A shoulder to cry on

True Friend

When I was 12 years old, I had a lot of friends. Looking back now, my best friend was someone I really never thought as a friend. She is Alaa. I met Alaa at Abedeen Academy.  At first I thought she did not want to be my friend and she looked like she hated me too. But now we are best friends!! Alaa is a nice girl, she respects everyone, even the people she does not know. In 2017, I came to Abedeen and met Alaa. I thought she was a bad girl, so I did not talk to her. After one month in the school, everything changed for me.

Alaa came to me to ask me why I didn’t talk to her. At that time I didn’t know what to say so I answered nothing because I have nothing to say. She told me it’s okay let’s just be friends, then we can talk to each other. After almost 1 year we both get used to each other and I really like her. She helped me and I helped her but she was really good to me, more than I was. She was always with me when I felt sad, she made me laugh when I did not want to even smile. Like the sun, she brightened my life. When times were tough and I was down, she was the one who stuck around.

After almost two years, in 2019 Alaa said she will move to another country. I was really surprised. I started to remember our old days together, I just wanted to cry.  It was the saddest moment for me with Alaa, when I told her ‘good bye’ for the last time. It’s really hard to get someone who gives you so much to remember. So do not judge the book by its cover like what I did.

Written by Amna Fawzi Aboushehata, Year 8 student of Abedeen International School