It was a happy Tuesday afternoon. After a long day of classes, the students were now hurrying back home. Home time always made students happy. There were rings of laughter and chatter, a scream of joy from one corner where the students were celebrating someone’s birthday.

Beaming ear to ear, Hamza walked out of the school gate and looked at the sky. White clouds scuffled after each other and a meek sun peeped from behind them. Even the weather was rejoicing.

“Hamza!” his name was shouted out in excitement. He turned back to see his best friend waving to him. Hamza’s smile deepened as Maaz came towards him. Maaz’s steps were irregular, his eyes were twinkling. He looked absolutely ecstatic.

Maaz came and put an arm around Hamza’s neck. “I scored full marks in the math exam you helped me prepare for me,” he added a little giggle. “It’s the first time I scored full marks, my mum will be so happy. Thank you, my brother!”

Hamza patted his back, “No, it’s because you worked hard for it.”

The two friends smiled at each other and walked back home together.

Hamza and Maaz were close friends ever since they were kids, but they were opposites. While Hamza was very confident, a born genius and a part of all social activities at school, Maaz was more of an introvert. He preferred to stay in his comfort zone and wasn’t very strong academically, but was very hardworking.

The next day, the fourth period ended with a bell. Hamza opened one drowsy eyelid to check which subject it was next. Maaz came over to his seat and thumped his back, “You have been sleeping through all classes, what’s wrong bro?”

Hamza’s eyelids shuttered open again, “I played video games all night, I’m exhausted,” he added a little sigh.

Maaz tugged at his shirt, “It’s okay, let’s go for recess now. You have done the history assignment, right?”

Hamza suddenly sat up and held his head. It had completely escaped his mind. The history teacher was very strict with assignments.

“Maaz, can you let me go through your work? I just have to check how long it will take me,” Hamza frowned in worry.

“Sure buddy,” Maaz added as he handed over his assignment and dissolved into the crowd of students rushing for recess.

In history class the next day, Ms Afsheen entered with a scowl on her face. The bustling class suddenly went quiet and hurried to their desks.

Without saying a word, she started handing out the marked assignments. There were little sighs of relief or cries of dismay as the students checked their marks.

The small pile of assignments was quickly distributed until only one remained. Maaz looked up to the teacher expectantly. Did he get the highest marks?

Ms Afsheen took off her glasses and silently put them on the desk. The little thud that followed caused a shiver run through the class. The teacher looked furious.

Then, in a voice that wasn’t loud, but echoed through the silent classroom, she said: “Maaz Ali, stand up.”

Maaz’s face changed colours. His legs were wobbly as he stood up and went to the front of the class.

Ms Afsheen pursed her lips and glared at him. “Maaz thinks that he is so smart that he will copy Hamza’s entire assignment and the teacher won’t even know,” Hamza’s face turned pale.

“Never in my 12 years, of teaching have I seen a student as impudent as you. I don’t know why the class’s high achiever, Hamza, is friends with you,” she added. Maaz’s eyes started to get teary.

“Class, today I will tell you the consequences of a student who tries to cheat. Maaz gets a zero on his assignment,” Ms Afsheen announced.

Maaz stood with his head bowed, glistening tears silently dropping to the floor. Hamza was looking everywhere, but at him. He couldn’t face his friend.

The class ended, but there was no bustle when the students went for recess. The whole class was affected by what had happened and Maaz had disappeared. Drooped shoulders and dragging his feet, he was walking in circles around the playground. thinking about what had just happened.

Hamza was still in the class. He laid his spinning head on the desk and was going through a battle inside him. It was he who had copied Maaz’s work, but Maaz was the one who had faced humiliation in front of the class. It was he who should have been given a zero, not Maaz. Hamza shivered at the thought of it.

Hamza mind was still a mess as his walked up to the playground and looked around for Maaz. Soon he saw his class gathered around Maaz. Hamza came a little closer but stopped, since he still couldn’t face Maaz.

Rayyan, who had a loud voice, was saying, “I saw it with my own eyes. It was Hamza who copied your work. Why didn’t you tell it to the teacher?”

Maaz looked around in fear and shushed him, “It’s okay. I’m not selling my friend for some marks. I will study harder next time.”

Hamza heard this and sat down in shock. Maaz’s words had stirred a realisation in him. Was scoring zero marks in an assignment really worth his friendship? After all, it was his own fault that he played video games through the night and didn’t do his homework. He knew Maaz really worked hard for the assignment, but Maaz let all his hard work go to waste, only to protect a friend’s dignity. Hamza’s face turned red with shame.

Hamza felt that, unlike Maaz, he wasn’t a good friend nor a good human being because he didn’t have the courage to own his mistake. He made his friend suffer due to his error.

With new courage filling his veins, Hamza walked to the staffroom in search of Ms Afsheen. He had to confess his mistake. His hands crossed in humility, he owned up to the teacher about everything that had happened.

And with utmost respect, he added, “Teacher, it’s wrong to assume that Maaz cheated only because he generally scores less than me. Maaz works way harder than I do. Yes, I am the class’s high achiever, but I’m luckier to have a wonderful friend like Maaz.”

Ms Afsheen nodded her head in approval, “Yes, it’s my fault too. I shouldn’t have blamed Maaz without getting to the bottom of it.” She then appreciated Hamza for taking responsibility for the mistake he made.

Ms Afsheen did give Hamza a zero on the assignment, but it didn’t matter to him anymore. What mattered more was that he had indirectly hurt his best friend.

Hamza rushed to the playground looking for Maaz. With tears in his eyes, he apologised to him and told him that he had owned up to the teacher. The best friends embraced each other and, with beaming faces, went to play football before recess could end.

Published in Dawn, Young World, November 26th, 2022