Claudia Ross looked at the female classmates who were seeking a sense of superiority over her, the once campus belle, and couldn't help but find it ridiculous.
She had thought that the affection among classmates was the most sincere, but she had forgotten that everyone had weathered the storms of life and had become all too worldly.
She should not have come to this class reunion today; it was not a reunion at all, but rather a competition.
They competed over houses, jobs, husbands, and children, until the last one standing, the universally recognized winner of life, felt a sense of pride and superiority unmatched by others.
Some people seemed to be living well, but they bore the weary heart beneath a shiny façade. Whether they were truly living well was a secret only they knew.
Claudia Ross kept silent as those female classmates boasted about how much their rings cost, which countries they had visited, and how much their husbands loved them.