Benton stood there looking at Courtney until she raised her hand to slap me but I wasn't groomed to fight in public so I dodged and moved away while Benton rushed to hold her as she kept ranting and running towards me. I called Adley to come with my car to pick me and Charlotte.
Court was still shouting and arguing with Ben about me being the cause of his breaking up with her, that I felt bad for him. I could hear her talking about me and referring to me as a slut; I had the urge to fight her but I knew better than creating a scene. I chilled at a corner playing Tetris while waiting for Adley to arrive and in 5 minutes, he was at the beach looking shaggy and I knew he had hurried off when I called him because he was worried about my safety; I loved the way he looked after me. I dialed Charlotte and told her I was leaving and she came, wondering what happened, and staring at the new girl with Ben, I signaled her that I would talk about it in the car.
Adley didn't seem surprised; well Ben was his friend and he knew him better. He gave him that I-told-you-to-take-care-of-my-sister look and opened the front door for me while Charlotte sat at the back seat of the car. I felt Ben's eyes on me while I got into the car and I tried so hard to blink back the tears swelling my eyes. I liked him!
There was silence for about sixty seconds before Adley broke the ice by asking what happened. I explained in details how Ben had wanted to change his outfit and I accompanied him, only for a mystery girl to show up.
"Hmm" Charlotte chipped in while my brother ignored her. At that moment, it occurred to me that Adley might never forgive Charlotte for what she did. I turned towards her and squeezed her knees hoping she didn't feel embarrassed.
"Amy, that's Courtney; Ben's supposed ex-girlfriend but I guess they still got something" Adley said as he turned towards the left lane that led to the house.
What he said reminded me of how Charlotte was sticking with her ex whom she said had some STD infections but she couldn't let him go because she obtained money from him.
"Does that mean Courtney doesn't want to let go of Ben because of his money?" I wondered but I wasn't going to have pity on a man that couldn't handle his ex. "Men that cannot control the women they don't want in their lives" is a total turn off for me.
Once home, Charlotte engaged in a phone conversation in her "Miss Innocent" voice and started walking up the stairs. My brother drew me back and kept looking at her till she was out of sight. "Be careful of that girl, something about her is suspicious".
It wasn't what Adley said that scared me but the manner in which he said it. I chose to believe he was only being delusional and acting on his ill feelings towards her.
Charlotte was set to leave the next day for Vestavia Hills because her mum wanted her back home and she had told me earlier the previous day but I forgot; seeing her pack up her bags in the room, refreshed my memory. She was having mixed feelings about going to the suburbs that she started talking about her coming back in a month.
I was hungry and my stomach rumbled so I hurried to the kitchen to cook some pasta. There, I started reflecting on my friendship with her: she hardly talks about her father, it's always about her mother or brother. I don't like talking about my family either because I prefer a private life and will only bring them up when necessary but it was dawning on me that I was letting her close into my personal life when I knew nothing about hers. I finished making the pasta and the pasta sauce which had a lot of tomatoes and basil, dished for Adley, then took mine and Charly's upstairs. My phone looked tampered with because it was supposed to be in a sleep mode but the screen was lit.
"Did anyone call me?" I asked.
"No, why? "
" Uh, nothing never mind". I dropped the food in bed while I unlocked my phone to find out she was going through my Instagram direct messages. I was too hungry to ask questions or check if any harm had been done that I started eating while she was seriously texting someone with a mischievous smile that was trying so hard not to turn into a grin.
"You can join me if you hungry" I said amidst mouthfuls.
She dropped her phone and joined me to eat, seeing that the food was almost finished. I left the remnant for her, while I walked to the ensuite to wash my hands.
Later that night, we talked about her fashion blog I had helped her to design and I remembered how she started it after I told her I write and I had my own blog. I had told her how I had been writing as a kid and thought it didn't matter to anyone but I couldn't stop writing so I fully embraced it and opened a blog so people can read my articles and constructively criticize them. The next day, she started her own blog and wrote about how fashion bug bit her as a kid. She was my best friend and it didn't matter to me if she used my story to bring credit or glory to herself; I was ready to support her in any way I could. She had wanted us to work together and do a BFF fashion line but I wasn't crazy about fashion because most of the time, I wear what I like not what is in trend. She asked for $50,000 to start shopping and I talked to Adley about it and he said no.
