The ping of her online chat window startled Hannah Stark from her studies. She quickly muted her laptop and pulled up the conversation—rolling her eyes when she saw who it was from.

Hannah scanned the stuffy library of her overly priced prep school. Luckily no one seemed to notice she’d been chatting online with her dad. But that was the problem, wasn’t it? No one ever noticed her. Case in point—why she had no friends and had spent the first half of her lunch period chatting with her tech-geek dad who routinely hacked her computer to check for viruses. Basically he was spying on her. But he couldn’t help it. It was sort of his job being in the biz and all.

Hannah stretched her stiff muscles before deleting another perfectly good graduation speech. There was one month of school left and she was already done—coasting on autopilot. She was first in her class, graduating with honors and her associate degree. The last thing she had to do was write the speech she’d give as the class valedictorian. But for some reason that task eluded her.

The more YouTube videos she watched of glossy-eyed seniors giving stellar speeches that ended in an eruption of applause the more Hannah realized she’d finally found something that her academic mind couldn’t solve. The legendary valedictorians that had gone before her all had something Hannah didn’t—a life!

She groaned and massaged her temples in frustration before opening a blank word document. She never had trouble writing. It was her specialty. Even now, she knew her writing wasn’t really the problem. The problem was that she couldn’t make herself believe anything she wrote. She couldn’t relate to her classmates. She never had, and it seemed absurd that suddenly they’d want to hear anything she might have to say regarding fond memories and bright futures. She didn’t make any with them.

Sadly, Hannah hadn’t really made any memories in high school at all—outside of her education, of course. But no one wanted to hear about her math medals or writing awards. They didn’t care that she was the youngest student to ever be accepted into Brown’s business school. They didn’t care that she’d been offered full ride scholarships to play tennis at six schools. They wanted to be reminded of the good times they’d shared and how their bonds formed at Stanton Prep had molded them into strong individuals ready to take on the world. But how could she say all those things when she didn’t believe them herself?

She felt like a liar talking about carefree moments and wild memories that led to the precipice of their brave new future. Her classmates all knew she was a fraud on that front. She’d never gotten to know them. She’d been afraid to let them look too deep.

The more Hannah tried to force herself to come up with something to say, the more anxious she felt. How had she let her entire high school career pass her by? That was just it. She looked at high school as a career. She’d forgotten to be a teenager, to fall in love, get her heart broken, forge friendships, share adventures, make poor choices, then learn from them, cherishing those bonds and memories forever.

The tightness in Hannah’s throat told her tears were coming. This was it. She’d finally lost. School had always been a competition to Hannah. Having the best grades, the highest test scores, an undefeated tennis title, the most acceptance letters, beating everyone out for the coveted valedictorian title. She’d done it all. But the entire time, she was always looking over her shoulder, waiting for someone or something to best her and snatch away her perfect record. The fact that it was something as simple as not indulging her adolescence that was her undoing made Hannah’s blood boil.

Her father’s encouraging words replayed in her mind. Maybe it wasn’t too late to start. She made up her mind. There was no way she was going to lose now. She’d given up all those foolish teenage experiences so she could be the best. How was it fair that what she’d given up to achieve perfection now made her feel like she was somehow incomplete?

Hannah straightened her spine and slammed her laptop shut. She took a deep breath. She would not let this stupid speech unnerve her. There was no reason she couldn’t have it all. Who said she couldn’t be studious and popular? She would resort back to her tried and true techniques for success—studying and practice.

How hard could it be to fit in? To be an average teenager? She’d never tried, but she had four weeks to cram in an entire high school social life. Hannah’s father was right. If anyone could achieve it, Hannah knew it would be her. She was determined and when she set her mind on a goal, she always achieved it.