The Beauty Of A Friend | A TNTWILLCONTEST entry

The Beauty Of A Friend

We all sat at a table, the four of us. Lacey, Amanda, Natalie, and me. No one else could sit with us, it had been that way since forever.

"Did you see Kiera's new sweater?" Lacey snickered, flicking back her blond hair. Lacey was the Queen Bee, the leader of our group. I didn't always like what she said to me, but I went a long because I was scared.

"Totes!" Amanda added, "It's ug-ly!" Everyone started to laugh, except for me that is. Amanda was Lacey's BFF. She basically went along with whatever Lacey said or did.

Two tables away, I spotted Kiera, sitting alone, looking upset. She must've heard us. Kiera was a sweet girl and I actually really liked her new sweater. I bit my lip, unsure if I should say something.

"It's not JUST the sweater that's ugly. Has the girl ever heard of concealer?" Lacey and Amanda started howling with laughter, but I stayed silent, suddenly very interested with the patterns on my shoes.

My gaze turned to Kiera, who's eyes were brimmed with tears. Poor girl didn't have anyone to turn to.

As lunch went on they spit more words of hurt about Kiera. How her her hear was drab and she was a teachers pet and tried way to hard. Through all of this my face burned, but I didn't say a word.

"Sarah! What is wrong with you today?" Lacey looked at me, waiting for an explanation.

But what did I have to explain to her? That she was being a bully to a perfectly nice girl for no reason? That her words HURT people? I wanted to say something but I couldn't.

"Nothings wrong," I mumbled, picking at my salad.

"Yeah, right!" said Natalie, "you've been silent this whole time!"

Lacey shot me a look. "Maybe she's mad about us picking on her ugly little girlfriend."

My face burned, all the times that Lacey had made snide remarks about my clothes, or hair, or appearance were resurfaced in my mind and every word that I had ever longed to say to Lacey spilled out.

"Kiera is not ugly! And you know what she has that you don't?" I say, yelling in their faces, "the beauty of a friend!"

"But, we have friends!" pointed out Natalie, exchanging glances with Lacey and Amanda.

"Right now," I said, picking up my tray, "you girls have one less."

I set my tray down next to Kiera, ignoring the shocked faces of my former friends. As me and Kiera talked, I could clearly see how her sweater matched her hair, how she smiled, and I could see her beauty, inside and out. I glanced back at my old table, and they looked unfazed.

I smiled at Kiera, knowing I had made the right choice.