Best Friend Short Stories & Novels

In the second year of my divorce battle with Adrian Pierce, the judge awarded him everything. As I was packing, my daughter pulled an old cell phone out of one of the boxes. "Mommy, look. It still turns on." I tapped the screen, and an email popped up. It was one I had written to myself 10 years ago. "Clara, how are you at 28? Did you marry the man you love? Is your baby adorable? He loves kids so much. You two must be so happy together." Tears splashed onto the screen as I typed back, one sentence at a time. "I did get married, and we had a daughter. However, I found out he was cheating on me with my best friend, our daughter's godmother, during the third year of our marriage. We spent two years fighting through the divorce, and he won. I walked away with nothing." A reply came back mere seconds after I hit the send button. "You're lying! Adrian and Avery love me more than anyone else in the world. They would never betray me like that." A bitter smile tugged at my lips as my trembling fingers typed another swift but brutal reply. "The people who loved you the most? Funny. Our daughter was born with a congenital heart defect. She wouldn't survive without surgery. I got down on my knees and begged Adrian for the money to save her, but he accused me of trying to scam him. "He froze every one of my accounts and used the money from our wedding gifts to pay for his wedding with Avery. The invitations have already been sent out. "Wake up, Clara. Adrian will no longer love you 10 years from now. Now that you know the cruel truth, it's your choice whether to walk away now or stay with him."

Before I turned fifteen, I lived like a weed. Cold, damp, barely surviving. Then I met Ethan Hayes and Summer Reed. The first home-cooked meal anyone ever made for me was made by Summer. The first dress I ever owned was bought by Summer. The first birthday anyone ever celebrated for me was something Summer planned down to the smallest detail. She would carefully put ointment on the chilblains covering my hands. And she would tell everyone, over and over, that I was her best friend. As for Ethan... He was the one who pulled me away from a group of laughing street punks. He was the one who kicked open a door and rushed me to the hospital when my fever reached 104 degrees. He was the one who broke my drunken stepfather's head open with a single punch, the night the man came at me again. The day he confessed his feelings, his hands were trembling and my heart was pounding so hard that tears filled my eyes. "I swear I'll protect you for the rest of my life." I often thought that in the bleak, gray life I had been given, meeting the two of them was the greatest luck I could ever have asked for. Until my twenty-third birthday. I heard Ethan shouting at Summer. "I can't control what I feel! I fell in love with you. So what? You feel the same way, don't you?" Summer looked into his red, tormented eyes. At last, she burst into tears and threw herself into his arms. "But... what about Mia?" Hidden around the corner, I smiled bitterly. What else was there to do? They were the two people I loved most in the world. I couldn't bear to make things harder for them. So I called my advisor and said calmly, "Can I apply for that twenty-year Antarctic research program?"

I was born a dense people-pleaser, completely missing sarcasm and mistaking backhanded insults for compliments. Because of this, I died six times under bizarre circumstances, though I always assumed I just had terrible luck. This was my seventh rebirth, and fate gave me a head start. The moment I opened my eyes, a new text appeared in my phone's memo app. [Your best friend, Nancy Morgan, will arrive tonight at eight, claiming she wants to stay over. Once you fall asleep, she will turn on the gas valve and leave.] [Your childhood sweetheart, Lorenzo Myers, will visit you in the hospital while you're delirious and force you to sign over your apartment.] [They will marry, move into your home, and drain your assets. You will die of organ failure after they stop paying your medical bills.] I frowned, dismissing it as a sick joke. Nancy and Lorenzo had always been good to me. Why would they want me dead? I figured this time I could finally relax and live a normal life. Then, at eight o'clock sharp, the doorbell rang, and Nancy's cheerful voice floated through the door. "Gloria, I came to see you! Miss me? Open up!" I started toward the door with a habitual smile on my face. But the final line of the prophecy flashed in my mind: "They'll team up to put you in the hospital. You'll lose everything and die." I froze in place.

