Someone who disappointed me

She was my soul mate, my childhood buddy. Lily and I grew up together. I remember the first time we met in a kindergarten and became friends at once. There were no secrets between us and she was the first one I would always turn to whenever I was in trouble. She was always supportive and helped me in whatever way she could. I reciprocated in the same manner.

Things were as good as one could wish until one day, which changed my attitude towards her and left a dent in my heart.

It was our final day for the submission of the assignment our professor had given to us. I worked hard to complete the assignment in time and had to put in extra efforts at night so as to complete it. Next morning my mom came to wake me up for the university and found out that I had a fever. I felt weak and there was no way I could go to the university, but I was worried about the assignment I had to submit, as I could lose a year because of that. My mom suggested that I could give my assignment to Lily and she could give it to the professor. Lily was right in time like everyday. She was a bit worried seeing me in such a bad state. I handed my assignment to her. I had to stay home for 2 days before I was strong enough to go back to university. I was waiting for Lily to come. It was getting late and she didn't appear, so I called her to find out where she was. Her mom told me that she had already left. I was a little disappointed; however my dad drove me to the university. As soon as I arrived, I saw Lily giggling and chatting with some girls, and to my surprise she was chatting with the girls whom we used to avoid talking to because of their bad nature. I took my seat quietly and we did not speak a word. The lesson began and the professor came in with already checked assignments. Everyone was tense and I was confident that, as usual, I got a high grade.

I got my paper back and the professor was a little angry with me. To my great astonishment I had failed the assignment. I could not believe it, I was almost all in tears. I kept sulking and didn't understand why I got such a low grade. I had been preparing that assignment throughout the previous month by putting in all the details I could. I was waiting for the professor to complete the distribution of papers. Then she announced that Lily topped the group with the highest grade. I could see how happy she was and at the same time I felt so miserable. However I tried to calm down and congratulated her. She was a little indifferent to me and acted as if she had won a Noble Prize. When the lesson was over I went up to the professor so as to find out why exactly I got such a low grade.

The professor knew I was a brilliant student and that I always topped the class; however she was very disappointed at the way I had written the assignment. She started reading the assignment to me. Somehow the words sounded unfamiliar to what I had written. I was confused. I asked the professor to stop reading and I wanted to have a look at the paper. It did not look like my handwriting at all, but my name was clearly written on it. It was very obvious that someone had changed the paper. I guessed who it could be, but somehow I tried to assure myself that I was wrong .I told the professor to give me some time to find out what was wrong. She was even surprised herself that all of a sudden my handwriting had changed so much.

I went up to Lily and asked her to show me her assignment. She was reluctant to give it to me, and I had no option but to grab it from her hands. There it was: word for word my assignment with Lily's name written at the top. My disappointment had no limits; I asked her why she had done it. She was unmoved and indifferent; she did not even have enough audacity to say sorry. I could obviously see that she had changed: she was no longer the friend I had known for years. I took my paper and went to the professor so as to show it to her and explained the whole situation to her. She also recalled that it was Lily who handed her two papers. She understood the whole situation and called Lily. Lily admitted that she had changed the papers since she had not completed the assignment in time. Moreover: she confessed that she was also a bit jealous that I always got higher grades than her. I could not believe that she would ever think like that.

I was really disappointed that I lost a friend that day, but all that was a good lesson for me : it made me think and re-evaluate my criteria of calling someone a real friend .