Aleena was very excited, as it was her last exam and after that she had her whole summer vacation planned out. She was going to spend two weeks at her grandmother’s house and then she had planned trips to different places with her best friend, Saniya.

Aleena quickly wore her uniform to go to school. She was lost in daydreaming about all the fun she would have over the summer, when the honk of her school van broke her out of her reverie. She quickly checked herself in the mirror, picked up her bag and then rushed out of the room. As she reached the dining room, her mother came out from the kitchen and asked her to have breakfast, while giving her a packed lunch box in the other.

“I will eat in the van, mum,” Aleena kissed her mother’s cheek and picked up a sandwich and her lunchbox, then rushed towards the bus. She comfortably seated herself and the van started its journey again.

After a while, the van screeched to a halt in front of the school’s main door. Aleena, along with other kids, quickly made her way towards the classroom. She had planned to revise a difficult topic before the exam started.

She found Saniya lingering in the corridor. “Saniya! How is your preparation?” Aleena asked her friend.

“It’s not good but now…,” Saniya replied nervously while chewing on her thumb. Aleena’s smile faded, she looked at her friend who had guilt plastered all over her face.

“What is the matter?” Aleena asked.

Aleena could feel her stomach ache growing just thinking about the paper and what her friend could potentially be hiding. In response Saniya placed her index finger on her lips, indicating to Aleena to be quiet. She then grabbed Aleena’s hand and took her to a secluded corner of the corridor.

“I … I accidentally found the examination paper, Aleena,” Saniya admitted.

“What?” Aleena asked her, too confused by the situation.

“Today, I arrived at school earlier than I usually do, so I decided to revise for the paper. As I made my way towards the classroom, I accidentally bumped into Miss Aliya, who had a bunch of papers in both her hands. Both mine and hers got scattered on the floor,” Saniya explained, her worried eyes darting here and there in fear of being caught.

Slowly, but surely, the puzzle started fitting in Aleena’s head.

“So when the papers got mixed you picked up the examination paper by mistake?” Aleena wondered.

Saniya nodded her head in confirmation. She then took out the paper from her bag and placed it in Aleena’s hand. As Aleena skimmed through the paper, her eyes widened. It was surely today’s examination paper which was to be held in less than ten minutes, and the answer key to the questions was also available.

“What do we do?” the question hung in the air as neither of them knew the answer. They both had an important decision to make. They became silent and thought for a while. They could have easily topped the exam, but both the best friends decided to act with honesty and make Miss Aliya aware of the whole situation.

“We should inform her. Even if I scored the highest marks in this paper due to cheating, I won’t feel relieved or happy during my entire vacation,” Aleena said to Saniya, as they both made their way to Miss Aliya.

Miss Aliya looked at the girls, her glasses placed on the bridge of her nose. She had spent the last five minutes listening to the situation. After a few thoughtful moments, she sighed, upset that she would have to make the whole examination paper again. Nevertheless, she was very proud of the two girls in front of her who had shown admirable honesty.

“Saniya and Aleena, I am very proud on both of you. You made the correct decision of coming to me,” she said.

Picking up her things from the table, Miss Aliya patted both the girls on their backs and then asked them to follow her. Relieved, but still nervous, the girls started following her to the classroom where most of the students were waiting for the distribution of the paper.

“Listen class, I have an announcement to make…” Miss Aliya started.

When Aleena reached home later that day, her mother was talking on the phone. Upon seeing Aleena, her mother asked her to talk to her grandmother. Aleena placed the phone to her ear and greeted her grandmother cheerily.

“Aleena beta, I can’t wait to see you tomorrow!” her grandma said.

“No grandma, today’s paper was postponed due to some reason. I will come on Friday now, instead of Wednesday,” Aleena replied, her tone was sad, but her heart felt at ease, knowing that she did the right thing today.

Published in Dawn, Young World, February 4th, 2023