The Birthday Party Where My Mother’s Perfect Image Cracked

A’s, three B’s, and one C in physics.

My mother glanced at the paper, then handed it back.

“Lauren never got a C,” she said.

Marcus wandered in munching on cereal. “What did Marcus get?” I asked.

Marcus shrugged. “Uh… I passed?”

Mom laughed and ruffled his hair like he’d just won a Nobel Prize.

“Erica, we expect more from you,” my father said. “Colleges continue reading …