The Truth

I was never one for believing things until I actually saw them. But the thing was, if I were just a little more trusting, I would have seen the truth in my best friend's supposed lies. She wasn't trustworthy. But, well, shee could have saved me, and I didn't let her. The fate of the world used to be a heavy weight on my shoulders, but she wouldn't let me carry it. She made me pretend to be a normal girl. I almost believed her. But I couldn't be one.

"Oh El-iz-a-beth!" my friend Ana just couldn't keep from screaming my name with precise enunciation. As I spotted her pale gold hair held back by a contrasting burgundy headband in a sea of brunettes, I tripped over a backpack. I lay sprawled on the sidewalk in front of Marina Trapp Day, my private school. Suddenly, a foot clad in a designer boot stepped near my sunburnt, freckled nose. I stared up and saw the glaring silver eyes of Ilina James, the Queen Bee of my school.

"Lizzie!" she smiled sweetly, but I saw through the facade. Ilina and I had a history, and we weren't anywhere near considering putting the past behind us. I enjoyed hating her, and the feeling was mutual.

"Ilina!" I grinned back, baring my teeth in a way that would make the Cheshire Cat embarrassed by how small his smile now seemed.

"Freak!" There it was! The insult! I knew it would come!

"Well, Ilina, at least I believe in escalating myself to the top, instead of climbing over people. But Ilina just smiled deviously, bending down so that the tips of her black hair tickled my face. She whispered, in a voice that almost defeated the silence of the wind.

"Why do you think I wear stiletto heels?" I stood up, my face flaming to the shade of my hair. I had hair the color of flame, and despised it. But, well, it wouldn't be long until I learned that I wasn't so different from Ilina. In fact, we were closer than I ever could have imagined.