Thirty years later
"...Plants need light. Leaves produce the plant's food by the action of light on chlorophyll contained in their cells. This process is called photosynthesis...." a sixteen-year-old teenage girl said lectured to the two judges alongside her science poster board set on top of a woodentable. "...Sunlight contains all the light that plants need; however, if we decide to use artificial light, we are not sure that every light bulb has all the lights that a plant needs..."
As soon as she finished the presentation of her project, she happily waited for their questions but wished they would not have any for her.
"Comparing types of artificial light on plant growth," one of the judges said as she scribbled on her clipboard."Interesting." She was in her forties and wore a white lab coat over her pale yellow collar shirt and black blouse. Her short, wavy, salt and pepper hair reached her cheeks. The other judge— a plump thirty five year-old man—much taller than the female judge, clad in a white lab coat, cast an attentive stare over his round, wire-rimmed glasses.He asked a question to an obvious problem. "As for your visual, you have ordinary incandescent bulb here," he said, pointing at it with his black ballpoint pen. Then he inquired, "Where's the fluorescent, metal-halide and high-pressure-sodium bulb?"
Rachel's mind went wild; she did not want to tell the judge the truth. She did not want to inform them that her idiot little brother had played with his soccer ball on the very day of her science project presentation and broke the bulbs which were set on the living room coffee table prepped to be moved in the car.
Come on, Rachel, think, think of something, come on! She thought, pondering an excuse while showing a nervous smile. Then she spoke to the judges, "Well, the bulbs... well..." she sighed and said succinctly."My little brother broke my bulb; that's why they aren't here."She looked rather sad. The judges wrote something on their clipboard and they both gave her an indecipherable glare then one of them replied, "Okay, we have to move on." Rachel thanked them for their time and watched as they moved to the next table.
Oh! Alex, you're so dead! She thought angrily.
The voice by the next table sounded so engrossing that Rachel listened in as she pretended to clean the plant closest to the next table. The teenage boy at the next table spoke like a college professor, and by the body language of the judges, they seemed to be intrigued by what he said. Rachel also thought his project sounded amusing, but she knew that her project was unique. And the realistic person that she was, she knew that she would lose a few points from the visual, but overall her project was the best and should win this year's competition. She worked so hard on the project and felt that it would pay off. Rachel noticed the judges had just finished with him, the last person on her row and the last table enrolled in the competition.
Rachel tried one last attempt to impress the judges—as they sauntered back toward the aisle. Rachel quickly straightened her black blouse and sable-rimmed glasses, tied her hair band even tighter on her dark-brownish ponytail, and as the judges passed her, she flashed a wide smile at them. The judges glanced at her and one of them replied with a simple nod that was indecipherable as they headed to the podium to tally their score.
The school cafeteria space managed to hold the ample amount of students that participated in this year science competition, to a lot of people's—including Rachel's—surprise. The students still stayed by their cardboard, hoping to hear their name being called as this year's winner. Their friends and families leaned against the wall as they watched the event unfold while being supportive from a distance. Rachel did not look anywhere for her family as she knew her mother and brother couldn't make it due to the fact that her mother took turns going to any activities her children were involved in. This time, it was Alex's turn, and she went to his soccer game. There were more students enrolled in this year's science fair than the previous year. The cash prize award was the reason for this, but Rachel didn't care about the cash; she was here to get the top spot. She wanted to put "First place" on her college application.Anxiously, she waited for the judges to tally the scores.
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.
Rachel still remembered her first A in seventhgrade math. She glowed happily and could not believe that such a thing happened to her. Later that year, she got good grades in all of her classes. This made her friends jealous. It grew from playfully calling her a nerd to meanly telling her she's a nerd and couldn't hang around them anymore. Her close friends distanced themselves from her. Rachel, although saddened by this, refused to give up her hard-earned grades to regain their friendship. She maintained her stellar grades all the way through her eighth grade classes and into her high school years in another school that was more challenging for her. Rachel never heard from her former friends again, but an old acquaintance from Rachel's middle school told her that Ann was quite popular in Mount Pine high school. However, she got pregnant and dropped out her sophomore year. Rachel asked if she was certain, but she merely shrugged and stated that it could be a rumor, so Rachel never knew for sure. Rachel had all but forgotten about that. She only looked ahead. She focused on her goals and never looked back.
Rachel sighed and felt letdown. She had not accomplished one of her goals. She really longed to win first place in the competition. Blood, sweat, and tears went into that project. As the sky grew darker, the street light came on, and Rachel heard low,screeching noise across from her.
