1. Twenty seconds left in the championship game, and she knew she had to score. Her team was down by one, but if she could just make this shot she was sure they could rally in overtime. She glanced at the ball then up at the goalie. Everything was in slow motion. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see one of her opponents approaching. Quickly but carefully, she positioned herself, took aim, kicked the ball with all the strength her little body could muster and watched as the white and black streak sailed straight into the goalie's outstretched fingers.

Five minutes later she was still sobbing on her dad's shoulder.

"Hey, hey, come 'on Kari-baby it's just a game. There's always next year."

"No! I suck at this game! I'm never playing it again!" she cried.

The Filippelli's exchanged amused glances. They knew better than to believe that their daughter would give up soccer. But Karen was only eight, and she hadn't yet learned to deal with disappointment.

2. "Come on Karen! I'm way too scared to go look. You'll just have to tell me."

"No way! I'm not gonna go over there all by myself."

"Fine. We'll go together, okay?"

Karen and her best friend Holly slowly approached the small crowd that had gathered around the casting director's locker. Karen wasn't actually as worried as she'd made herself sound. She knew she'd nailed the audition and she also knew that Olivia Meyers, who had played Luisa in The Fantasticks last year and Christine in the Phantom of the Opera the year before that, had her heart set on playing Anita in this year's production of West Side Story. This left the female lead role of Maria wide open.

She tried to calm herself down. After all, she was only a sophomore and even if she didn't get to be Maria, she could still have fun being in the chorus or something. 

But as her eyes scanned the alphabetical list, she couldn't help picturing the audience's spellbound faces as she sang "There's a Place for Us." And she imagined the standing ovation she'd receive at the end of each night.

Eastley, Sarah - Francisca

Fackler, Jason - Baby John

Fillipelli, Karen - Anybodys

No. No that was wrong. That couldn't be right. Someone had to have made a mistake. Her breath caught in her throat and she quickly dropped Holly's hand. Her cheeks were burning and all she could think about was making it to the girl's bathroom down the hall before she let her tears spill down her face.

3. The letter arrived on a Friday. Karen was the last one home from classes and she knew her roommate would already be at the pub. She let herself in, and saw it sitting there on the table. Her fingers were already a little shaky as she snatched it up, grabbed a Sobe from the fridge and plopped down on her bed. This was it! She was going to New York for a whole summer! 

Miss Filippelli,

We appreciate your interest in our summer internship in marketing. Every year we receive hundreds of applications for this prestigious program. Unfortunately we can only accept 25 of those applicants into our internship. While we do sincerely appreciate your accomplishments and efforts in pursuing one of these positions we regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you this opportunity. We hope that you will continue to consider us in your future plans and wish you the best of luck in all your endeavors.

Sincerely,

John Elliot

Internship Committee Chair

The Sobe hit the opposite wall a few seconds later, and she never quite got that dark purple stain out of the carpet. 

4."That's it! Pause the game. Girls I need to see you in the conference room now!"

Karen was the last one into the room and as soon as the door shut Nancy turned on her.

"Karen! What are you doing? I know you've never played before but it can't be that hard to figure out how to aim, right?"

"Uh. No. No. Sorry, I think I've almost got it."

"Okay. Well, could you please try a little harder from now on?" Turning to the rest of the group Nancy continued, "We've got one last chance at taking their base. Karen I'll need you to cover me. Everyone else, you know your positions. Now let's do this girls! Come on!"

Karen joined in the chorus of "Right!" and "Yeah!"

At 5:15 Karen was nearly packed up. She'd just endured a series of viciously accusatory glares, tossed in her direction as each of the women filed out of the office.

"Hey Karen, no worries pretty lady. There's always next time! Sucka!" Andy teased as he left.

Karen rolled her eyes, and then slammed her briefcase shut. "It's just a stupid game anyway," she thought.

5. It had been two weeks since she and Jim had called it quits. They still saw each other at work, of course. It was unavoidable. But considering that they spent over eight hours a day sitting in the same room, they'd become remarkably adept at avoiding each other's company.

Now that was about to change. She knew they could make it work. It was right. They were meant to be together. She couldn't believe she'd let him get away. She knew she might have to do a little talking to convince him to give it another shot, but she was sure that he'd see it her way in the end.

It was a beautiful day for a walk. The sun was shining and it was already warm enough to be comfortable in her beaded flip-flops and khaki capris with only a light cardigan to fend off the gentle Sunday morning breeze.

She rounded the corner to the front of Jim's apartment and stopped cold in her tracks. Standing straight ahead of her Jim had his arms clasped around the small of Pam's back, looking down into her face as she gazed up at him. They were both too busy staring into each other's eyes to notice her, so she quickly ducked back around the building. She stood there for a minute, her breath seeming to come abnormally fast, while she tried to process what she'd just seen. When she dared to sneak another glance, Jim was leaning down with his nose in Pam's curls and his lips hovering around her ear. Karen couldn't stop watching as they slowly kissed their way toward his car. Finally she couldn't take it anymore. She turned and started to sprint back to her apartment. The clacking of her flip-flops on the sidewalk was loud and embarrassing and she could barely run in them. But the clumsy noise couldn't drown out her thoughts.

"Second place again Filippelli. Why is it always second place?"