I consistently score above 1,550 on mock tests, yet I only score 467 on the actual college entrance exam. Mom gets so worked up over the abysmal results that she suffers a fatal heart attack. Winnie Cooper, my best friend, goes from around 640 to 1,560, earning herself the title of a gifted student in the media. I find out the truth ten years later. Winnie suddenly gets drunk and leans close to me. She then whispers with a chuckle, "Your college entrance exam score became mine because you kissed my rosary, Hazel." I open my eyes again, only to realize that I have returned to a day before the exam. Winnie brings the rosary to my lips again. "You should give it a kiss for some good luck, Hazel." I nod with a smile, then turn around and pass the rosary to the top 20 students in the class. "If it's really effective, then everyone should kiss it!"

I'm supposed to become the valedictorian of the state, but I decide to not attend the SATs. After all, in my previous life, my best friend, Bianca Walters, had made a pact with a tenfold transfer system. The three-million-dollar prize money I had obtained from becoming the state valedictorian was transferred into Bianca's account. On top of that, it was increased by ten times as well. Just like that, Bianca moved on from wearing faded old clothes to limited branded apparel. She even muttered, "What's the point of being a top scorer even though you're poor? At the end of the day, you'll still slave away for us rich people!" Enraged, I rushed over and demanded Bianca for answers. But my boyfriend, James Tipps, was quick to shield her from me and yelled at me for being a crazy lady who was jealous of others. Since my mom couldn't get her illness treated due to the lack of money, she ended up dying with resentment in her eyes. Overwhelmed by despair, I took my life by jumping off a building. Beep! When I open my eyes again, I realize that I've gotten reborn. This time, I've also made a pact with the tenfold transfer system.

We couldn't agree on our holiday travel plans, so my boyfriend, Julian Wade, created a three-way group chat. "Let's roll the dice," he said. "Highest number wins. Fair and square." Chloe Dawson, my best friend, rolled a six. She wanted to go to Miami. I wanted to go to Aspen. But I only rolled one. I didn’t pick Aspen on a whim. It was the place my mom had always dreamed of visiting before she passed away. This year marked five years since she died, and I promised I would see the snowy peaks for her. Julian knew that. Just three months ago, he held my hands and promised he would take me there for the holidays. "Fair is fair," Julian texted, dropping a head-patting emoji. It was the twenty-seventh time this year I had rolled the lowest number. I lost when we picked a restaurant last week. I lost when we chose a movie the week before. Then yesterday happened. I used Julian’s tablet to look up some travel guides and noticed his messaging app was still logged in. A chat with his friend sat right at the top. [Sent you the loaded dice plugin. You can roll whatever you want now.] [Thanks. Chloe takes things too seriously, and this is the only way to handle her.] I stared at those two sentences for a long time, then quietly put the tablet back. So he knew what Aspen meant to me. And I wasn’t losing to bad luck. I was losing to his favoritism. I left the group chat, booked a one-way ticket to Aspen, and packed my bags. First day of the holiday. Seven in the morning. Flying solo.

Megan Hahn's older brother, Frederick Hahn, has retired from his military career. Rumors have it that he has gotten injured in one of his missions, resulting in him losing his ability to reproduce. Megan can only sigh sadly. "I plan to stay childfree, whereas Frederick has gotten hurt. It seems that my family's legacy will end at my generation." A few days later, I finally get to meet the legendary hunk of a brother Frederick is. Shock overwhelms me immediately. Why does he look exactly like the baby daddy I've slept with a few years ago?

After my best friend, Amber Stone, gets addicted to gambling, she excitedly tells me that she wants to take me to Las Gavas on a trip all of a sudden. "I just won a huge sum of money! I'll treat you to a night in a grand, luxurious hotel there!" But after the plane lands on the tarmac, Amber leads me into a private room tucked away in the depths of a casino. "The truth is, the casino's boss is looking for a woman with a crescent-shaped birthmark. If she's found, all debts will be cleared on the spot. "Don't you have one on your belly? I saw it when you were taking a shower in the past! I'm so sorry, bestie, but I really don't want to die!" While I get pinned on the couch by four men, I suddenly notice a child's doodle being hung on the wall. It was a doodle I had drawn for my father before I got kidnapped. He viewed it as his treasure and told me that he'd cherish it forever. I perk up immediately at the sight. A sneer appears on my face soon enough. Oh, Amber… You definitely have won this time. Unfortunately for you, you won't gain anything.

