Friends

Friends......such a simple word with such a complex meaning. It brings me a wealth of memories, bittersweet. It makes tears flow from my eyes, tears of joy, tears of sorrow.

Friends.

Nicole and I had been friends for as long as we could remember. Look up the word "friends" in the dictionary and you will find a picture of Nicole and I. We played together, fought together, laughed together and cried together. We were inseparable and everyone called us the "almost sisters". Theneighbourhood boys used to crowd around Nicole, offering her sweets, toys and flowers as tokens of their affection. I would watch her from afar, biting my lip and hoping for a little attention. Sometimes, jealousy would prick at the corner of my heart but I immediately felt guilty. After all, friends are not supposed to be jealous of one another.

It was hard not to be jealous of Nicole. Wherever we went, she was in the limelight and I was left in the shadows. She was everyone's little darling, the girl who could do no wrong, the apple of everyone's eye. Everyone seemed blind to all her faults,they seemed to think that a girl with the face of an angel behaved like one only I knew better. When Nicole did something wrong, she would try to blame me for it. I willingly took the blame. Maybe I, too, was besotted by her looks, maybe I was fooled into thinking that friends do everything for friends.

As we grew older, the differences between us became even more apparent to everyone, especially me. She was breathtakingly beautiful with her long wavy hair, doe-like eyes, sweet smile and a petite figure. I was tall, obese, had small eyes that peered from bottle thick lenses. I hated my looks and wanted to become like Nicole.

In high school, I followed Nicole around like a lost puppy while she made new friends. The teacher separated Nicole and I in class, claiming that I was a disrupting influence on Nicole. The truth was that Nicole often distracted my by whispering gossip when the teacher was teaching.

Nicole changed. She began hanging around with the "in" crowd, a group of popular students who all looked like super models. They had a wild reputation and Nicole soon became one of them. She snubbed me in school and looked away when I waved to her. She became more blunt, outspoken and critical to the extent of being insulting. If I was trying out for the school play, she would ask coolly, "Aren't you too fat for that role?" She could squash my intention to go on a weight-losing programme by saying flatly thatliposuction would be a better choice. When I baked a cake for her birthday, she would show off the platinum bracelet one of her numerous boyfriends gave her.

However, Nicole could be sweet whenever she wanted to be. She pleaded and used honey-coated words when she wanted me to "help" her with her homework. Once, it was already late at night and I was ready to fall asleep. I had an important exam the next day when Nicole called, begging me to help her with an essay. I grudgingly gave in and she arrived at my house in less than a minute. In the end, I ended up writing the whole essay for her while she took a quick nap. She got an A and the teacher's praise. I did badly in my exam mainly because I couldn't keep my eyes open.

I began to resent Nicole. I hated her for what she was and what she had done to me. I was no dummy, I could see that she was using me. Friends. That very word caused waves of hatred, bitterness to flood my heart and cloud my emotions. That word was a mockery, a farce. She was still my friend but I was no longer hers. How could she do such a thing?

Didn't she know that we were friends "till the end?”

I knew I had to make Nicole see the light, that I was her only true friend, that she meant the world to me. I asked her to meet me after school to talk. At first, she was reluctant, I guess she was ashamed to be seen in public with me. After much persuasion, she agreed but she insisted on our meeting at a lonely part of the school behind the stadium. I waited for her for more than an hour and when she finally turned up, she didn't bother to apologise. I tried to swallow my anger and told her about my feelings and how she'd hurt me. To my dismay, Nicole laughed in my face.

"Nadia, you're nothing. Can't you see that I was using you all along or are you just stupid?" she saidviciously. "As far as I'm concerned, we were never friends. Never."

She shouldn't have done that. She really shouldn't have. Her cruel laughter and her stinging words echoed in my ears. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Hatred and pent-up anger surged through my veins and I let out a scream that came from deep within my soul. It was a cry of pure agony and pain, the same feelings I experienced when I wrapped my hands around her slender neck and started tightening my grip. I felt her struggle. Her eyes grew wider with fear and shock. There was a sickening sound of cracking bones and it was all over quickly. I cradled her limp body in my arms and let out all the unshed tears. Goodbye Nicole.

In the asylum where I am now, I sometimes see Nicole waving at me, smiling. No one can see her; not the doctors, not the nurses, only me. I wave back and tell her to wait for me. One sweet day we shall meet again in the garden of our childhood dreams, a place where we can be friends again, for all eternity.Friends.

Vocabulary

besotted : made foolish or unable to behave sensibly by powerful feeling 昏了头的

liposuction : a way of removing unneeded fat from a person’s body by cutting the skin and drawing the
fat 抽脂

grudgingly : unwilling or showing unwillingness 勉强的 ，不情愿的

viciously : cruel, haveing or showing hate and the deisre to hurt 恶意的

asylum : a mental hospital 精神病院