Perfect. That is what I have to be. Not average. Perfect. Perfect in studies. Perfect in art. Perfect in music. Perfect in everything.

And you know why I have to be perfect? It's not because I want to. My mom wants me to. You know why? No, not because of my education. She wants to show me off to her friends as "the smartest girl in the world". She doesn't even look me as a daughter anymore. She looks at me as a thing to flaunt.

If I get an A on anything, my mom just looks at it, puts it down, and goes to watch TV. I never got a B or lower, so I bet that will be hell.

At school:

"Okay class, you'll get your science tests back today," the teacher said.

She was handing out papers. When she got to me, she looked disappointed in me. When I got mine, I flipped it over and guess what I saw? An 89. This is not going to be good.

I walked home, distraught. I approached the front door and opened it. There my mom was, waiting for my grade.

"Welcome to hell, Jessica," I thought to myself.

"89, okay?" I snapped. She just looked like she was going to burst.

"An 89? Jessica, look what happened to your reputation! All straight A's, and now a B? You're not the smartest girl in the world anymore? How could you betray your mother like this?" my mom said.

"Look mom, an 89 is not bad! And my reputation can be easily fixed, thank you. And who said I needed to be the smartest girl in the world? You? You don't even care about my college future! And betray? Ha! You only use me to show off to your friends!" I said. I was huffing and puffing.

My mother looked baffled. She was almost speechless.

"And you know what? I don't even call you a mom anymore!" I yelled.

My mother narrowed her eyes and started to breathe heavily.

"Very well. You don't have to stay here with me. I'll take care of that right now," she said coldly.

She went upstairs and at the closet, she took out my luggage bag and violin case. She went into my room, started to pack all of my belongings, and came downstairs. She threw the luggage and violin at me. I picked them up. She pushed me out of the door.

"If you don't want to live here, don't! Find a better place somewhere else!" she yelled. She slammed the door and stomped off.

"Fine. I will!" I muttered. I stomped onto the sidewalk and walked to the freight train tracks in Nebraska. I waited for the train. When it came, I jumped on quickly so that no one would notice me.

I started to cry silently. Why? Why did my mother betray ME for a freaking 89?

A couple of hours later, I jumped off. It was unfamiliar. It was a rural area, just like Nebraska, but different.

Someone was walking in the distance. I walked over to him and tapped his shoulder.

"Excuse me, but where is this place?" I asked.

"Why, this is Tulsa, Oklahoma!" he said.

I stood there, shocked. I came all the way to Oklahoma?

"Thank you," I said weakly. But what a relief! I have family here in Tulsa!

I knew my sister settled somewhere in Tulsa. I just had to find her.

I went to the nearest gas station and picked up the payphone. There was a phonebook, so I could look it up.

I looked for the name, Susana Samuels. I found it and called her.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Susana! It's Jessica!" I said.

"Oh hey, Jessica. What are you doing here in Tulsa?" she asked.

"Never mind that. I'll tell ya later. Can you pick me up?" I asked.

"Sure. Where are ya?" she asked.

"The...DX gas station," I said.

"Okey Dokey," she said. I hung up.

I roamed around the gas station for a while and went inside the shop for something to drink. I picked a Pepsi from the drink fridge. When I went to pay, a super-hot guy came. Oh. My. God.

"That'll be $1.10," he said. I pulled out a dollar and a dime. I handed it to him with shaky hands.

"H-here you g-g-g-o," I said.

"Thanks! You new here?" he asked.

"Y-y-yes," I stammered.

He looked worried. "Why are you fidgety? Come on! I don't bite!" he said.

I started giggling. Just then, I saw a car pull up. It was Susana.

"I gotta go. Thanks," I said.

"No problem. Name's Sodapop, but you can just call me Soda," he said.

"Jessica. Nice to meet you, Soda," I said.

I went to the car went in the passenger side.

"So, why did you run away from Nebraska to here?" Susana asked.

"Oh...mom was getting fired up. I got an 89 on my test and she kicked me out," I said.

"She kicked you out for getting an 89? That's stupid!" Susana said.

In a few minutes, we were at her house. It was...huge...

"Well, here we are! Make yourself comfortable," she said as we were walking in.

"Wait. You have to go to school tomorrow! Hold on. I'll transfer you to the high school here," she said.

"Thanks," I said. She called up the school and started doing this and that and blah.

I just went up to an empty room and fortunately, it had a bed. I set up everything that was in my luggage bag and plopped on the bed. Before I knew it, I was asleep.