She looked at me with sympathy, and the whole situation grated like grinding metal over my pride and the ambition I’d once had, because I’d always considered myself smarter than Jodi during high school. I’d gotten better grades, and I often helped her along socially, because she was shy. But there she stood that morning, looking gorgeous, confident, and successful, while I looked like I’d just rolled out of a homeless shelter. It was as if the universe had thrown a glass of water in my face.
