Both stood there, arms in arms and basking in glory. They had after all won the competition due to their combined efforts. Both Amnah and Sarah were best friends, always there to help each other out and empathise with each other’s feelings.

But that had not always been the case. A few months back, their friendship broke down.

“Get lost, I don’t want to talk to you, I don’t want to see your face, ever again,” snarled Sarah, tears welling up in her eyes. “But what have I done?” said worried Amnah, with a fearful expression on her face.

“Let’s clear this straight away,” hiccupped Sarah, her tears falling fast down her cheeks. “You are a traitor, a hypocrite! Why are you acting so innocent, huh? You want to know what you did?”

Even with her eyes brimmed with tears, Sarah managed to pass a sarcastic smile to Amnah. “You did nothing except ruin my life, that’s all. Would you count that as anything, such a petty thing? You were my best friend, and I poured out my heart to you and, to you, it was simple enough to just go and reveal my secrets to others!” Sarah broke into fresh tears.

By this time, Amnah had started looking terrified. She cleared her throat and began, “No, no, no! I think you are mistaken Sarah. I am your best friend. I revealed your secrets? Nah, it was just a discussion between me, Anna and Fatima the other day, I never thought that they would….”

Sarah turned her tear-stained face to glare at Amnah, who melted under her look.

“I am not mistaken, and you better hear me out,” she said as Amnah made signs of interrupting. Her lips froze. “Oh yea, a discussion? I heard you telling my secrets to Anna and Fatima, and I heard them telling the rest of the class. In case you don’t know, hearing is believing and I believe what my ears heard. It is high-time that you start believing your ears, too!” she paused to draw a long breath. “Because I would be ashamed to call a person like you, my best friend!”

Amnah decided to stop her acting and talk to the point, to get over with this nuisance. By now, practically half the school had turned up in the playground to watch this terrible fight between the best friends.

Before Amnah could open her lips, Sarah rounded up on her, her eyes red and puffy from crying, but she had managed to cease her tears. “Amnah, what wrong did I do to you? Wasn’t I the only one who was always there to help you, wasn’t I your best friend who kept your secrets? Didn’t I always let the teachers blame me for your faults and errors? Then why did you do this to me, why, you big traitor?” Sarah spoke out the last words loudly and stalked away, with half the school and Amnah left staring at her back.

Amnah smiled at the onlookers. “Good riddance,” she proclaimed and set off in the other direction.

Time flew, Sarah made new friends and Amnah was left alone. After their fight, Amnah had assumed that everyone would leave Sarah but she was mistaken. It seemed that her assumption had backfired on her, nobody made friends with her as she was untrustworthy.

Not long afterwards Amnah herself was betrayed by a girl she had been friends with. This made Amnah realise her mistake and Sarah’s position. She approached Sarah, apologised to her and the best friends came together again, but this time, Amnah wasn’t a traitor, but a secret-keeper!

Published in Dawn, Young World, February 20th, 2015