Tiffany, I hate you...

My heart keeps tearing apart because of you.

********

"Hey! Stop pushing her you brute!"

That's what Tiffany said as she came to stand by my side the day she saw Bertha Hudson bullying me. Bertha is such a buffoon. Apparently her boyfriend broke up with her because he liked me. Then she came to aggress me for stealing him away. How stupid of a move is that?

First of all, it's not my fault if I'm gorgeous. Secondly, why would you fight for a guy who's ready to leave you because his hungry eyes sees something he thinks is better? I talked to her guy three to four times tops, I hardly remembered what he looked like, not to talk of his name. But it seemed to have blown his mind.

"Tiffany," Bertha groaned like an angry lion, "this does not concern you, so get lost!"

"Anything that concerns Shasha concerns me. Leave her alone."

"Do you think that I'm just going to let her off the hook without hearing her apologize?"

"Huh?!" I exclaimed. "Apologize for what? I have nothing to be sorry for."

"If it had not been for you, we'd still be together!" Bertha retorted.

"Wait." I sighed exasperated as I massaged the bridge of my nose. "Are you always this stupid, or is today a special day?"

I'm pretty sure at that moment her eyes turned red, she threw herself at me immediately. But Tiffany didn't hesitate to come in between us and receive Bertha's punch in my place. We were in an alley near the school, so when he heard me scream, Quincey came running.

Bertha didn't hold back. Her punch made Tiffany stumble and her head hit the brick wall. However, as we all know, bullies are cowards, so when Bertha saw Tiffany fall, she ran away with her tail between her legs. As for me, I stood there petrified, I couldn't move. When Quincey got to us and discovered Tiffany laying motionless on the cold ground, he became pale.

"Tiffany!" he rushed to her. "Tiffany...," his shaky voice muttered once he was by her side. "Shannon, don't just stand there, call an ambulance!"

I finally woke up and did as I was told. He removed his pullover and gently set it under Tiffany's head. Then he tried to wake her by lightly tapping her cheek.

"Tiffany, please...," he whispered to her. "Please wake up. Tiffany, I beg you, don't do this to me, I need you..."

At the time, I didn't officially know about Tiffany and Quincey's relationship. I mean I knew they were close, and spent a lot of time with each other especially since they started boxing together seven years ago. But I never bothered to know more, I didn't want to know and Tiffany knew better than to talk to me about him.

At that moment, what mattered most to me, was to know if she was fine. Fortunately, she didn't scare us long. Tiffany woke up with a terrible headache, but according to my dad - he's a doctor - she didn't sustain any serious injuries. Though he did keep her in the hospital for two days, just to be sure.

As for Bertha, she got suspended. However, great news, she got back together with her guy who considered what she did for him "Super cool". Ugh. Told you they were buffoons.

Anyway, that's the kind of friend Tiffany was to me. It wasn't the first time she stepped in to protect me, or defend me. But, nothing like that had ever happened before. So it was from that day that I realized she would really do anything for me. At least that's what she wanted me to believe.