[ WP ] `` Ana , until high school , had been an obedient child ''

Ana, until high school, had been an obedient child. She did as her parents told, followed the rules and excelled in all that she worked at. Her memories of childhood were scattered with memories of Mother taking her hand, tugging her along to her next lesson, be it in music or sports. There was no place for her in high school, where popularity ruled, where being better or able, meant being different. 
 
 It became quite clear to her that while Mother and Father hoped to shape her into a young successful woman, they had instead crippled her social status. What did it matter when one could play the most complex and difficult pieces of Beethoven if she were not popular. Her skills set her apart, someone to be jealous of, and hence someone to be hated. 
 
 Ana's rebellious stage changed her. Rules started to be broken, lessons skipped, parents scoffed at. It was so easy, yet so hard. The first few days of her attempts at integration into the pecking order was cringe worthy to watch. Lack of social interaction left her without the proper etiquette to approach young teens. 
 
 For a good three years, Ana drifted from scene to scene, becoming a party girl that everyone loved. And yet, she felt sad, empty inside. On a rainy summer day, just before senior year, she took a moment to reflect on her past. A grimace forms in her mouth as she replays the ridiculous days of introducing herself to the popular kids, but then nostalgia hits. Saudade rushed over her as she recalled the days spent practicing on the piano, the days training in gymnastics. How little it was worth only a few years ago, and how far she'd fallen. She could no longer play with the nimbleness she once had, nor be as flexible as she'd once been. To give up that much for so little, saddened her. 
 
 By the time Fall had come around, no longer was she in her skimpy dresses and makeup, instead back to her plain old self, never once doubting who she is, or who she could be.
