I’m an extrovert and according to some people, a social butterfly. It’s not always intentional but people get drawn to me. I met Diane when I went to meet a friend; she was sitting on the same bench with my friend and she was laughing at my gist even though she was pretending she wasn’t listening.

I jokingly told her I was aware she was listening and she started laughing out loud. I introduced myself and she did the same. Before I left she asked for my number and we started texting. I liked her, I like shy people, they usually feel like a challenge to me. 

We gradually became close and it felt nice. We went everywhere together and we stayed over at each other’s place a lot. Just like every other friendship I got tired of her being too present, I started hanging out with my other friends. She’d call and I’ll either ignore or text her that I was in the middle of something. 

Coming to Diane’s little dinners was not because I enjoyed them, I just loved the drama and that I could rub it on everyone’s face that I had a perfect life. A rich tall husband, beautiful kids, a nice job, and I am not as fat as every other postpartum mother. Also, for some weird reason, my husband got really hot after each one of these dinners, which was nice.

For some reason, I cannot remember and I do not care to remember, I have always hated Zainab. I have always thought she felt better than the rest of us. Even though grown, I do not feel any different.

I met Zainab through Diane; when Diane and I had that little break, she started hanging out with Zainab. I understood later that they had been friends before I became friends with Diane but I still hated that Diane never felt bad that we stopped being close, she just moved on to the next thing. I thought I needed space from Diane until I saw her moving with someone else and I just realized I was scared to be left so I decided to leave first. I missed her and I requested that we talk. I explained myself to her, we talked at length, cried in between and I promised to be better. We started hanging out again but somehow Zainab still had to be there. I always felt like I was struggling for a spot with Zainab and I hated that feeling but that did not stop me from trying to get that spot, I just felt this desperate need to outdo her.

I have always been friends with Ama and Sam, I really cannot remember how everything happened but we became a clique. We planned outings together, we went to most places together, and if there was an event, we were there together.

You would think Sam will feel awkward being the only guy in the midst of so many girls but he never did. He was our voice of reasoning. Even though male, he always acted like a mama bear, overprotective.

That night, Diane looked pale and she was not as lively, I knew something was wrong and I wanted to ask her but I did not want to do that in front of other people; I had to wait till I got her alone. So when she said she was not feeling well and needed to go in and lie down, I planned to go ask her later. I hated it when Zainab offered to go get medications, it made me feel like that university girl that was struggling for a spot. When she left, I went inside to check on Diane but she either could not tell me what was wrong because her husband was there or because it was not something she was willing to share. I left her and her husband to join the others and shortly after, Zainab came back. I checked the time she got in there, somehow I felt if she stayed longer then, Diane was telling her what was wrong even though she just refused to tell me.

She entered at 10:02, it was 10:26 and she was not out yet. Before I could get jealous I heard a piercing scream and everybody ran inside to see what was going on. I was the last to arrive at the scene but when Ama started throwing up, my heart sank, I knew it was horrible even before I saw it. I did see it eventually, but I was just numb, I kept looking at it.