Friendship is the light that brightens our world and fills our hearts, but it also requires honesty to sustain and strengthen it. This is the story of Dania and Ayesha, who were great friends and studied in the same class together.

Dania was cheerful and playful, but also careless and lazy. Ayesha was kind and helpful, but also diligent and hardworking. As their matriculation exams were approaching, Ayesha would spend most of her time revising and practicing her lessons, while Dania would indulge in every other activity than studies.

One day, Ayesha was busy studying physics notes during recess, Dania noticed that her physics notebook contained important lectures and solutions to numerical problems. She was curious and asked Ayesha about them. Ayesha told her that they were prepared with the help of her tutor and that they had been working on them for quite some time. Suddenly, Dania developed a feeling of jealousy as she could see how hardworking Ayesha had been.

One day, Dania looked very thoughtful and told Ayesha that she was not well-prepared and wanted to focus on her exam preparation now. Ayesha encouraged her and offered her help. It was the weekend and both friends bid farewell and headed to their homes. That day, Ayesha’s tutor was to conduct her preliminary test to make sure she was well-prepared for the exam. The tutor asked her to bring her notebook so that he could assign some problems and she could revise.

Ayesha looked for her physics notebook in her bag, but it wasn’t there. She searched everywhere, but couldn’t find it. Her tutor calmed her down and consoled her, and asked her to search later in the day. She wondered if she had left it at school or if someone had taken it.

She called Dania and asked her if she had seen her notebook. Dania lied and said she hadn’t, however, she had secretly taken Ayesha’s notebook from her bag when she was not looking and hid it in her locker. She wanted to copy the notes and problems, and use them for her own exam preparation. She thought Ayesha would not mind since they were friends and she needed them more than her. She did not realise that she was betraying Ayesha’s trust and friendship, she could have asked her.

Ayesha was very worried and sad. She had worked hard on her notes. She tried to recall what she had written in it, but she could not remember everything. She felt helpless and hopeless.

The next day, she went to school early and searched for her notebook in the classroom, but she could not find it. She asked some of her classmates if they had seen it, but they also said no. She felt angry and hurt.

Just then she saw Dania coming to the class with a smile on her face. She greeted her and asked her how she was doing. Dania said she was fine and that she had studied a lot over the weekend. She said she was confident about the exam and that she hoped Ayesha was too. Ayesha felt suspicious. She wondered if Dania had something to do with her missing notebook.

Her tutor helped her make her notes again and Ayesha reluctantly prepared. She struggled to do her best in each subject. Dania also studied and achieved good grades in matric exams, but she was not honest in taking them. She bribed the invigilator and cheated in many subjects. Ayesha was delighted to see her outstanding results and wished to do even better in college.

Days passed. Ayesha and Dania attended the same college and were very happy to be together. College studies were not a piece of cake, therefore, Ayesha would never sit idle and waste her time in useless activities, but Dania would. She simply didn’t care about studies. There were times when Dania used to be sincere with Ayesha, but now Dania had developed so much hatred and jealousy that she wouldn’t let a single day without creating hurdles in Ayesha’s way. Sometimes, she would hide Ayesha’s fee voucher for the exam and sometime she would tear off important lecture notes from Ayesha’s notebook so she could not achieve her dreams. Her jealousy grew more and more with Ayesha’s progress.

Ayesha too noticed many times that Dania would touch her books and things. But as she loved her and never wanted to give up their friendship, she would always ignore it.

At last, the day came when the final exam result of the college was announced. Dania had failed in two subjects but Ayesha passed with flying colours. Ayesha felt sorry for Dania and consoled her. That day, Dania felt ashamed and sad.

As they walked through the corridor of their college, tears fell from her eyes and she confessed to Ayesha, “Forgive me, my friend! I was the one who stole your physics notebook in the past because I wanted to prepare well, but I had no work done. I was jealous of you for doing better than me in studies. But now I feel so bad for my actions. If I had not done that, I would not have faced this outcome today. I feel guilt and remorse. I don’t want to lose a true friend like you ever. Will you forgive me?”

Ayesha was shocked to hear this. But on seeing her friend in tears, Ayesha quickly hugged Dania.

“Don’t ask for forgiveness. We are still good friends. But remember, you should never think of stealing anyone’s belongings or being dishonest, because honesty is the foundation of friendship,” Ayesha assured her friend.

Tears rolled down Dania’s cheeks and she sheepishly smiled. They promised to remain friends and moved on with their lives. Dania realised why it is always said, “Honesty is the best policy.”

Published in Dawn, Young World, October 14th, 2023