It hurts to be Bailed on

Title: It hurts to be Bailed on

Author: Haripriya

Authors Note: Hello everyone! I hope you are all having a great Tuesday! This story is about how the friendship of two friends ended on the day something amazing was going to happen to one of them. I hope you like this story!

This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives, but something tragic occurred, something that was unexpected. This should have never happened on this day, unfortunately, it did. But before you understand why Felicia is feeling hatred, anger, and disappointment towards her best friend Paula, you need to understand what happened before.

⭑⭑⭑

Felicia was not the average 10-year-old girl. She was beyond that. Though she was a little short, her brain was large. She was practically a genius! Knowing the answer to every question (which she could answer in less than thirty seconds) everyone in school wanted to be like her. 

One day, when she was researching for a school project, she stumbled across a quiz competition. Her eyes lit up with excitement, and her heart pumped faster, she wailed her arms up and down without even thinking, because her mind was on that quiz competition. She could just imagine her competing in the big auditorium, filled with people. 

"Finally!" she thought to herself. "This is perfect! Exactly my cup of tea! If I could persuade mom and dad to enter me in this quiz competition, I could finally show my talent to the world... kind of. ".

She rushed to her mother with the "FastBrainz" website (that is the name of the quiz competition) to ask if she could participate.

"Mom, I have something to ask you. You know since I really love learning new things, but have never been able to share with anyone except school? Well... there is a quiz competition coming up next month, and I really want to enter. But the problem is that the entrance fee is a bit costly. Not to worry! It says the winner takes home a huge cash prize and an entire bag of gifts, second place gets a smaller cash prize, and third place gets the bag of gifts. So, what do you say? Can I... compete?" Felicia asked, almost stuttering.

Her mom was nodding while she was talking. Intrigued, she looked at the website and tried to read information about how to entire, the judges, and what topics the quiz is going to be about. Felicia noticed her raising her eyebrows a couple of times, and more nodding her head. 

Finally, when the silence was getting really weird, her mom spoke, "Well, Felicia, when I looked at this website, it seems really nice. The quiz topics also seem quite interesting, and I think you can learn a lot from just studying and researching more into these topics. Remember, you have us if you ever need any help preparing. I will talk to your dad about it, and pay the entrance fee and give all the details to help you become a contestant." 

"Thank you so much! I will surely start preparing from tomorrow," she spoke with delight and ran to her room to update it to her to-do list. 

⭑⭑⭑

Now you all may be asking where does Paula comes in this story. Well, in a nutshell, before Felicia knew who her mom was, before she knew how to eat, or even walk, she and Paula became friends. They were born on the same day, just that Paula is one minute younger. They have been best friends ever since. They are usually referred to as the 'inseparable duo' because of their friendship.

But when they started the new school year, Felicia noticed that Paula kept bailing on her. She thought that was because Paula was too busy, or she had other things to do, but now she was starting to become suspicious of her excuses. 

One time, on a Friday, Felicia asked Paula if she could come to her house for a sleepover, and Paula's response was "Oh... I am sorry Felicia, but I have my science club meeting tomorrow, plus... my class has a math quiz tomorrow. You know that I would be there if I didn't have all these activities."

"But we don't have school tomorrow Paula. It's Saturday. Can you tell me what is really going on?" asked Felicia confused.

"Umm... of course! Ha! Silly me! I thought tomorrow was Monday! I have to go to the amusement park for my sister's violin recital." she said, looking tense.

"Come on Felicia! You really think I am meeting you for the first time! Your sister plays the clarinet, not the violin! Your lies and excuses are becoming worse every day! If you just don't want to go, you could have just that. You didn't have to lie to me." Felicia responded, looking so upset that she just couldn't look at Paula anymore.

"I... I want to go, but I don't time. I am going to my grandma's house." Paula replied flatly.

"Oh really? Is your family going to drive 300 miles in tomorrow's storm the news has been talking about for one week?! You know what, I don't feel like talking to you. Every time you utter a word, I don't even know if you're being honest with me or not. It feels like you're someone else like I don't even know you!" Felicia screamed and left the main lobby to go to her bus. But that was just the occasional fight. They made up after that. But this time was different. Felicia wanted her best friend to be there, and to support her. After all, it was a big contest, wasn't it? She wanted Paula to be there to cheer her on, to encourage her, to support her. So she asked Paula to come to the quiz competition. As Felicia had hoped, Paula did indeed say yes. Getting really excited, Felicia had a hard time sleeping because she couldn't stop thinking about how tomorrow was going to play out. 

⭑⭑⭑

It was finally the time of the quiz competition. All the contestants were getting ready backstage. Smart Felicia had even made reviewing flashcards so that she could soak up some last-minute facts before the quiz started. 

Felicia kept peeking through the curtains. She saw her mom and dad, smiling, and waving at her. She scanned the auditorium, but couldn't see Paula anywhere.

She mumbled to herself, "Well... there is still 20 minutes until the quiz starts... so she'll have plenty of time to reach here." 

Soon, the quiz started. Felicia quickly forgot the fact that Paula had still not arrived because she was called first out of the twenty other people to answer the questions. As Felicia had studied, she answered them right. 

Felicia smiled as her parents kept cheering for her. She couldn't believe it was already the last round. Yet there was no Paula. During the last round, it was narrowed down to two contestants, Felicia, and someone else. It was the lightning round, meaning they would both be asked questions and the fastest answer would be given the points. Felicia got six of those questions correct, and the other contestant got four. As she hoped for, Felicia had won the contest, and her mom and dad were so happy. It was the happiest day of their entire life. But Felicia didn't feel so happy. She felt sad, angry, and betrayed. Of course, Paula had bailed on her again. She thought that Paula would come, she believed in her. But, she wasn't going to come. The quiz had ended. By then it was too late. 

~The End~