I told her about going to a fashion school and promised her I was going to take her to some fashion companies that might accept interns so she can make inquiries in the morning before her flight is due. I knew going to a fashion school would help her sew and design her clothes herself which would fetch her a lot of profit.
All through the night, I kept pondering over my friendship with Charlotte and I couldn't get the thoughts off my head; I thought about the countless times she picked quarrels with me and threw insults at me at any slightest provocation.
Charly's flight was set to leave by 2 p.m so I hurried and made breakfast for us and took her to the fashion companies in Arlington but none of them was accepting interns. One struck a deal of being paid $100,000 to teach her the basics for six months and she accepted. We fixed it for next month when she would be back.
I drove her to the airport without telling my parents nor Adley that she was leaving. Before she boarded, she told me she loved me and I told her I loved her too and each time she told me that, it sounded weird to me. I drove back home, listening to Ed Sheeran's Thinking Aloud, feeling different but I wasn't missing her absence.
Once home, I drew a plan on what next to write and how to start my baking school which I had told Charlotte about too. I didn't want to go to college being totally dependent on anyone. I wanted my own money so I started home baking and supplying to my neighbors and Adley's friends. I was happy and proud but Charlotte changed: she started keeping her distance and stopped communicating. I asked her several times and she waved it off, saying she was ok until Tuesday the upper week, she said her tailor was frustrating her by not giving her the clothes she paid for.
Charlotte had totally ignored fashion school but goes to the local market and shops for some fabrics and takes to a tailor who takes her measurement and sews the clothes for her then she goes to a photo studio, takes pictures and posts the pictures online asking people to buy. I didn't know if that was bad or good but she was already calling herself a fashion designer. I consoled her and told her to always try and keep in touch so she doesn't go through the hurt alone. I suggested to call her tailor and scold him but she objected to it saying she would handle it and started raining curses on him and his wife, saying the man's wife was so fat that all she did was sleep and do nothing. That made me also wonder why Charlotte always had something bad to say about everyone; she doesn't ever see good in anyone most especially when she feels you've wronged her, doesn't like you or finds you intimidating; she will try her best to make someone else hate you. I told her it's fine, laughed about it to make her feel better and I ended the call.
Two days later, I was on Instagram and I found out that Charlotte had followed some of our high school mates she had earlier abused and said she didn't want to have anything to do with. I thought it was because she wanted them to buy her clothes and I didn't ask her.
I set a goal to reach 10k fans on Facebook before summer was over that I forgot about Charlotte or whatever she did but focused all my energy on building my page by constantly writing which wasn't easy for me, combining it with my home baking.
A week to end of summer, I reached 10k fans and I was overjoyed. That night, someone sent a text saying she's heard all I said about her and she will keep living her life while I will only be good at talking about her. That sounded funny to me, because I'm good at many things but not talking about people. Checking up the number on true caller, I found out it was Indiana. Who could have said something to her? I remembered Paige; we hadn't spoken since her accident and I knew she was discharged about two weeks ago. I felt bad for not checking up on her but I needed to know why she would lie against me. I got her number from Lauren and called her up..
"Hey Amy, what's up? " she asked, sounding happy.
I felt so guilty for not keeping in touch with her and I pinched my thighs.
" I'm good Paige, how are you and how did you know it's me? "
" Well I always had your number, I'm good and how you been? "
" I'm fine, sorry I got a quick question, did you tell Indiana I said something about her?" I wasn't in a lovey-dovey mood.
"No, what happened?"
"She just wrote me that she heard what I said about her and blanked out"
"Well it gotta be that ostentatious chic called Charlotte because I have been seeing her pics with Indiana and she's in her house"
"Oh really" I was bewildered.
"Hey I will call you back Paige so we can do some catch-up. Let me just handle this issue"
"You take it easy girl, I'd be here"
"Thank you, I will". I hung up the call.
