Cindy Marry-field was weeping and sobbing. She was reading poems in honor of her mother, Anna Mary-field, who had passed away two weeks ago. A hundred people were there to celebrate the life of her mother: all her middle school friends ; parents of those friends; close friends of the mother; people from the hospital where she worked, and so on. Everyone was in grief; tissues were being passed around; women in high heels leaned on their husbands for support; and friends hugged each other in an attempt to disperse some of the sadness in the air. Everyone felt sorry for Cindy and her brother Tyler who had lost a mother. Everyone, except Hailey Campbell.

Hailey never dropped a tear or even showed a sympathetic expression. She stood there, almost reluctantly, and left as soon as the ceremony was over. My middle school friends and teachers alike wondered why Hailey had left so swiftly, but I knew. The hate between Cindy and Hailey went back a long way.

Cindy was a girl of fantasy who adored unicorns, sunshine, and butterflies. She always had a smile on her face and nothing seemed to bring her down. She allowed mistakes and even welcomed them. Her priority was in the well being of others and she cared for their feelings as if they were her own. She dressed in bright tops, pink skirts, and cardigans. She loved how her flower hairpin elegantly decorated her long blond hair. Her creativity was reflected in her every belonging; her notebook, binder and backpack were made new with colorful fabric, stickers and glitter.

Hailey was a girl of reality who made shrewd, sharp remarks. She became a ruthless leader in whatever she did and eventually led her team to success but at the cost of many hurt feelings. She usually wore a hoodie over her head. Underneath the garment was her short, dark brown hair that hid half of her face. She wore layers of mascara that made her dark eyes look even more penetrating. She had a collection of torn jeans and leather jackets, which she wore daily. She considered creativity to be a waste of time and valued consistency and persistence instead. She went through life underlining her every action with a straight edge.

However, even Cindy and Hailey shared some interests. Cindy and Hailey were both outstanding students. They tackled challenging classes and had top-notch grades. Cindy loved cupcakes and Hailey cherished banana bread. They also shared the love for animals. Their peers liked both, which is perhaps where the conflict began.

In sixth grade, they were both in the same advisory class. They ran for student office and unlike in every other election, the winner was not obvious. The class split into two: the Hailey supporters and the Cindy supporters. Hailey ended up winning but it was a close call. This was just the beginning of their rivalry. All throughout the year, they competed: for the Geography Bee, the Soccer team captain, and the role of the princess in the school musical. The competitive nature of these things intensified the hatred between the girls.

Class of 2016 of the Evergreen Middle School contained 15 boys and 15 girls. Most people in it became close friends but Cindy and Hailey were like oil and water. Cindy detested everything Hailey did and Hailey scorned at everything Cindy did. Even when they were chasing after the same thing, their ways were very different.

In their 7th grade humanities class they were assigned a group project in which each group researched and presented the history and the culture of a neighborhood in King County. This was an assignment of big weight. Most of them were applying for high school the year afterwards and knew that every grade mattered. This project was especially significant since it would effect a quarter of their total semester grade. Hailey and Cindy were in different groups and both of their groups ended up getting an A, but their ways in earning the A could not have been more different.

The humanities teachers had a habit, a rather annoying one, of grouping excellent students with slackers. So naturally, Cindy and Hailey were grouped with worst slackers in grade. Hailey decided that it would be faster and safer to do all the work herself. She was an efficient and smart worker and managed to do all the research and make the powerpoint presentation. In addition to all that, she wrote scripts for her group members so that they could still present some information and pretend to have done some of the work themselves. She made sure to have her fellow slackers practice and learn their parts thoroughly. She pulled off a presentation that was flawless, but perhaps a bit mundane.

Cindy thought Hailey’s way would kill creativity and discourage the group members even more from doing their work. So she devised a plan of her own. She was grouped with Emily and Hunter who were not only slackers but also obsessed with their own passion. Emily was a major shopper; she spent her free time looking through fashion magazines and roaming malls. Hunter was a music maniac; he always wore headphones and was constantly illegally downloading tunes on his computer. Cindy made use of these passions; Emily was to shop in the stores of Capitol Hill and Hunter was to scoop up the music and pop-culture of the town. Cindy of course did the part of bringing together the research. Their presentation of Capitol Hill had little holes but was definitely more interesting and alive. But of course, Hailey thought that Cindy’s way was a waste of time and naïve.

So while it could have been a mystery to the people that day, three years of hatred were reflected in Hailey’s indifference to Cindy’s mothers death.