Third Place - Form Five Writing Competition



                                  
                        
 Betrayal
It was too late to take back what I had just said to Tanya. These words came out of my mouth a little quicker than I thought. I was mad and hurt. Why would someone you supposedly call your “best friend” back stabbed you? I told her to stay away from me, and that we were no longer friends. I was not exaggerating or overreacting. What she did behind me was downright awful. I could be awarded the kindest person on Earth because I still chose to believe in her when I was told that she had betrayed my friendship. I never gave up on her or doubted her a single bit because that was what friendship was to me – you did not doubt your own best friend. And so when I saw everything with my own eyes, I realized what a fool I had been all this while.


                When I moved to Winter Fury High School few years ago, I was in my eighth grade. Tanya was my only friend, and we did a lot of things together. She was so famous everywhere and it would be a lie if I said I was not envious of her. Her universe was full and love was all around her. Even though she was considered a cool kid at school, she decided that I, a nobody, was her friend. And for that, I was always so grateful to her. Few months after I had enrolled into Winter Fury, I was diagnosed with an early stage of cancer. And everyone else except for her said I was dying. She stood by me when I became a laughing stock at school. People at school were just that insensitive. If cancer was a joke, then my faith in humanity would be consigned to the drain.


                My illness made it hard for me to attend school on a daily basis. I had to go back and forth to the hospital for check-ups and chemotherapies. It was tough for me. I started losing hair on my head and to be honest, I was horrified to look at my own reflection in the mirror. What I saw was a sick, ugly and helpless fourteen-year-old girl. Sometimes my treatment made me feel so horrible and I wanted to give up on life. I could not deal with cancer anymore. Why should God do this to me? To give someone cancer and take away her life. These thoughts bothered me for a while until Tanya came to visit me one day when I was bedridden in the hospital. She came with a huge smile on her face. She passed me a letter for me to read when she left. In that letter, she listed 50 reasons on why I should stay strong and continue living my life. 


                13. You are a beautiful person.

                14. Everyone in Maths class needs your help.

                15. That homeless guy on Bakelina Street still needs his   
                      daily fix of caffeine that you give 
                      every day.

                16. Nobody would spend the summer with me on the  
                      beach.



                And the list goes on… I was deeply touched. I did not expect her to know that I had suicidal thoughts, because I had never told anyone about it. Her words, however, gave me the courage to go on with my life and fight cancer. And I did fight cancer. I became a cancer survivor and helped many people who suffered from cancer to stay strong. Because of Tanya, I managed to make a turning point in my life.



                On my first week of being back at school, I was still on good terms with Tanya. However, for some reasons, she would run away when she saw me. And it felt so strange and that hollow empty space in my heart made it hard for me to concentrate in class. In the middle of the Mathematics class, Katrina passed me a note that said, “Tanya is doing something behind you. Watch out.” I rolled my eyes. I knew Tanya. She would not backstab me. Never.


                The seventh period bell rang and I walked past many people in the school hall. When I reached for my locker, I saw a poster of me, when I was battling cancer, when I had no hair, when I looked so pale it almost seemed like I was a zombie of some sort. Alongside the poster it was written, “WE DO NOT NEED VALENTINA BACK AT SCHOOL!” I felt my heart stop. I gasped for air and I tried to control my breathing but I could not. And all of a sudden, I saw Tanya across the hallway, with a stack of printed posters in her left hand, sticking them everywhere with the help of her clique. I thought of the note Katrina had passed to me. I thought of the person who had encouraged me to fight against cancer. I thought of everything I imagined Tanya was. But there she was – standing there with her friends and doing insulting things to me. I felt so betrayed.


                I closed my eyes for a moment and calmed myself. I regained my strength and I wanted to shove it in her face that my life would still go on perfectly without her. I walked towards her and said, “You could be awarded The Oscar award for being the greatest actress in the world, Tanya. Why are you doing this to me?”.


                She crossed her arms and glared at me. “It was all an act, you fool. I have never liked you since day one. I must have seemed so sincere that you fell for it right? Of course I encouraged you to live. If you left I would not be able to watch you suffer anymore. I had it all planned, you fool.”


                It was all clear to me now. I told her that she would not be able to get the satisfaction of watching me suffer. I walked towards her, close enough for me to spit directly on her face – but I did not. Instead, I told her that we were no longer friends. I also said, “Karma will have it all done for me, Tanya.” I walked out on her and never talked to her ever since. She has tried numerous ways to pull me down but she will never get her sweet satisfaction.





Written by,

Sharon Hii

4A

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