At the pack celebration, my Alpha boyfriend walked right past me and invited my best friend, Serena, to dance. "You can't dance. I didn't want you making a fool of yourself in front of everyone. If you're tired, go sit over there and get some rest." He spoke words of concern, but they wounded me deeply. He had no idea I'd spent a whole month practicing for tonight's dance, that I'd lost count of how many times I'd fallen, or that my legs were covered in bruises. Before I could protest, the two of them were already gliding across the dance floor. They danced like they'd completely forgotten I existed. This wasn't the first time Nathan had ignored me because of Serena. I didn't make a scene. I just quietly left the banquet hall. That night, I booked my flight ticket and submitted my application to leave the pack. I had once followed him to this distant pack because I loved him. Now that the love was gone, I could just as easily walk away.

Vivian Hayland called for the thirty-seventh time, asking to borrow my husband Wilson Gomez for a day. The school was holding "Take Your Family to School Day." All the other children would have their fathers with them, and she didn't want anyone making fun of her son. Wilson glanced at me, then grabbed his coat and quickly got out. On his way out, he tossed me the same line as always. "She's divorced, and it's not easy raising her son alone. Stop being so petty." But that was also the day our daughter, Tammy, had been looking forward to for three whole months, because she would be performing for her family. She sat backstage clutching her costume and waited until the show was over, but her father never came. When we got home, we saw Wilson on a live TV broadcast. He, Vivian, and Leonard were all wearing matching outfits. He even let her hold his arm. When the TV host asked how long they had been married, Wilson did not correct the mistake. Instead, he leaned down and ran his hand through Vivian's loose hair tenderly. Leonard even went ahead and hugged Wilson around the waist tightly, shouting Dad as loud as he could. As the camera panned across the audience, applause and cheers rose from all sides. My daughter watched in silence for a long time, then tore the drawing of our family she was holding in half. "Mom, someone else keeps borrowing Dad. Is it okay if we stop waiting for him?" I looked at her red eyes, and whatever hope I was clinging to finally died. I pulled out my phone and messaged my lawyer, Ryan Green. "Get the divorce agreement ready."

My best friend and I had been abducted by the Pendragon brothers—a duo consisting of a religious CEO and a top-billed movie star. We became their secret lovers against our will. "I'm pregnant, Lilith," my best friend said, tears glistening in her eyes. "Me too, Lindsay," I replied softly, caressing my belly. "But I won't go through with it." The brothers heard us. Their control tightened. They watched us during mealtimes, while we slept, and even during our bathroom breaks. We could not endure it any longer, so we fought back. In their anger, the brothers kept mistresses who resembled us. We thought we were free until one day, they found us. They called us homewreckers and hurled insults at us. They broke into our house, scarred our faces, broke our legs, and kicked us until we miscarried. It did not matter how much we tried to explain ourselves. They removed our clothes and paraded us in the street. Finally, the Pendragons arrived. They raised their marriage certificates and declared, "Lilith and Lindsay are our wives!"

At my engagement party, my fiancee's male best friend pulled my pants down in front of over 500 guests. I desperately grabbed my belt and demanded to know what the hell he thought he was doing. He thought I was making a fuss over nothing. "I just wanted to see what color underwear you're wearing." As he spoke, he held up the Besties Chat Group, which included my fiancee, Justine Severin. A poll was underway. "What color underwear will Henry Banks be wearing today?" There were eight people in the group, and seven had voted. Justine only replied, "Cut it out." I froze, then turned in disbelief toward my impeccably dressed fiancee standing behind me. Justine frowned. "Everyone was just messing around to liven things up. Don't take it seriously." She turned back and continued chatting and laughing with the other guests as if nothing had happened. At that moment, I suddenly realized just how rotten the woman standing before me was. I took off my engagement ring and dropped it into a champagne glass. "Let's call off the engagement."

