Rant of the Day: "Alex's Little Sister"

All my life, all my 12 years, I've been known as "Alex's little sister." And it sucks.

My parents, my teachers, my brother's fellow 9th grade students, all know me, no, not as Erin, they know me as "Alex's little sister."

Too many times I've gone into classrooms that my brother once learned in, hoping that I can make a person out of my own, and I get asked. "Oh, so you're Alex's little sister?"

And too many times, I've had to answer, "yes."

And TOO MANY TIMES at parent-teacher conferences, I've had my parents been told

"Gosh, your kids are as different as night and day!"

And TOO MANY TIMES, my parents have had to reply "Yes, they are."

That's probably what I hate most. People always compare me to Alex, but we're nothing alike. He's shy, cocky, overconfident, has good eyesight, has blue eyes, never speaks to anyone he doesn't know, does what he's told, he's a hippie hater, and is a violinist.

I'm outgoing, have low-self esteem, I have the eyesight of a bat, I have been told [TOO MANY TIMES] that I have the eyes of a dark chocolate candy bar, I always talk to random people I see, and I always rebel and don't listen, I am a pureblood HIPPIE [without the whole "doing drugs" part] and I play the clarinet.

Do you see ANY resemblance? ANY AT ALL?

Well, there are maybe a few things that are alike about the 2 of us.

For one, we can both sware like sailors at times. And we're both conservative in political views, and we both agree that global warming is a plot for financial gain [which it is]. We both eat like pigs and we both stole my mom's blonde hair while we were little kids. And we both agree that our parents can make no sense at times.

Most of the time, I feel like I'm living in Alex's shadow. I'm expected to get perfect grades and be first chair in band class. And it hurts. One day, I'm almost positive I'm going to hear "Why can't you be more like Alex!?" And from my one set of grandparents, I already have.

I feel it's a good thing that I'm taking a totally different pattern of life then he is. I'm joining drama club and doing photography, while he's listening to political radio shoes and playing computer games. My accomplishments have shown a huge difference. My grandpa cried when my mom showed him my 2nd AGMA Assignment, and my mom cried when I showed her my first stopmotion, Here Comes the Sun [even though it sucked butt]. But still, I feel like its nothing compared to my brother's accomplishments, and that mine are shabby and pathetic compared to his.

He got into an advanced orchestra group for school that you have to be asked to join. I got into a modeling academy on YouTube for dolls that you have to audition and be accepted into.

He got 1st chair violin [and kept it through the whole year, no one dared challenge him] and I got an A on my 1st band quiz.

Do you see the difference?

I do.

~Erin~