The Bad in Each Other

Shots Fired

ANINA:
That night with Tristan brought us closer. As weeks passed, the more I was there for him to console him and listen to what ever he had to say about the loss of his mother.
As weeks passed, the more guilty I found myself becoming that I didn't tell him about my family. If he was brave enough to tell me that his mother died, then I should've been brave enough to tell him my dad was in prison and my mum spends a lot of her time at the bar.
It was a normal Tuesday for me. Double science, Geography, Math, English and Health. As I approached my locker, I was startled when Ebony suddenly appeared next to me.
"You need to listen to me" she stated. I faced her, unsure what she was going to say next.
"I'm listening" I told her, giving my full attention.
"Whatever Brianna told you, it's not true. She's a liar and-"
"Quit it, your the one who isn't true" I cut her off.
"This is what I mean. She manipulates you into thinking she's perfect and innocent. You haven't heard both sides of the story. I don't know what she told you, but the bitchy looks she gives me when she's with you are an example of how she's getting under your skin".
I was quite surprised, Ebony looked pretty convincing. "Can you sit down for a second? I think you need to hear the truth" oh, she was serious.
We strolled over to a table, and she scanned the area to make sure that Brianna wasn't within ear-shot.
"She's feeding you with crap, she's fake and everything she's told you up to this point is most likely a lie" she began, "anyway, her side of the story is untrue. If you want to know what really happened between us, this is it: Brianna and I were really close from our first day of school up until year 5." So far, this was the same as what Bree had told me. "we always hung out," she continued, "but one day I came to school and she was ignoring me. I tried asking her why she didn't want to talk to me, but she refused to say anything. I wondered if it was something that I'd done, but I had never fought with her until then. Every time I approached her, she'd tell the girls that she was with that she wanted to go for a walk, away from the area where I was. Finally I got hold of her, and begged her to tell me what was going on. You know what she said to me? Do you know what that bitch said to me? She told me I wasn't popular enough and I was old school. She personally said to me that she wanted newer, cooler, prettier, more-popular friends. I was in a mixture of emotions- mad, lonely, angry and most of all, sad. We were so close and one day she tells me that I'm not good enough for her." A large part of me wanted to believe Ebony. I thought back to the first time I saw Brianna. She was with that girl that was supposedly her 'friend', but it was clear that the girl wanted to be her. Another Brianna Witherstone. But where was the wannabe Bree now? I hadn't seen her since Brianna and I had started hanging out. Ebony continued her story, "After that day, when Brianna told me that our friendship was over, I began hanging out with this new girl in our year level. Angelina. We hit it off pretty quickly, and soon Brianna came to her senses that she just lost her best friend in the world. Brianna came back to me one day, asking if we could be as good friends again as we once were, but I told her that she was the one who left me, and that if she wanted to be my friend, she should of thought about that before she told me I was no longer her BFF. Brianna may be the top shit in this school, but honestly, she's the bitchiest phoney in the world."
This account of the story surprised me.
Ebony admitted that she stopped hanging out with Bree on purpose, but she also told how Brianna left her for 'more popular people'.

To put a long story short, I was speechless.
I'd ask Brianna about it later.
"Okay um so um I guess thank you for telling me that side of the story.. I'll talk to Bree and see what she says" I mumbled to Ebony.
Ebony was right.
Brianna used people.
And I was only just seeing it now.

At lunchtime that day I caught up with Bree. We lined up for the canteen, but jumped around 10 spots when she asked a guy near the front of line if we could go ahead of him. He said yes of course. She used him.
We collected our food and sat down at a table that was vacated for us. Brianna asked a group of about 5 junior girls to move, and knowing her status, they were soon searching for a new bench without question.
Brianna began munching on her fat-free sugar-free lunch (courtesy of the lunch lady- she got this especially made just to suit her dietary needs), and I chose this time to ask her about what Ebony told me.
"Hey um Bree?" I said anxiously.
"Yeah what's up" she replied cooly.
"Were y- were you lying when you told me about what happened with Ebony?"
Her head shot up. Her eyes fixated on mine and they didn't blink once. I couldn't help but feel she was staring into my soul.
"Why? Is that what she told you?" she was getting mad. Very mad very fast.
"Uh well yeah" I didn't know what to say. I tried keeping my tone down, but that didn't make her quieten down too.
By the look of where this was going, I gave up being all innocent to Brianna's behaviour. She was the bad one in this fight, and Ebony was the victim.
"She didn't do anything wrong, did she?" I said raising my voice a little louder. Brianna smirked, then lowered her voice to a little whisper that only I could hear.
"Don't you ever accuse me of doing the wrong thing" she snarled. "And don't you ever try to make me look like a fool in my school". The way she emphasised the word 'my' confirmed what Ebony told me and what I had soon worked out.
Brianna was the top shit, and everyone around her did whatever she told them.
She got up and turned to leave, but stopped and faced me again.
"Now you'll see what you get for turning against me" she said with piercing eyes and a deathly sneer before she spun and walked away, leaving my ears ringing from the sound of her heels clicking against the floor, and leaving me stranded in an area surrounded by students.

"Tristan!" I called out to him. He kept walking, not turning around to even look at me.
"Tristan!!" I tried again. I knew he could hear me, but he was choosing to ignore me. It was the end of the day, and he was yet to say goodbye. In fact, by the look of it, I don't think he will. We only had one class together today, so in between talking to Ebony and wondering what the hell Brianna was planning to do to me I had to squeeze in some time to spend with Tristan.
I ran up behind him, and using all my force, I grabbed his arm and spun him around.
"What's wrong? What's going on?" I tried to stay calm, but even I could hear the worry in my voice.
"You tell me. Oh wait a second, you probably won't. What else are you keeping from me?" I had never seen Tristan so pissed off in my life.
I tried to think of something I recently had done wrong, but nothing came to mind.
"What are you talking about?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about!" he shouted. So this was what was happening now.
"No I don't! At least give me a clue as to why you're so mad!" I yelled.
He looked at me, but not in the sweet way he always did. Nope, this time he was definitely angry.
"You haven't heard?" he said calming his voice a bit.
"Obviously not" I said rolling my eyes.
"Brianna has been going around and telling everyone about your dad who's in jail and your alcohol-addicted mum." I started to boil up, I could feel my face and ears edge nearer to exploding. My body went rigid and I felt more tense than ever. Brianna was a bitch!! I should've known all along! She was an untrustworthy, snake-like, cold-hearted, back stabbing little whore who made it her priority to ruin and control people's lives!!
Wait a second. Why was Tristan so upset about knowing what my parents were like?
I managed to calm myself down enough to ask.
"Why does this affect you? Why are you suddenly so pissed off at me?"
"You don't even think about it, do you?" I was still confused. "Remember that night, the second time we visited the rooftop? How I told you my mum died of cancer and you told me that you had no secrets? Yeah, well, this would definitely have come under the 'secret' category. I can't believe you didn't tell me! I was honest to you! You knew about things I had never told anybody!" he ranted.
I had never regretted something in my life as much as this. I should've told him the second he asked me that question. He deserved to know! He was trustworthy, and I was too scared of people finding out the truth to tell him one personal thing about myself.
Tristan freed himself from my gaze and rushed out the door. Soon he was just another face in the crowd.

I left school that day after I had gained many long, threatening 'I-know-your-secrets' stares all from students who now knew about me. About my dad. About my mum. And about my past.

That night I thought things over and over, and soon discovered a major question that was yet to be answered: how did Brianna know about my family?