After getting drunk with my best friend, Lyla Smith, at the bar, I end up sleeping with my fiance, Silas Clarke, whom I've only met for a few times. Not only that, but I only discover that I'm pregnant with his child two months later. Just when I'm debating whether or not I should tell Silas the truth, Lyla, who has been my friend since we were kids, keep advising me. "You never liked Mr. Clarke anyway, Elara. You might as well use this opportunity to screw this engagement over. "Since you and Logan like each other, he won't mind the fact that you're pregnant with Mr. Clarke's child. He'll definitely treat you and the child well. "When the time comes, you won't have to marry the man you don't like. Plus, you'll marry Logan, the man you love! Isn't this a dream come true?" Just as I'm about to agree to that suggestion, I feel a kick coming from my belly, which has yet to develop a baby bump. Next, a baby's voice echoes in my mind. "Mom, don't trust that mean woman! You'll get abused by that Logan jerk in the future, not to mention you'll be forced to sell your body because of the decision you'll make today! "Dad has already found out that you're the woman from that night! He's on the way here right now!" Upon hearing my unborn baby's thoughts, I tremble violently immediately. Although I don't have any feelings for Silas, I can still try to nurture a relationship with him. On the other hand, I only get to live once, so I can't ruin it no matter what!

After my best friend finally met her online boyfriend in person, she offered to introduce me to his best friend. After we got married, my husband was always distant with me. I thought that was just his personality. Then my best friend got divorced, and he chartered a private jet overnight just to go be with her. That was when I finally realized. The woman he had loved all along was my best friend. In the end, I died from an amniotic fluid embolism. I was the only real casualty in their ridiculous mess. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day my best friend tried to set me up with Ethan Lawson. "What do you think, Chantelle? Ethan's really great. And if you two get together, the four of us can still hang out all the time." This time, I rejected him without a second thought. "No thanks. I'm not into guys with bleached blond hair."

I had been dating my boyfriend, Julian Hayes, for four years, yet my best friend Fiona Blake still looked more like his girlfriend than I did. Whenever the three of us went furniture shopping, the sales associate would hand Julian and Fiona a catalog for couples. Whenever we went out for fondue, the server would ask if Julian and Fiona wanted a photo together. At the beach, a stranger once handed me her phone and asked, "Would you mind taking a picture of your friend and his girlfriend?" I smiled, took her phone, and raised it to take the picture. On the screen, Julian and Fiona looked every bit like a couple. Fiona always brushed it off. "We just have similar face shapes. It's a coincidence." Julian always reassured me. "It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. You're my only girlfriend." And year after year, I believed him. By our fourth year together, I started pushing him to finally set a wedding date. He said he was too busy and promised we'd set the date the following month. But when the next month came, he had another excuse. Fiona's visa was about to expire. She wanted to stay in the United States, and the easiest way to get a green card was through marriage. I stared at him. "And so?" He was silent for a long moment before finally answering. "I'll marry her first and sponsor her application. It's only a formality. Once she gets her green card, we'll get divorced." For a moment, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "And what about me?" He answered without hesitation. "Just give me a few years. It'll be over before you know it." A week later, Fiona posted a photo on Instagram. She held up their marriage certificate and leaned against Julian's shoulder, smiling so widely that her eyes crinkled. The caption read, "As of today, it isn't a coincidence. It's fate." I went back through years of messages. That was when I finally realized the truth. Julian had never once told anyone I was his girlfriend. Whenever strangers mistook Fiona for his girlfrien

My family's company was on the brink of bankruptcy—its cash flow severed, the entire operation teetering on collapse. My fiancé, Andy Goor, was prepared to lend me money to keep things afloat. Just as I was about to say yes, a barrage of floating comments swept across my vision. [Don't agree—no matter what you do!] [The company's bankruptcy and cash flow crisis are all part of Andy's scheme!] [He's after your family's assets. If you accept, your whole family will end up sleeping under bridges for the rest of your lives!] [Your father will die after jumping off a building because he can't afford treatment. Your mother will be beaten to death by debt collectors. And you—you'll be sold into a nightclub. Just thinking about it is tragic!] A cold smile curved my lips. Without hesitation, I reached out and took the bank card Andy had sent over. Because in my previous life, I had believed those very comments and refused his help. After that, the company slid into bankruptcy, beyond saving. My parents were driven to their deaths, both forced to jump from buildings. And I was sold by creditors to an underground clinic, where my heart and kidneys were harvested before my body was dismembered. Only after I died, my soul drifting aimlessly, did I learn the truth—this had all been orchestrated by my so-called best friend, Chelsea Beatriz. Every single one of those comments had been fabricated by her. Disillusioned with me, Andy turned his investment to her company instead. She took my place—effortlessly stepping into my life—and married him. This time… everything I went through? Someone else gets to carry that weight now.

