My Ex Best Friend Bethany

I’m nearly finished with my second novella, My Ex Best Friend Bethany — a dark, emotional YA/NA story inspired by one of my earlier posts. It explores toxic friendships, betrayal, and the deep scars they leave behind.

While I have been writing, editing, and doing all the fiddly bits — I have realised how much I’ve learnt from my previous novella, Goodbye Jacob. I will admit, I did rush that story. I just wanted to prove to myself that I was capable of writing and publishing something. I did not put as much care and thought into it as I have this one.

Because this time, I knew I didn’t need to be rushing. I could take my time and make sure I was at least 98% happy with it before releasing it to the world.

Of course, it’s not perfect — but what book is? Still, I have to say, I’m a lot happier with this one being published, and proud of how far I’ve come.

---

⚠️ Trigger Warning
This story contains scenes and themes of bullying, sexual assault, body shaming, disordered eating, and strong language.
Reader discretion is advised.

---

Darcy has always felt like a misfit — alone, even with her closest friends. Then Bethany James walks into her life, and suddenly, everything changes. Bethany is confident, magnetic, and brings out the best in Darcy. But when the cracks begin to show, Darcy realises that not all friendships are built on trust.

My Ex Best Friend Bethany is a haunting story about love that turned toxic, friendship that became obsession, and the pain of losing yourself to someone you thought you could trust.

---

💫 Sneak Peek

I turned and saw her laughing. Sniggers rippled along the corridor, kids looking at me and silently agreeing. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t escape my overweight body. I could feel my face and body turn red from embarrassment. She had always told me I was fine the way I was. Why now? Why in front of everyone? A cruel joke — and all eyes turned on me. My insecurities flared like fireworks I couldn’t control.

“Oh my God, your face,” she laughed, slipping her arm through mine. “I’m joking.”

I tried to smile, but my throat burned with humiliation. No one believed the act. I was hurt. Embarrassed.

“You’re not sulking, are you? I was joking!” she snapped.

“No, of course not. I know you were.” The lie was bitter on my tongue.

“Whatever,” she said breezily, moving on as if nothing had happened. And somehow, I’d slipped again — from best friend to shadow. I followed her like a ghost, silent and small, losing pieces of myself in the process.

Throughout the day, all I could hear was Bethany’s voice saying hey fatty, repeating in my head over and over again, making me feel bigger than I was. And, at lunchtime, she made the fat comment again, without saying the word. This would trigger a phobia, which would take years to recover from.

It was warm, so we sat on the school field. I took my sandwich from my bag and as I began to remove the cling film, I noticed she looked at me with disgust.

“Eating again?”

“Erm… yeah, it’s lunchtime,” I said, with the sandwich halfway to my mouth.

“Wow… okay.”

“Why? You’re not eating?” I lowered my sandwich. Suddenly I didn’t feel as hungry — mentally, anyway. My stomach disagreed.

“Erm… no, I only eat at tea. I throw my lunch away.” She smirked. “I don’t want to get chubby.”

“You normally eat!” I said, defensive.

“Yeah, well… I’m watching myself, you know.”

She looked me up and down. That judging look alone made me put my sandwich back in my bag. I starved through the rest of the day.

From then on, I stopped eating in public. I became so conscious of being the fat girl eating — that’s why she’s overweight; because she eats. Bethany was the only one to say it out loud, yet I knew everyone else was thinking it too. Looking at me with the same disgust. But this was just in my head. But at this time, I felt everyone was judging me.

---

💜 My Ex Best Friend Bethany — coming soon.

© 2025 Louise C Kay. All rights reserved. Please do not reproduce without permission.