From inside the minivan,Rachel's mother spun her head to where her daughter waited. A distant street light glared lightly on the lone Rachel sitting on the steps. She looked like a poor little, orphan. She stood up and headed straight to the car.
"Hi, honey, how was it? Where's your project?" she asked after Rachel opened the passenger's door and sat down, folding her arms.
"I didn't win the prize." she said. With her eyebrows narrowed, she stared straight at the windshield.
"Did you get second place again? Don't worry, honey, you'll get first place next time." her mother replied. She started the ignition and began to drive.
"I didn't get anything!" she said, a bit harshly.
Her mother peeked at her daughter's face, stunned by the outburst and then faced the road again. "You usually get second or third place. You worked really hard this year." her mother said.
"I know that, Mom." Rachel said.
"You still got one year left." she said as if there was a gleam of hope available for her after all.
"I really wanted it this year. I'm really busy with school work and I manage to somehow fit thisproject in my schedule, but now it was all for nothing! I don't think I'll have the time next year since I'm taking more advanced classes." she said, then sighed. "Dartmouth College is not looking for second-or-third placewinners. They want top notch students! Dartmouth College is my target and nothing else."
"Rachel, you're overreacting." her mother said.
"Don't tell me I'm overreacting, okay?" Rachel said angrily, and the car grew silent. After a short while, her little brother broke the silence from the backseat of the car."Rachel, do you want to know how I scored the winning goal?" he said, trying to lighten up the mood.
"Alex, I really don't want to hear your voice right now, okay?" she replied as she thought her brother was part of the reason she lost the competition.
"Rachel! Now that's mean," her mother interjected. "Now listen to what your brother has to say—Alex?"
"Never mind," he replied, his eyes downcast as he wrapped his arms around his soccer ball,pouting.
It did not take them long before they finally reached the neighborhood. They lived in a suburban area; all the houses looked almost identical. Here and there were one-story houses that stood among several two-story tall houses, and they all looked appealing and expensive. The area was well-kept; the trimmed grasses were vividly green as the sprinkler watered them. The night brought with it a creepy silence but the neighborhood oozed a sense of safety and comfort.
"So what do you want for dinner?" she asked her children but saw Rachel had ignored her as she stared at the passenger window.
"The mac and cheese with beef specialty!" her son said wildly. His mother waited for Rachel to either agree or reject this, but Rachel still ignored her so her mother replied, "Okay, my specialty it is then."
She drove the car into the garage, and Rachel immediately climbed out of the car and dashed to herroom. She slammed the door and dived onto her bed. Her room was plastered with everything Dartmouth. From the chair seat to the pillow cover to the school flag and banner on the wall, they almost overtook her indie band and movie posters. Her sight clearly was to enroll in Dartmouth, only Dartmouth and nothing else, no substitution. Her eyes glanced at the velvet- green Dartmouth teddy bear before she realized that she had an exam tomorrow which she has not studied yet. She heaved a deep sigh before she hurled herself off her bed andtrudged to where she laid her backpack, bringing out one textbook at a time. Rachel felt overwhelmed by the things she needed to know for tomorrow's exam. Her study desk was stacked with textbooks that resembled hefty dictionaries along with notebooks, blank sheets of paper, and a clock that reminded her how limited her time was to cram in all the information. She sat on the oak chair, facing an open textbook on her desk. While focusing on a formula on pg. 108, her mother slowly opened the door ajar.
"Rachel,your food's ready," she had in her hands a plate and a glass of water. Rachel turned around to see her mother approaching her desk. She cleared some of her papers so that her mother could set the food and glass down.
"Are you doing your homework?" she asked.
"No, worse, I'm studying for an exam," she said sounding exhausted, she remained mad at herself for forgetting about the exam and angrier at the memory of her loss at the science fair.
"Mom, I really need to get on with my studies." she said and her mother simply nodded and left the room but before she closed the door, she shook her head at her daughter.Her mother felt sad and worried for her; Rachel's stress has escalated to new heights this year.
Rachel ate her soon to become customary meal while reading. She could hear her mother and brother talking, actually laughing. They were in the dining room eating without Rachel. This had become the norm at the Evans' house: Rachel in her room either studying or doing homework while her mother and brother were doing something together. Rachel finished her meal, tuned out the voices downstairs, and went back to her studies.
A brief message from Mike Mauthor: just a small reminder that if you like what you read don't forget to vote. Invite someone that might enjoy House Trap to check it out here. Have a great day:)