Fake Bonds | Teen Ink

Fake Bonds

September 7, 2023
By Anonymous

Ana and Rayleen have been bestfriends since they were seven years old. They are now sixteen. They’ve always been each others ride or die. But Rayleen always had some sort of hatred toward Ana ever since they started eighth grade. People would consider Ana as the “pretty best friend”. Obviously Rayleen would never say nothing to Ana because she is a very sensitive human being. As of right now they’re in high school. Probably the worst four years of their lives. Well at least for them it was. Ana has had a crush on this boy named “Richard” since freshman year. She’s a junior. In freshman year Ana used to be lab partners with Richard, but they never really talked. She would always go to school all dolled up just for him to see her. Richard had always thought she was pretty but was too nervous to try and start a conversation with her. Ana would always tell Rayleen how cute Richard was to her and that she has such a huge crush on him. Rayleen being the jealous two faced girl she became, she took this as an opportunity for the future. Junior years started. Ana and Rayleen are not so excited but ready to see who they have in there classes. So far their first three periods are just with some school friends they usually have classes with. But then came fourth period, the longest period of the day. Rayleen got fourth period with Richard. I know what you’re thinking, this isn’t going to end well. Indeed it did not.

Let’s backtrack a little bit though. Anytime Ana would bring up Richard to Rayleen, Ana would notice the slight mood change. But Ana being Ana, she always stayed positive and never thought about the bad things that could happen. Ana had so much love and respect for Rayleen. Never once were her intentions to backstab or hurt Rayleen’s feelings. Rayleen had a rough childhood so it has now reflected on her since she’s grown older. Her mom was always the trouble maker and that one friend no one trusted growing up. Her mom eventually grew out of that phase of her life as she became an adult. She eventually noticed the way Rayleen would act with Ana and would always think to herself, “I didn’t raise my daughter the right way. It's my fault she acts like this self centered selfish brat.”

Lets jump back to the part Rayleen found out she had a class with Richard shall we? On August 23, 2017, Ana and Rayleen were on their way to school. “Are you nervous for the second to last first day of school?” asks Ana. Rayleen says “Mmm no not at all, I'm just excited to see who’s in all my classes.” Ana and Rayleen finally arrived at school after a long 3 months of summer. Honestly, they were pretty over their high school years if we’re going to be honest here. High School was something they just wanted to get over with already. Ana and Rayleen separated from each other once they got their schedules. Ana thought her schedule was okay but could’ve been better. But on the other hand, Rayleen loved her schedule. The main class she was excited for was dance. Her plans were to try out for the drill team. Ana didn’t really like dance, she preferred social media marketing. They had a total of seven classes. Their fourth period was lunch, also known as the longest period. Ana had Phycology while Rayleen had English. As Rayleen walks into her fourth period, she see’s  Richard (Ana’s crush) and immediately see’s that there’s an open seat next to him. So she goes and sits by him. Richard was a little confused but he just minded his business. Rayleen felt accomplished. “Finally, now’s the chance to show Ana who the real pretty best friend is.” she thought to herself. Then came the end of the day. Ana and Rayleen go home together almost everyday from school. “So how did you like your class?” asked Ana., “Oh I loved all of my classes, especially my english class, I have Richard in my fourth period.” Ana goes silent. “Oh well that’s nice, I wish I had him instead.” says Ana. “Tomorrow we are starting a group project and the teacher assigned me to be his partner.”  In Ana’s head she felt really skeptical about what Rayleen just said but she just kept that thought to herself.

After a long day of school, Ana didn’t feel like going back and forth with Rayleen. The next day comes and Rayleen is looking forward to going to fourth period. “I'm excited to do our partner essay for English.” says Rayleen. “Who’s your partner?” asked Ana, “Richard of course”. Ana goes quiet. In her head she thought to herself, “Why does she keep making it clear that she’s partners with Richard? “I think I'll ask her more about it later” she thought. Ana heads to her fourth period and asks one of her classmates she talks to, “ Do you think it’s weird that my best friend keeps talking and mentioning my crush?”. Her classmate made a weird face, “Umm me personally that’s really weird. That’s not what best friends do. She should know her boundaries and recognize that he is off limits since he’s your crush.” Ana thinks again and realizes she is not tripping. She knows she needs to trust her gut. Finally, dismissal came along. The two girls meet up where they usually meet to get picked up. “Why have you been all about Richard lately? You know I’ve had a crush on him since 7th grade.” asked Ana. “Oh yea i know, I just think since you never made a move i could.” Ana was too stunned to speak. She felt so betrayed. “Why would you think that’s okay Rayleen?”. “Don't you think I'm tired of being called the ugly best friend? I need to prove my point somehow.” Ana honestly didn’t know what to say. Ana asked to get directly dropped off home because she did not want to be in the presence of Rayleen. “Mom, how could Rayleen do such a thing?” she says as she walks through the door. “What’s going on my love?” her mom says. Ana explains to her the whole situation. “Honestly, girls are going to be girls. She’s obviously jealous of you and sees herself as incomparable to you. Girls that don't love themselves don't love other people. Don’t let her get to you because that is clearly her goal.” Ana agrees with her mother and goes to her room. She continues to think about what Rayleen did. “Maybe this was a sign I needed to stop talking to her.  She’s always had some sort of tension towards me.” It hurt Ana but she chose to silently cut off Rayleen for the better. Despite all of the memories they’ve made, It’s not worth being surrounded by negativity.


The author's comments:

I have been through a similar situation before and I felt the need to write about because a lot of friendships go through this.


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