It was Sadaf’s first day in her new school. She was feeling uneasy and anxious, thinking of all the worst things that could happen to her that day. The thing which troubled her the most was that would she be able to make new friends, would the girls of this school accept her? Lost in her thoughts, she suddenly bumped into a girl.

“I … I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you coming,” Sadaf said hesitantly to a simple looking girl wearing huge eyeglasses and holding a stack of notebooks in her arms.

“Never mind it was my fault as well I should’ve looked ahead. Anyway, my name is Zainab,” she said politely.

“I am new in this school that’s why a little flustered,” Sadaf told Zainab.

“No problem, common I’ll show you around,” then Zainab showed her around.

In a few days, Sadaf felt relaxed in the school and soon both Zainab and Sadaf became good friends as they were both in the same class. There was a group of girls in their class who were not so good in studies but were rather well-known because of their trendy style. They would bring new gadgets, cosmetics and jewellery and showed off their riches to the whole class. The teachers didn’t like them at all.

However, the thing Sadaf didn’t know about these girls was they would always take a naive girl in their group and get her to shoulder the blame for any mischief they were caught doing

Like all simple girls, Sadaf also got fascinated by this popular lot of girls and started trying to get close to them and avoided Zainab. However, the thing Sadaf didn’t know about these girls was they would always take a naive girl in their group and get her to shoulder the blame for any mischief they were caught doing.

Soon Sadaf almost forgot about Zainab and was always seen with the popular group, trying to imitate them. Sadaf was happy that they had accepted her and was now among the ‘elite’ of her school.

One day, in the science class, these girls were being naughty; they drew a funny cartoon of the teacher and passed it around the class while giggling. When the sketch reached Sadaf’s desk, just then the teacher turned around and saw the sketch in her hand and thought Sadaf was the culprit. Sadaf tried to prove her innocence but nobody stood up in her defence, not even her so called friends. One of them even said that she saw Sadaf make that cartoon and winked to her friends.

Sadaf was really shocked, she was not only told off by the teacher but also by the principal for doing such a disrespectful act. Sadaf now knew the reality of those girls and she realised how foolish she had been for taking them to be her friends. From that day onwards, she remained silent the whole time in the school and never sat close to the popular girls. And, of course, they also didn’t want her anymore for Sadaf had served her purpose.

One day, at recess time, Sadaf was quietly sitting in the corner of the class so Zainab went close and tried to console her. Sadaf felt so ashamed at her behaviour towards Zainab that she started to cry. In between the tears she apologised to Zainab, who instantly forgave her.

After that Sadaf never broke Zainab’s heart again and they remained friends forever.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 16th, 2015