The saying “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer” perfectly sums up our relationship for the past six and a half years.

As fate has it, every activity we have in common quickly becomes a competition.

But through our elementary, middle school and now high school years, we have discovered a way to balance spite and friendship.

Roots of the feud

From Annalise’s perspective, the rivalry started in third grade. Tynin landed a star role as the Tin Woman in the annual third grade play, The Wizard of Oz. In contrast, Annalise held the “lame and boring” position as the narrator.

However, Tynin remained unaware of the hatred harbored by Annalise until the seventh grade. After our friendship had blossomed, she decided to break the news.

Looking back over the years, we realize how this tension consumed our lives. From grades to sports and for any achievements, everything was a competition.

For instance, in the eighth grade both of us were nominated for the California Junior Scholarship Federation’s Marian Huhn Award. Every year there are five winners in the Central Region who receive a $250 cash prize and, as we saw it, bragging rights.

After each of our introductions at the March convention, four of the winners’ names were called — none of which were ours.

Knowing only one had a chance to win, we exchanged a glance of contempt. In the end, Tynin received the award.

To top off that day, a ticket drawing for additional door prizes was held. Each person received two tickets that were entered into a drawing. Not surprisingly, Tynin won this as well. Out of pity, she shoved the ticket into Annalise’s hand, allowing her to get a snippet of joy out of the day.

The first semester of eighth grade ended in a draw, with both of us holding a title of Student of the Month and Student of the Semester. However, in the second semester Tynin pulled ahead and won the Student of the Year award.

Our competition goes to the most absurd extent. For example, in biology class we sit side by side while copying notes off the overhead. Constantly Annalise’s head swivels back and forth, checking to see who is ahead. Most of the time she wins these silly battles, as if to make up for previous losses.

Aside from academics, our rivalry manifests itself in athletic interests. Sharing a love of soccer draws us against each other in day-to-day practice. One of our favorite exercises consists of a free-for-all sprint to the ball, which invokes an intense frenzy of pushing, shoving and mud wrestling. Don’t get us wrong, though — we are still good sports, sometimes.

The lesson learned

Through the years of competition, we have learned to balance friendship with rivalry. Beginning in fifth grade, when we were forced to share a reading group, we put aside our hostility and made a mutual effort to coexist.

The effort to remain “enemies” became too tiring to continue, so we embraced our similarities enough to maintain friendship. We discovered the traits we share and our ability to understand one another.

We see our competition out of spite as completely pointless. But, as friends, it proves worthwhile. We no longer see one another as the “enemy” but as a “challenge.”

Since then, our relationship has grown, and we now see the positive effects of this ongoing competition. In school work, even with boring assignments, motivation to beat the other drives us to succeed.

Looking back, we find it easy to laugh at ourselves — even though this competition is still quite real. Simply put, if one of us left the school, the other would become uninspired without a companion to compare herself to.

For more experiences, read the Dec. 16 column, Junior high chapel educates senior.

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