1999

She lied on the bed, arms spread wide and eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. They were talking about her, she realized after a while. Their voices, however faint, seeped through the thin walls, and she could hear her name being spoken like it was a forbidden word to utter. In truth, she couldn’t blame them. It was hard to look at her, let alone treat her the same way, when all of her faults were exposed like so, stamped on her forehead for good measure. For years, she told herself repeatedly that she was a genius, far better than everyone else. Now, she was merely stupid, foolish to think that there weren’t other people smarter than her. It was the only thing she liked about herself; and here, she saw how it was taken away in one second, by a single piece of paper. They were going to talk about it; she knew they would. Her aunts, uncles and cousins were going to find out. Their neighbors would hear everything. And everyone would finally know that she really was a failure right from the start, disappointing everyone since 1999.