House Trap

Chapter One: Rachel

It did not take them long—it seemed like only twenty to twenty-five minutes later—before the two judges' came up to the podium. The man grabbed the microphone from the mic stand. "Attention, everyone," He said.

The rambling murmur of the audience and the students fell silent, and all eyes were on the podium, staring at the judges. "It's time to announce the winners of this year's science fair project competition. I must say, it was very hard to choose this year's winners so here we go..."

"The third place winner is..." his head lowered to read the name on his clipboard."Matthew Telling!" The boy next to Rachel's table went up to the podium and took his trophy. Rachel relaxed and felt that she would definitely win the main prize as she clapped her hands happily with the rest of the people.

"The second place winner is..." he took a glance at the clipboard."Josephine Ying!" Josephine smiled at someone next to her, probably a friend or an acquaintance, and happily went up to the podium and collected her trophy. Rachel's heart pounded rapidly; she did not know if she was excited or nervous as she clapped for Josephine.

"And the first place winner is...."he said without glancing at the clipboard."Deshawn Bown!" The boy could not believe he heard his name. Rachel couldn't believe she didn't hear her name. The boy was so in shock that someone had to tell him to walk to the podium as everyone's hands thundered an ear-drumming applause. Rachel's mouth remained half-opened. She couldn't believe she didn't win as she half-heartedly clapped for him. With a broad smile Deshawn accepted the trophy from the female judge's hand along with the cash prize.

"And that's the end of this year's science fair competition. Hope to see you next year!" the judge said and then the area became very noisy. Most of the students were clearing their projects and taking it with them. Rachel and some of her competitors threw their boards in the trashcan outside.

All this work for nothing, she thought after she threw hers away. Rachel felt really angry that she did not win. And now her mother has not arrived to pick her up in time which added her frustration. She searched for her cell-phone in her backpack and punched in her mother's cell-phone number.

"Voicemail again!" she sighed, hanging up. She sat by the gravel steps in front of the school, waiting. People passed by her, not noticing her but Rachel did not mind at all, in fact, she's used to it, the story of her life. 

Rachel had not always been this way. She hadn't been an overachiever her whole life. Her change started five years ago in the seventh grade. Rachel was sitting with her six close friends in the cafeteria, talking among each other. Rachel could not recall how their prattle went from how awful the smell in P.E. class was to who was the smartest among their clique, but it did. Emily stated that the most likely person to attend an Ivy League school, hence succeed in life, would be Ann because of the obvious. Ann had stellar grades in all her classes and loads of afterschool activities, and she maintained a social life. Emily started to rank down each of the clique until Rachel's name was mentioned last. To Rachel's surprise and dismay, they all agreed she would probably to be the least likely of the group to succeed. Demoralized, Rachel stood up and demanding to know why they thought so lowly of her. Ann, with a frolicked smirk,questioned Rachel about her current grades in all her classes. Rachel didn't say a word and dropped to her seat with a wretched glare on her face; she knew she couldn't argue with the truth. She didn't pay attention in class; she mostly got Cs. Seeing Rachel's distressed face, Emily tried to lighten the situation and told Rachel that this is just a joke, that she shouldn't take it seriously. With that announcement, Rachel's friends proceeded to a new prattling conversation. Although Rachel's face seemed like she moved onward with them, her mind didn't. When she got home, she couldn't shake the downhearted feeling she felt. She knew the path she's taking wouldn't get her anywhere in life. That day she made a decision;her main focus was to get right with her schoolwork.