My sister is a genius! She has so many school trophies and medals, and my parents love to fuss over her. Yup that's my life, a perfect sister, parents who love her and me being ignored.

I have one gift, and that's my artistic talent, but nobody cares. I don't see why my twin (yup, the amazing one) gets all the attention, (From everybody, even me sometimes.) She only gets straight A's. Me, I get B's and sometimes A+'s. I think that's good but she always gets A+'s.

AUGH! School days were back, and I thought, "YES!!!", because my friend Rachel and I would be starting seventh grade!

I was supposed to start sixth grade, but my art teacher pleaded with the principal to let me move up a grade because of my excellent artwork. Everybody (including me!) was amazed, because my sister (Maria) was being kept in sixth grade.

HOWEVER... on the first day, much to my surprise, Maria was in the seventh grade class -- the gifted class!

I was so bummed about my sister being ahead of me. Even so, seventh grade was a blast! First, the seventh graders choose when they have their classes. At 9am I have astronomy, then at 9:45 I have a short class of homeroom. Then, at 10, I have algebra, and at 11 everybody has lunch. At noon I have an hour of reading and writing. Then, at 1:30, I have science and math mixed together! During the extra half hour, I have social studies.

When my friends and I were walking to the mall after school, I saw an advertisement. It was a contest, an art contest! It was going to be held at the mall in 10 minutes! I raced into the mall; they were just about to start!

We had to paint the best picture we could of the Mona Lisa. I remembered that time I saw a man on TV paint the Mona Lisa in 27 minutes! I tried to copy the way he painted the base part and put in the eyes. Still, if my competition was any good, they would probably do the same.

As I painted I talked to myself. The face, got it, the head, good girl, the neck, still there and the body, way to go! Now for the hard part, the eyes! After cleaning up the mistakes I made, the portrait looked pretty good.

Monday morning I met this snobby girl, named Dalaini, who totally ruined my afternoon. First, at astronomy she took my report and took the credit for herself. She got an A++! I, on the other hand, got a big fat F-, because she'd stolen my report and I didn't have anything. Then at lunch she threw the hot lunch at me and I got in trouble for having lunch smeared all over my face.

Later, Dalaini buttered up the teacher and got to be partners with a smarty-pants and she got me stuck with a very ugly partner who was, well, not as smart as hers. Then I found out that Dalaini and I were two of the finalists in the painting contest.

I was going to ask my sister what I should do, but then I thought she'd probably say something very smart like, "I'm good in school, not in psychology."

Later that day I got mail from the art people who were running the art contest. They said that next week at the "State Mall" Dalaini and some other contestant would join me in the final competition.

I practiced for this competition, and my sister said I should shade it and structure it a little more. I have to admit she was right. I practiced more in the base and shading area. When I finally finished the final piece it looked as good as Picasso's! I couldn't believe Dalaini even entered the contest.

December 21, 2000, the day of the contest, I dressed very, well, casual! I didn't want to get all my good clothes dirty so I wore dark denim bellbottoms and a dark short sleeved sweater with a picture of the Mona Lisa on top. It said, "FUNKY LISA". I took all of my art tools and I took a quick nap before the contest.

When I arrived at the mall, hundreds of people were there. I started getting nervous that I would mess up. I get scared when people watch me perform.

I took a quick glance around the room I was in. It was beautiful! They had lacy curtains, four gorgeous looking canvases, and four separate spaces with walls between them. I finally put my attention to my fellow contestants.

Dalaini was beautiful. She was wearing these earrings with a canvas on one ear and a paintbrush on the other. She also had a satin dress on; it was a mixture of purple and red. She stared at me and stuck up her nose. I just ignored it.

Then the announcer spoke: "Attention all contestants, please take your places, on the count of 3 you will start your painting of the Mona Lisa; but here's the catch, NO clothing is to be shown, it's going to be a portrait with only the head! Ready... 1... 2... 3... and GO!!!"

I started off well, drawing the head, then lining it with a very thin brush of black paint. Then I drew half of the shoulders, only showing the top. When putting in the hair I drew it piece by piece, quick, but not messy. To my surprise, I did the eyes, mouth, and nose fast, and it was still looking smooth and clean. After putting in the shadows and touches I looked at what I'd done, and a smile drew itself on my face.

The judges came and looked at mine carefully, writing notes on their pad. I gave myself a chill pill and eventually relaxed. I was blissful! About 3 minutes after I finished, the bell rang and we had to put our tools down. As the judges walked pass me (we were standing up now) they gave me a big cheerful smile, maybe -- ya know, I just don't want to brag.

Two days after the contest I received a letter from the state mall. It said I won 1st place! I was so happy I ran around my house in my p.j.'s! My sister congratulated me and everybody acted like I was the queen, and I thought, I could get used to being noticed. Kids in school winked, and flashed smiles at me all week!

That Friday, Dalaini stepped up to me and said sorry she'd acted so dumb. (I was waiting for that.) After that, we became close friends and eventually best friends. On Tuesday, Dalaini came running toward me screaming "YOU'RE GOING TO BE ON TV!!" That night, all my friends came over. We had a slumber party and waited to see me on TV.

I have a good life!

By: Roxyrocks