F Is for Friendship: Best Friend Ever
| January 17, 2018
T
he first time Henny sidled over to my desk during recess and asked if she could borrow my Chumash sheets to photocopy because she was absent the day before, I actually felt pretty honored.
“Your handwriting is stunning and I know you always have the answers filled in,” she said, in her sweetest voice.
I felt so flattered inside that the most popular girl in my class was borrowing my notes, that without thinking twice, I took my Chumash sheets out of my loose-leaf and handed them to her.
“Just make sure you give them back today,” I said, “because we’re having a test tomorrow and I need to study.”
“Of course,” Henny said.
She took my sheets, I took a bar of chocolate out of my bag, and I forgot all about Henny and my sheets. (An Encore bar can do that to you.)
But that night when I sat down to study, I discovered that my Chumash sheets were not in my loose-leaf. I tried calling Henny about 15 times, but the phone rang and rang with no answer.
Finally, Penina called me and offered to study with me over the phone, which was nice, but it wasn’t the same as actually having my sheets.
So you better believe that the next morning I got to school early, ready to give Henny a piece of my mind, but when I got to my classroom, she was nowhere to be found. Her knapsack hung on the back of her chair but she was gone. Like she’d disappeared into thin air. She slipped into the classroom together with my teacher and was practically out of the room as soon as the recess bell rang, but I got to her before she reached the door.
“Henny,” I said. My fingers squeezed the chocolate bar in my hand. “Uh…” I said, as the speech I had prepared slipped out of my mind.
Henny smiled and tossed her long, blond hair over her shoulder. “Yeah?” she asked.
“Um,” I said again. “I think you still have my Chumash sheets.”
Henny wrinkled her forehead. “Your Chumash sheets?” she asked as a gaggle of girls began to crowd around her.
“Yeah,” I said and my fingers started twisting the way they usually do when I’m surrounded by the most popular girls in my class. “The ones I gave you yesterday. I don’t think you gave them back.”
My words were swallowed in the shrieks of excitement that followed another classmate’s — Chany’s — announcement that she was getting glasses.
Henny glanced over her shoulder as she dashed to Chany, one of her closest friends.
“Yeah, I think they’re in my knapsack or something,” she said.
And just like that she was gone.
My fingers shook a bit as I looked through her bag for my sheets. I found them, crumpled, behind her folder, with the bottom of one of them missing.
I felt like rocks had fallen in my stomach as I took them back to my seat and straightened them out as best as I could.
I didn’t do so well on my Chumash test that day.
But that didn’t stop me from saying yes to Henny again, two days later, when she plopped onto the bench next to me at lunch and said, “I’m totally gonna fail that science test!”
I had just taken a bite of my peanut butter-and-chocolate spread sandwich and I chewed desperately so I could answer her before I sounded like a complete fool. With a lump of food clogging my throat, I said, “I’m sure you’re not going to really fail.”
Henny’s green eyes opened so wide, I was afraid they would actually pop.
“Oh, yes,” she said. “I really think I will.”
I turned to my sandwich. The chocolate spread was literally calling my name. Henny grabbed my arm and my sandwich tumbled into my lap and onto the floor.
“Unless,” she said — and she put her face really close to mine and made her eyes into puppy eyes — “You come to my house tonight to help me study?”
My brain froze.
“To your house?” I asked.
She nodded. “I’ll make popcorn.”
I forgot about my sandwich.
“And we have tons of chocolate.”
“I’m sure you do,” I said and I knew my face was shining.
“So you’ll come?” she asked.
For half a second I thought about the big science test the next day and the fact that Penina and I had decided to study together over the phone.
“I’ll be there,” I said.
Henny literally threw her arms around me.
“Oh, you’re the best, best, best!” she trilled.
I smiled.
“Oh sure, no problem,” I said, but I don’t know if she heard me because she was off and running to join her friends across the lunchroom.
Penina, when I told her I was going to Henny’s that night, said, “Really? Are you sure that’s something you want to do?”
I looked at her.
“You mean you’re not sure if I should want to get together with Henny?” I asked.
Penina shrugged.
She’s just jealous, I thought. And maybe worried that I might drop her for Henny.
That night, before I went to Henny’s house, I organized all of my science notes. I numbered and photocopied them so Henny would have a set of her own. Then I wrote a list of review questions and a clear summary of everything we have to know.
Finally, just before I left my house, I snuck two Milk Munches into my bag,
“Study well,” my mother called as she dropped me off in front of Henny’s gorgeous house.
My fingers were actually shaking a bit as I rang the bell.
Two seconds later, Henny pulled the door open.
“Hey!” she called as she dragged me inside.
“Hi,” I said.
I clenched my knapsack as Henny grabbed my hand and pulled me after her into the basement.
“Come on,” she said. “All of the fun is down here.”
And that was a very true statement.
Scattered around her basement were six girls from my class, including Chany showing off her new glasses, and about 20 bags of nosh and chips.
“Uh, Henny,” I said, my voice swallowed in the noise. “What about studying?”
I knew as I spoke that I sounded like a total neb.
Henny just laughed.
“Studying can wait,” she said. “Now it’s time to party!”
And just like that, she bounced off to her friends, leaving me standing all alone on her basement steps.
I stood around for about half an hour, hoping one of the girls would actually notice me and invite me to join their conversation. Maybe, I thought, they would actually get around to studying. When neither of those things happened, I slipped upstairs and asked Henny’s mother if I could use the phone.
I called my mother who picked me up ten minutes later. She didn’t ask any questions, just drove me home as I slowly worked my way through two Milk Munches. By the time I got home, it was late and I was tired. The science test loomed over me like a mountain and I hadn’t studied one word.
There was just one thing I knew to do…
I picked up the phone.
Penina answered on the second ring. “Hey, friend,” I said.
Dear Diary,
They say true friends are few and far between. It’s true. Penina didn’t laugh or make a mean comment when I told her what happened at Henny’s house. She just said, “Yeah, that sounds tough.”
Then she said, “I already studied for the test, but if you want I can go through the notes with you again.”
Well, to be fully honest, I kinda promised her about 15 chocolate bars if she would help me. But that’s not why she spent the next 40 minutes on the phone with me.
She helped me study for my test, because she is the best friend ever.
Even if she isn’t the most popular girl in the class.
Lucky me,
Adina
(Originally featured in Mishpacha Jr. Issue 694)
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