ALINA wasn’t really a thief; in fact, she was an honest and trustworthy girl who was popular in her school and liked by everyone, except of course, a few rivals. But one day something very unimaginable happened!

That day, Javeria happened to visit Miss Nilofer’s room to consult her regarding a science project. She glanced inside her room which had all of Miss Nilofer’s belongings but Miss Nilofer was not there. Javeria was about to turn away, but suddenly she came to a halt as she saw someone looking into Miss Nilofer’s locker. Javeria quickly moved to a side so that she could spy without being seen. To her great disbelief, Alina was searching for something in Miss Nilofer’s locker and not looking even slightly scared! After a while, Alina found a packet of crayons and slipped it inside her pocket.

‘Aha! So the famous, so-very-trusted Alina stole a packet of crayons from Miss Nilofer’s locker!’ thought Javeria. ‘And that too very boldly! How did she manage to get the key from Miss Nilofer? Must’ve stolen it! Thinks she’s very smart, huh? Well, she doesn’t know that I’m smarter than her and I’m going to tell each and every soul in the school about what a horrible thing she has done for they all ought to know!’

And off went Javeria ‘to tell each and every soul in the school’ what she had just seen, for this girl envied Alina very much and was always looking for a chance to make others dislike her, and finding a brilliant opportunity, she just couldn’t resist it.

By the next day, Alina had no friends left. She was indeed very shocked to see everyone ignoring her and making faces at her whenever they saw her. At first, she thought it was a joke, but the joke was getting quite serious. ‘What has happened to all of them so suddenly?’ wondered Alina. Whenever she would approach anyone, they would turn their back on her and whispering would start, and the only word she could catch was ‘thief’.

It was recess time, and as Alina felt very lonely and sad she sat in the classroom, faced towards the window and quietly sobbing while thinking ‘Why was everyone calling her a thief? What on Earth had she stolen? She hadn’t a single clue of what was going on.’

Just then someone entered the classroom. It was Miss Nilofer who had come to place a pile of books on the table. She was surprised to find Alina sitting alone and crying! “Alina dear, what’s the matter?” she asked in her politest tone that was only meant for her favourite student.

“Oh, Miss Nilofer!” said Alina with a sob. “I don’t know why everyone is calling me a ‘thief’ and acting so strange. Nobody is talking to me and I haven’t a single friend left!”

“Of course, you aren’t a thief, my dear,” said Miss Nilofer. “I trust you. Wait till the girls come back and I’ll ask them what this story is all about.”

When the girls came back after recess, they were surprised to find Miss Nilofer waiting for them. They at once knew by her stern expressions that something was wrong. “Who says that Alina is a thief?” she asked in a cross voice.

“Oh Miss Nilofer!” said Javeria pretending to look very shocked. “I know you won’t believe me for you trust Alina very much and we all did. But I saw Alina stealing a packet of crayons from your locker although she knows that we’re not allowed to even enter your room.”

Miss Nilofer turned red as Javeria told the whole story like a news reporter and the class was petrified by the look on her face. Whatever was Miss Nilofer going to do?

When Javeria had finally completed her story, Miss Nilofer glared at her fiercely. The class was puzzled. Why was Miss Nilofer glaring at Javeria instead of Alina?

Miss Nilofer grinded her teeth and spoke in a voice which the class seldom heard, “Well Miss! I believe in every single word of your story and I know that Alina took a packet of crayons from my locker. But before telling a story to everyone as if you were doing TV show, you should at least know both sides of the story.

“I told Alina to take a packet of crayons from my locker because she had forgotten to bring her own and she had to do a colouring activity. You didn’t know the real story and yet you told the whole school and made everyone think that Alina was a thief. You should be ashamed of yourself! Now say sorry to Alina.”

Javeria was trembling all over and the whole class stared at her in extreme anger. It hurt her pride but she was forced to say ‘sorry’ to Alina for the misinterpretation she had created. Alina was really very cross with her, but at the same time delighted to have all of her friends back. There was a great deal of “sorry”, “please forgive me”, “forget it”, “let’s be friends again”, and Javeria was given titles like ‘beast’, ‘tell-tale’ and ‘gossip girl’ straight on her face.

Everyone had now learned a lesson – don’t take everything on face value and find out both sides of the story before believing anything.