The Backstabbing Best Friend

I got thinking today about exactly how and why rumours get started, and I realized that it usually always starts with jealousy. The best example of this is Valentina and her so-called best friend, Kelly.

To anyone looking from the outside, Valentina’s life was perfect. She didn’t dread going into work on Monday mornings—in fact, she looked forward to it. Her job as a producer at a TV station was both fulfilling and well paying. She was tall, blonde, blue-eyed and beautiful, with a gorgeous boyfriend and a perfect apartment. That is, until her life fell spectacularly apart.

Her best friend, Kelly, seemed to have her life together, but she was so consumed with jealousy of Valentina’s seemingly perfect life, that she decided to start a rumour that would ruin it all. She used her trusted position as best friend to get info about all Valentina’s plans for upcoming shows—and then shared them with a competing network to make it look like Valentina was passing on information. She then told all the right people that Valentina was sneaking information in order to get a higher-paying position at the competing company. Then, Kelly convinced Valentina’s boyfriend that she was cheating on him—and hooked up with him herself!

Clearly, Kelly was crazy. But her plan worked. Valentina was fired, her boyfriend broke up with her and she lost her apartment, because without a job, she couldn’t afford it. And what did she do? She turned to Kelly—not realizing that it was her who started it all.

Have you ever had a best friend who backstabbed you? What would you do if your friend betrayed you? If you were Kelly, would you come clean?