A Collection of Creative Writing by Students of Ladysmith High School in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa

Tuesday 31 January 2017

Hopelessly Candid ~ Ashleigh Skinner

She grappled with the thought of hurting her supposed friends. She knew what the consequence would be if they found out what she has been doing for the past month but she was also aware that it would ultimately be worth it.

She opened her laptop and began to type.

"According to my investigations Jenny has been cheating on Lucas for the last 2 weeks. He's going to find out soon, she's getting sloppy. Why shouldn't he find out? It's not like she doesn't deserve to be caught.

Elisabeth is still trying to hide her depression but honestly it's plain to see although the source of it remains unknown.
More attention will be put on her in the next week.

Brett thinks I love him. I hate lying to him. I know I never truly will because I know everything about him. I know how his mind works and he's not capable of love. Neither am I "

Phoebe closed her laptop and sighed. "I can't get an attack of the conscience now, not while I'm so close" she thought aloud.

This was her big break, the truth. She knew what people wanted to read. The ugly, dirty truth about what real people actually do to each other on a daily basis. People lie, cheat and hide away from who they truly are and -as sickening as it sounds- are entertained by everyone else's downfall.  So that's why began her project. She studied, befriended and faked her way to finding out everyone's dirty secrets and has been putting it into a file named " Hopelessly Candid" ever since.

It didn't feel as wrong after she started adding the truth about herself in too. Of course she'd change the names of her "friends" before the time came to publish but she knew the would be utterly heartbroken when they read her bestseller. Why should she care? All of them are cunning snakes, they don't deserve her empathy but then again she didn't deserve theirs either. Phoebe had been trying to justify it from the moment it began. She'd actually become quite convincing. Unfortunately she wasn't able to persuade the depth of her soul but that was something she was going to have to live with. She didn't want to be one of those washed up poets who only became famous when they died. She wanted the glory soon and whether that made her a pathetic thought of a person or not she was going to get it.

She knew the risks and was prepared to take them. She was only human after all. Greed was a part of human nature. Communism failed for reason. She had to remind herself of this constantly.

Her phone buzzed. It was a message from Jenny. It read: " Elizabeth committed suicide apparently she's been really sad. I had no idea."

Phoebe went ice cold. The warmth from her tears fell in contrast to the chill. Guilt rushed through her as she tried to push away the thought she couldn't escape from.

She knew.




© Ashleigh Skinner

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Grade 11
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