On the day of my birthday, my best friend, Bella Johnson, gifted me a polaroid camera. I took that to the zoo. I took some photos of the animals in the zoo. In my past life, I took the polaroid camera she had gifted me and happily took photos for my whole family. Unexpectedly, after a week, my mother got into a car accident and passed away. My father suffered from a stroke, which left half his body paralyzed even after treatment at the hospital. The company that I was managing ran into problems and almost went bankrupt. In merely a month, my hair had gone gray. There were wrinkles and red marks on my face. I gained a lot of weight due to the stress. My boyfriend felt that I was jinxed. He claimed that it was my bad luck that had caused my family to fall apart. He broke up with me. I was ranting to Bella when I accidentally discovered that she had suddenly become a millionaire. Her parents, who were hospitalized, suddenly became healthy again. It was as if they had not been sick to begin with. I almost lost my mind when I found out about that. On my way to the hospital, I was run over by a car and died. After I died, I found out that everything had happened because of the polaroid camera that Bella had gifted me. She had already been having an affair with my boyfriend for a long time. When I opened my eyes again, I was transported back to the day Bella gifted me the polaroid camera.

Jessica has just landed her dream job and sold the film rights to her novels. Then she stumbles across an online post from her closest friend, Linda, asking strangers how to ruin her life. When Linda tries to sabotage Jessica's career, expose her pen name, steal her boyfriend, and destroy her author account, Jessica quietly gathers every piece of evidence and turns Linda's own schemes against her. By the time Linda realizes she has been caught, Jessica is ready to send her former best friend to prison and take back everything she earned.

Just a moment ago, after nearly bleeding to death, I gave the Rossi family their heir. But my husband, Carter, the Rossi's underboss, let his confidante, Sofia, film me giving birth just because she said she was bored. She captured everything: me losing control of my body, my screams, my face twisted in agony. Afterward, she took screenshots, turned them into memes, and passed them around a private group chat for the family's inner circle. Through the door of my hospital room, I could hear Sofia's wild laughter. "Carter, this is the best entertainment all year. You always know just what I want." "But Sloane's going to throw a fit when she wakes up and sees it." The anesthesia hadn't worn off yet. My eyelids were heavy, and through the haze, I heard Carter's usual, nonchalant tone. "She won't get really mad. You know Sloane. She always does what I tell her." "I'll just have to sweet-talk her a little. Besides, with the heir here now, she wouldn't leave me." My fingers, hidden beneath the silk sheets, clenched into a fist. My mind flooded with everything I had given up for him over the years. Carter had probably forgotten who made him the man who runs these streets. Since you love games so much, I'll play a real one with you. The day I walk away, you will all regret it.

After my best friend, Lynn Barrett, loses her memory, she forgets all about me. But somehow, she still remembers my boyfriend, Shane Wesley. Therefore, she naturally begins relying on him. She has Shane cook for her, wash her hair, and even carry her around Jinton. But he has never done any of those things for me. When I am starving and my blood sugar drops, he says, "Aurelia, I can't cook, but I ordered takeout for you. Just wait a little longer." When I cut my hand and can't get it wet, he says, "Aurelia, I'm a bit of a germaphobe, so I can't wash your hair. There's a hair salon downstairs. Go there yourself." When I break my leg, he says, "Aurelia, I injured my back before. I can't carry you. Wait here while I get you a wheelchair." But as I watch him make exception after exception for Lynn, I finally can't take it anymore. I say, "Shane, you seem to treat me differently from how you treat Lynn." Yet, Shane never stops peeling an apple for Lynn. "Of course. Lynn has lost her memory and can't do without me. She also refuses to let you get close to her. So, I have no choice but to look after her for you." Look after her for me, he said? Is that why he didn't pull away when Lynn kissed him yesterday? At this moment, I don't want to stay in Jinton with Shane anymore. I buy a ticket back to my hometown for three days later. I also message my mother. "Mom, I'll go on the blind date you mentioned before."