P: How much do you like Tiffany?
H: I like her 38%, what about you?
P: I’d say 56%.
P: Sometimes she’s just so annoying and weird.
H: I hate that we have to wear the bracelet she made for us. It’s not even pretty. Sitting in front of my two best friends on the blue-wool rug of my third grade classroom, I fidget around with the colored letters implanted on the blue. My eyes fixate on their bracelets, the rainbow ones, the ones I spent hours making.
My heart sinks and it hurts to bring my voice out.
“Who is Tiffany?”
They exchange looks. That look. The one where I could tell no matter what they said next, it wouldn’t be true. The one where I could tell that no matter how hard I tried to be friends with them, they would never consider me as they would to each other.
H: You wouldn’t know because she’s our friend outside of school.
“Oh.”
I was eight years old back then. I wasn’t completely clueless.
I had already solved the equation: Tiffany = Me.
But what had I done wrong? What can I do to strengthen our friendship? These were questions I asked myself many years ago, for many weeks. The answer: nothing. Seven years later, I realize that the questions I asked myself were wrong. They shouldn’t have been centered around me. Sometimes people are mean. Sometimes friends are not friends. You can ask yourself what you may have done wrong, then correct the wrong. But thinking that everything is your fault is not the solution to a strong friendship. Sometimes people just create Tiffanies.
About the Author:
Seoyoung Ann is a rising sophomore at her high school in South Korea. She enjoys writing, especially about the little moments in her life that have affected her even years later. She is an editor of her school's literary review and hopes to share her stories through other media platforms.