My Best Friend Forfeited Her Stanford Full Ride to Become a Tribal Queen in Africa. I Let Her. Chapter 2

"Whatever you decide, babe, I'm backing you up a hundred percent.

"Your boyfriend sounds like an absolute emperor over there. If you go, wouldn't that make you the ultimate Queen?"

I playfully bent my knee in a mock curtsy. "All hail Her Royal Highness!"

This sent Tiffany’s vanity through the roof. She laughed triumphantly for a good minute before narrowing her eyes, scanning me up and down.

"Audrey, why don't you come with me? I can totally hook you up with one of his brothers.

"I’ll be the Queen, and you can be a Princess. Deal?"

Ah. I wondered why Tiffany, who usually kept secrets from me, suddenly ran over to ask for my opinion. Turns out she was terrified of going alone and wanted a sidekick to drag along.

I intentionally snatched her boyfriend's photo, putting on a face of absolute adoration.

"Oh my god, can you share his contact info? I heard guys over there can marry multiple wives anyway. We're sisters—it doesn't matter which one of us gets to be the queen, right?"

Tiffany’s face instantly dropped. She snatched the photo back, stuffing it into her pocket, and snapped, "Hands off your best friend's man. Don't you have any morals?"

Suppressing my intense disgust, I linked my arm through hers and pouted playfully.

"I just want to stay close to you! Once you're a tribal queen, how am I supposed to see you whenever I want?"

Tiffany bared her teeth in a smug, wide grin. "True. Fine, I won't hold it against you!"

Right on cue, her phone rang. It was her boyfriend, demanding she meet him at a motel.

Hanging up, Tiffany leaned in mysteriously and whispered that before leaving for Africa, she needed to "create a powerful anchor" to lock her boyfriend down, ensuring her royal status was secure.

Enduring the nauseating wave of her odor, I walked her to the campus gates and waved goodbye.

If she didn't leave right then, I was going to throw up my dinner from last night. Spending so much time with him had clearly ruined Tiffany’s own hygiene.

From that day on, Tiffany completely stopped showing up to classes. Our academic advisor was furious and left dozens of voicemails for her parents.

She was an only child, and her parents doted on her blindly. The moment the advisor hung up, they drove straight to campus and cornered me right at the entrance of my dorm building.

Since I was Tiffany’s only real friend on campus, I was always their first point of contact for any emergency.

In my past life, I was more than happy to help them. I never expected them to repay my kindness with cold-blooded betrayal.

The moment Tiffany’s mother saw me, she dropped to her knees, grabbing my hands and weeping dramatically.

"Audrey, please! Ask yourself, haven’t I always treated you like my own daughter? You can't just stand by and watch our Tiffany ruin herself!"

With that, she whipped out a stack of crisp hundred-dollar bills from her purse and shoved them into my hands, sobbing.

"You don't even have to ask, I will gladly pay you. Just tell us where she is!"

Students were constantly drifting past the dorm entrance. They were instantly fooled by her pathetic, weeping performance and began turning on me.

"Wow, talk about a gold digger. Extorting her best friend's grieving parents? Gross."

"Right? I heard she got a full ride for a Master's track. Clearly, her morals are completely bankrupt. We should report this to the Dean tomorrow—maybe they'll revoke her spot and open it up for someone else."

"Disgusting. I'm recording this and posting it on TikTok so everyone can see what a monster she is. Don't let her ruin anyone else."

I rubbed my temples. Dealing with this family of manipulative grifters was exhausting.

I dialed 911 right then and there, turned on the speakerphone, and handed it directly to Tiffany’s mother.

"Mrs. Vance, I haven't seen Tiffany in days either. For her safety, let’s let the police handle it immediately."

Her mother’s face stiffened awkwardly. She knew exactly what kind of trashy things her daughter was up to and desperately wanted to avoid getting law enforcement involved.

Seeing her hesitate, the crowd of students chimed in to encourage her.

"Don't be scared, ma'am! We've got your back!"

"Yeah, there are so many fake friends these days. Who knows if this girl did something to your daughter!"

"Exactly, don't waste time! Tell the dispatcher everything!"