I preferred to confront people and ask questions before jumping into conclusions so I dialed Charlotte but as expected, she didn't pick my calls. I texted her severally and she read and ignored. The next day, Zoe called me to tell me that Indiana called her to ask her to warn me and also told her that Charlotte told her I had said she's a prostitute. She told me a couple of more other things Charlotte had said about me and how she's conniving with people against me by telling them I talked bad about them and most of them believed her.
I publicly started warning Charlotte about defamation of character and how I was ready to make a case and sue her. She was a coward that couldn't confront me nor reply my messages.
I drove out the next morning to the cinema to see the movie Dr. Strange and I ran into an old friend of mine Alicia at the parking lot. We exchanged pleasantries and she asked me about Charlotte. At that point of my life, I didn't trust anyone and I was focused on building the life I wanted for myself. Not finding the answers I gave her satisfactory, she dialed Charlotte and put it on speaker to ask her about me and Charlotte gave her a full list of how I envy her, how my man gonna use and dump me, how she wanted my man, how she's been to my man's house, how I do nothing except look at my blog every morning and how she gave me some beneficial advise I didn't use. I was really shocked at what I was hearing, amused and at the same time wanted to cry. She went on to say that I had attempted touching her when she was sleeping and that my mom was sick but I didn't care, then she revealed her plans of bringing me down by 2017 because her older brother studied Law whom she used his account to threaten me on Instagram. She also said she was never a friend to me but a spy working on bringing me down and bringing down my blog and Facebook page. She wasn't aware I was listening to the conversation the whole time. I heard all these and they brought tears to my eyes, not because I just realized who she really was but because I never listened to the warnings about her; I wanted our friendship to work by all means.
I dabbed my tears off, wrote her and told her to be patient enough for KARMA, then I proceeded to see my movie because she didn't worth spoiling my day.
Being a good person doesn't guarantee that others would be good to you and the bad girls are often seen as the good girls and vice versa. For this reason, I made up my mind never to have a best friend again nor a close female friend.
There are still many friends like Charlotte around and here is how to identify them:
They always have something bad to say about everyone most especially those they don't like, or those they find intimidating; Charlotte talked about a girl that bought her used Kimono from her, told me she's local and ugly but what I didn't realize is that whoever tells you about people, talks about you too.
They will use what you tell them against you and lie about it; Charlotte tells people my mum is sick in the hospital and that I don't care.
They always trying to act naive; Charlotte always acted like she couldn't hurt a fly.
They will always want to intrude into your privacy; She was always interested in knowing the passwords to my phone and laptop.
They start changing attitude once good things start happening for you; Her change of attitude started when she saw my page growing even though I was the one that convinced her to start up a Facebook page to market her wears but she turned it into a personal blog.
They will want to use you; Charlotte made clothes that weren't my size but told me they were my size and billed me for them.
They always those friends you like the most and ready to defend because they make you believe they are innocent and without guile; Charlotte never exhibited any traits of wickedness but all the while, she was a spy.
They will wrong you and say it was your fault so they don't feel bad for what they are doing to you; Charlotte said I hated her in high school and I wrote that in Episode 1 so dear Charly please grow up. High school was about 8 years ago.
9.They are always too free around you; In my house, she felt so free around my brother, that prompted her to walk into his room.
They are the first to start a quarrel and the last to end it; She was always picking quarrels while I kept doing the making up.
They will not support you. Supporting you doesn't always mean spending money on you or buying your stuff but those ideas that will grow your brand will never come from them; Charlotte was only interested in herself and never bothered about what I was doing.
If they are snitching on anyone you know about, they will snitch on you. Charlotte snitched on Valkyrie one of her friends by going through her journal to find out that she had issues with her college and she was happily telling people about it.
They love to praise themselves and even believe their own lies; Charlotte said I was the one that wanted her friendship and that's what she says about every one of her friends. She believes she's a nice person who everyone wants to be friends with.
They will accuse you of what they are guilty of, just to make themselves feel good; Charlotte said I envy her, but in the real sense, it's envy that is making her go crazy by talking about me with hope that others don't find me appealing, raising a battalion for me while trying so hard to appear tough.