valerie was by no means the most popular girl on school, but she was very well known. that’s because valerie was nice. while the in-crowd in her school tend to be very mean, or very snubbish, valerie was different. she treated everyone with kindness.

which made her the best friend of the not-so-popular.

kimberly was the same as valerie. she treated everyone with kindness, and was generally friendly with everyone. but being a new kid in school, she wasn’t as popular as valerie was. but she aspired to be.

in less than two years, kimberly was more popular than valerie. and valerie didn’t mind. but kimberly did. kimberly felt bad that she was taking away from valerie’s spotlight. she only wanted to be as popular, and as well-known as her friend valerie was.

so she started making more time for valerie. she spent lunch time with valerie. she joined the clubs that valerie joined. she invited valerie over at her house always. to everyone else, valerie was kimberly’s best friend.

valerie thought it was very sweet of kimberly to do so much for her. but she didn’t see kimberly as any more special than her other friends. that’s just how she was. valerie saw everyone as her friend. but kimberly refused to see it that way.

when valerie once again refused to come by kimberly’s house, for one reason or another, kimberly has had enough. she confronted valerie and told her no one treats their best friend like unwanted dirt. no one refuses their best friend over and over and over.

and valerie made it worse by saying, she didn’t see kimberly as her best friend. that she doesn’t believe in having best friends, as everyone is equally her friend.

the following week, valerie was pleasantly surprised that kimberly has stopped following her. and then she noticed that the girl was missing all together from their classes, their club meetings. valerie was worried.

valerie called kimberly. her mother picked up the phone.

“can i speak to kimberly, please?” valerie greeted hesitantly.

“oh i’m sorry, dear.” kimberly’s mother answered brightly over the phone. “my daughter is at the hospital. she was in an accident and lost a lot of blood.”

“what? tita, what hospital is kimberly in? can i go visit?”

“valerie, there’s no need to worry. kimberly is fine. she’s being released later today. but she did leave a letter for you, if you could just pick it up.”

that afternoon, valerie dropped by kimberly’s house. her friend’s mother answered the door, greeting her with a big smile. before valerie could ask where her friend was, the elderly woman handed her an envelope and closed the door on her face.

valerie didn’t mind. she was sure that her friend’s mother was just feeling upset still about the accident. and she was curious as to what was in the letter.

as she walked away from kimberly’s house, she opened the letter. it was written in scented stationary, but it must have been very old paper. that’s what valerie thought. the scent was strong, but it wasn’t particularly nice. and then she read the message:

“i’m sorry i wasn’t your best friend.”

the paper was dry, but the pen kimberly used must’ve been acting up. her letters were inconsistent in thickness, and some of them had ink running down. valerie thought as she looked at the letter again, “i wonder why kimberly used a brown pen. she knows i dislike the color brown.”