Ali paused for a brief moment before entering the class. He took a long breath and exhaled. It was Ali’s first day at a new school in a new city. Everything felt overwhelming.

He entered the classroom with quiet irritation, and the low murmur of unfamiliar voices further intensified it.

“First day?” asked a boy sitting beside him, wearing the new uniform.

“Yeah, and probably the worst one so far.”

The boy laughed lightly. “Don’t worry, first days are always like this. You will get along. I am Aabid, by the way,” the boy said, extending his hand.

“I am Ali,” Ali replied, shaking it briefly.

Before anything else could be said, the teacher entered the classroom.

“Good morning, class. Today, we are going to learn advanced algebra.”

Ali and Aabid quietly listened to the teacher and took notes on the lecture. After the class, Ali asked Aabid with a gloomy face, “Did you understand anything?”

“Not completely, but I will go through it again,” Aabid shrugged.

“What’s the point? We haven’t even revised the previous concepts. How could we possibly understand this?” Ali grumbled.

“You can ask questions from the teacher if you didn’t understand,” suggested Aabid.

“Well, frankly speaking, I don’t even know what I didn’t understand,” said Ali in frustration.

Days passed, but Ali’s complaints didn’t. They kept increasing, such as, “this homework is difficult and ridiculous,” “teachers don’t teach well” or “the teacher is very fast-paced.” He even thought his father shouldn’t have transferred here.

Meanwhile, Aabid kept working hard without ever complaining. He also used to sit in the library study and catch up on things.

After some time, the result of the midterm examination was announced.

“Excellent job, Aabid. You get an A grade,” said the teacher. “Ali, you need to work hard; you barely passed.”

“Actually, I couldn’t study properly as my relatives were staying at our house at the time of the examination,” said Ali defensively.

“Well, you had better study for the final, otherwise you will fail,” warned the teacher.

The next day, when the teacher asked for the homework, Aabid opened his bag and paused in shock. He tried searching again, but couldn’t find the homework notebook.

“Ma’am, I guess I have forgotten my notebook at home,” Aabid said nervously.

“This is disappointing. Be careful next time,” the teacher said sternly.

Aabid lowered his gaze and said nothing. He was feeling ashamed, disheartened and irresponsible at the same time.

At break time, when the class was empty, Ali quietly opened Aabid’s bag and was about to put the notebook back when suddenly Aabid arrived at the door. Ali got frightened and ashamed.

Aabid, instead of shouting at him, quietly asked, “Why did you do that?”

Ali paused for a moment and then replied, “You always get praised and I always get scolded. I just wanted to see, for once, how you would feel when you got scolded.”

Aabid instantly realised that it was envy, but instead of confronting Ali directly, he responded, “If you are struggling with learning a concept and understanding a topic, maybe you should study more.

Or if you want, we can study together, as it would be easier for you.”

Ali was astonished, “You are not angry?” he asked.

“Will that work? Of course not. It will only increase hard feelings between us,” Aabid said.

Ali felt ashamed. From the next day onward, they both started studying together in the library.

The final exams arrived and everyone did their best. Eventually, the results came out. Aabid came in the top three, while Ali secured excellent marks just a few points below him, securing his own good position. On a positive note, Ali felt delighted and grateful. They kept studying together in the next class as well.

One day, Ali asked Aabid how he could be such an optimistic and solution-oriented boy at such a young age.

Aabid replied, “My family is not well off to afford this school’s fees. But because I love to study, I secured a position and got a scholarship. So, to maintain it and get a good education, I work hard. If I don’t find solutions to these obstacles and start complaining, it would be me who would lose in the end.”

Ali became emotional, remembering what he had done to such a humble person. He gracefully hugged Aabid and said, “I am sorry, and thank you so much.”

Published in Dawn, Young World, June 20th, 2026