me and I always delivered.
But I'm starting to get sick of being perfect all the time.