This is a true event. This happened when I was 10 years old, and every hurt I felt then is still justified in my mind to this day. It's a story about a fallout I had with the only person the word "best friend" felt right with. Since then, I've never believed in "best friends" (perhaps until I met someone's son).
I met Gem (not her real name) the summer before resuming high school. She was a freshman like me, and we were attending the lesson together. She was so gentle and we clicked. We remained friends till we resumed high school and we were placed in the same class. I was overjoyed. I mean, we were both happy.
We attended a school owned by a federal institution, so most of us in the school had parents working in the institution. My friend's dad was a high-ranking officer in the institution, and you know what that means? Favouritism and eye service: special treatment from teachers, student teachers, and, in peculiar cases, fellow students.
Her dad's office wasn't what made me like her; she just had this beautiful soul. Without asking, we shared everything. Her driver would come pick us up after school, take us to the ice cream spot before going to drop me off at home and then head to her own home. It was one of the best times of my life. Our parents knew about this and used to tease us about the friendship. After the fallout, I wondered exactly where or when things changed.
Meet Ouchi, my closest friend now
There was a certain girl in our class at the time, who attended the same primary school as myself. Everyone knew her to be obnoxious, and I never had any business with her. She was part of the people who wanted to be close to my friend Gem. She wasn't a part of the clique (we called ourselves the F4, and we were 4 very dark-complexioned girls). I found this girl extremely annoying and didn't want her to get any closer to me or my friend.
Back in the day, I was reputable for my letter-writing skills. Till date, I've avoided confrontations and prefer written communication. So I wrote this obnoxious girl a letter with just four words repeated all over it.
"Stay Away From Gem"
I was a master planner back in the day, so I made sure I enlisted the help of my other friends so the writing wouldn't be traced directly to me. It was a success! 馃樄. She stayed away, but her mom didn't. Her mum came to school to "investigate" the matter. The matter got to the vice principal and eventually to Gem's dad. I had to admit to writing the letter because of my scared accomplices. I wasn't afraid of anything and didn't understand why they should have been.
I had to compromise so the obnoxious girl wouldn't be in real trouble. I had enough arguments to easily win the case, but I didn't see why. She'd have suffered a great deal for nothing. We were cross-examined several times by different adults. Now I don't even see the wisdom in that. I was a ten-year old, for crying out loud! We missed a whole day at school because of this issue, and they settled it by telling us not to quarrel. What else could they have concluded anyway?
F2 from F4 馃槀
As the lover of peace that I am, I let it all go. I hate stress. But this girl was unrelenting in her obnoxious behavior, and this was really grating on my nerves. To avoid trouble, I wrote Gem a letter, telling her to give me some space because her admirers were making me uncomfortable. When she read the letter, she apologized, and I let it go, thinking she'd dismiss the obnoxious girl. Gem was a soft-spoken girl and couldn't do that, so the disturbance persisted. I wrote two more such letters, but they were both dismissed.
Everything was going fine until Gem's mom appeared at school one morning. We were in the first term of the second session of high school. F4 (cringes 馃槀) was super excited, so we went to greet "our mom" before heading to the assembly ground. Gem didn't join us, so I was thinking it was probably some important stuff.
The vice principal's office was beside my class. As we were marching into the class, I heard him call for me, so I headed there. My family has a history with the school: my mum used to work there, and all my siblings attended the school as well. I was the lead student in my class as well, so I thought they needed information about something. I was in for the shock of my life.
When I entered, the woman sized me up and asked if I was the "Gladness." At that point, my smile became unsure because I was confused. I spotted my friend in the corner with that puppy-eyed look she used to have whenever she wanted to cry. Then I knew something was wrong. I wanted to reassure her, but I had three adult eyes on me.
Long story short, though I'm afraid that it might be too late, I was accused of bullying my best friend. Apparently, she was crying that she didn't want to come back to our school and the only reason she could give was me. I was devastated. I looked up into her eyes, expecting some form of knowledge or apology, but she was just staring right back at me.
Of course, her mum had evidence of my bullying: my letters! I was so hurt. I composed myself though. I would never be caught timid because that'd be admitting to the crime. I didn't argue either. I learned early in my life to say I'm sorry at the right pause in conversations with adults to keep it as short as possible. I spent almost an hour standing there listening to three adults tell me why what I did was wrong. At that point, I gave up trying to decipher my offense. I even got some extra, of influencing her such that boys were interested in her 馃ぃ馃ぃ. I was surprised at that one and barely held my laughter when the woman was describing the situation in an agitated manner.
What led to all this? My desire for some peace and calm. I should've stayed away from Gem.
Thanks for reading through, you rock!鉂わ笍