When I was in high school, I was mercilessly bullied by another girl in my class. Rene thought she was it and a bit, and I guess, as far as high school went, she did have it all: beauty, all the “right” friends, popularity, the best looking boyfriend.
But her nastiness was relentless and I spent most of high school experiencing her tirade of mental and physical abuse. Later, she would steal my boyfriends – even if it meant cheating on her own.
I was tough, so I got through it, and I was also a lot more intelligent than she was, which is possibly why she hated me so much. I knew that, one day, I would leave Rene and all of her viciousness behind me, and be a success.
Even as we graduated – me with top honours, and Rene with barely a pass – I was hoping I’d never have to see her again. I was accepted into dentistry and I promised myself that I’d finally be the success.
You just couldn’t treat people the way she did, and get away with it. But it didn’t bother me for long. I left town, went to uni, and was able to forget all about her.
Life at university was fantastic. I quickly made a lot of friends and the first three years of my course flew by. I was a broke student and dentistry wasn’t going to be the most glamorous career but I knew I was guaranteed the life I’d always dreamed of: cars, money, successful friends.
I was already being invited to more parties than I could even get to, and even though I was single for my 21st birthday, I didn’t care. Life was so exciting anyway.
Then I got invited to a stranger’s 21st party, and my whole world turned upside down.
One of my uni friend’s, Jade, wanted me to go to her cousin’s party. She hated family functions, and wanted someone there for moral support.
I knew Jade’s family were just the kind of people I wanted to be around: rich high achievers. I didn’t know any of her cousins, but all of Jade’s brothers and sisters, and her parents, were doctors, lawyers and surgeons. So you can’t imagine my shock when I walked into the party. There, at the centre of attention stood the birthday girl, Jade’s cousin – Rene, my arch nemesis.
A lot had changed for me since high school, so she didn’t recognise me, but I knew who she was at once. She was arm in arm with the hottest guy in the room, and had a gaggle of beautiful people swarming around her. She was still the most popular girl in the room. I couldn’t believe it.
“What’s your cousin like?” I asked Jade, acting as though I didn’t know her.
“Oh, you know,” Jade sounded bored. “She’s got everything: handsome, rich husband who completely adores her, this big house. And she didn’t have to do a thing to get it of course. Doesn’t even work, just shops all day and does lunch with her friends.”
I was furious. How could someone as awful as Rene strike it so lucky – without doing anything? Failing school and being a bitch had truly paid off.
I couldn’t stand to see her being the success story I was still working away at becoming. Life was too easy, and she had to be brought down a peg or two. And I was going to do it!
Swigging half a glass of expensive wine for courage, I marched up to Rene’s circle and threw the rest of the drink in her face.
“That’s for sleeping with my boyfriend!” I shouted dramatically, as everyone looked on in stunned horror. Rene’s husband first looked at me, and I thought he was going to hit me, but then he wheeled around on his wife, yelling at her:
“I knew something was going on! I knew it!”
I backed away as his new accusations and her furious denials escalated behind me. If there was one thing I knew it was that Rene would be cheating on her husband! My gamble had paid off.
The next day Jade met me for coffee, impressed rather than angry that I had ruined her cousin’s life. It turned out that Rene’s husband had packed his bags soon after I fled, and was probably going to ask for a divorce.
Rene, of course, was after my blood, but she didn’t know where to find me – and she has never found out that she finally got karma for being a bully in high school!
All names have been changed. Picture posed by models.
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