"Hurry up, Elara! We're going to be late for school!" Elara's elder brother, Ellison, called out.
"Coming!" Elara exclaimed as she sprinted outside to where he stood calmly, his backpack hanging neatly over one shoulder.
"Okay, let's go," Ellison murmured, pushing one of his bangs away from his face.
They both drifted forward in silence, lost in thought about the day ahead.
Elara glanced at Ellison, and he softly beamed at her.
Elara grinned back, but with a lot more enthusiasm.
Ellison was the person Elara trusted the most, and she always went to him for advice before anyone else. He played the role of supportive elder brother perfectly.
When they arrived at the school gates, Elara waved goodbye to Ellison as she turned left.
"Goodbye, Elara!" Ellison's voice rang through Elara's head as she walked through the corridors.
She was a fifteen-year-old ninth grader who had just recently began high school, so she wasn't really used to the silence and the way everyone was discussing assignments and talking about studying in hushed voices.
She missed the chaos, but it was also more peaceful this way.
When she finally reached class, her classmate Juliet waved at her from the window.
Elara waved back, and stepped inside, sinking into her usual chair next to her friend, Dravena.
Dravena's face immediately lit up as she saw Elara, her lips stretching into an enthusiastic grin.
"Did you do your homework?" she asked without greeting, "I need to copy it."
Elara sighed as she handed Dravena her notebook, "Why do you always forget your homework, Dravena? Someday the teacher is going to find out you copy mine."
Dravena just grabbed the notebook, muttered, "Thanks, Elara," and began to scribble down Elara's answers into her notebook as if they were her own.
She didn't even hesitate for a second.
Dravena was like that.
In a few minutes, the maths teacher came in and smiled softly, her eyes looking eerily joyful.
"Class, do you remember that we have a test today?" she asked.
Everyone groaned—except Dravena and Elara.
Elara had spent all of last night studying for the test, but Dravena's confidence made no sense at all.
Dravena was the most forgetful person Elara knew.
She never even remembered her homework, how could she remember a test everyone else had forgotten about?
The teacher had announced the test a month ago. Elara's careful self had written down a reminder in her diary, but everyone else had apparently forgotten. But somehow, Dravena looked like she was perfectly prepared.
The teacher handed out the worksheets, and Dravena scooted closer, "I can copy your test, right?"
"What? No!"
Her question caught Elara off guard as she moved her test away from her.
Dravena's hands clenched, but she said nothing.
She remained surprisingly silent for the rest of the lesson, but during recess, she walked up to Elara, her eyes narrowed, her voice choked, "You didn't let me copy! What kind of a friend are you?"
She stormed off without waiting for Elara's reply.
This left Elara extremely stressed for the rest of the day, and when she went home, she told Ellison all about it.
He smiled sadly, "Everyone has fake friends in ninth grade, Elara. I did too. And just like you, I naturally got upset. One day I asked our parents about it, and you know what they said? Remember, you can't change the people around you, but you can change the people around you."
"What?"
"It means that you can't make your fake friends loyal, but you can always change your friends and the people that surround you."
"Oh,"
At night, Dravena's mean words kept ringing in Elara's mind, along with Ellison's advice. The next day, she walked into class as usual, but she took a deep breath before choosing her seat.
Ellison was right. Dravena's kindness was all because of greed. She had never been a true friend to Elara.
So that day, Elara sat alone. And even though it was lonely, her heart felt different.
Lighter, somehow.
A few days later, Juliet and her friends came up to Elara and talked to her for a bit.
They seemed nice.
But this time she checked whether they were really loyal. And then, she joined their group.
Fake friends are always frustrating, but we always have the option to walk away.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUnObTDeLgk
and then Add to home screen.