Aside from family, true friendship is one of the best gifts anyone could ever ask for. Most people wouldn't have gotten to where they are if they hadn't made the right friends. Just as the saying goes, 'no man is an island'; humans need friends to survive at some point because we can't live alone.
"Jenny, what will become of me now?" Amelia cried out on my shoulder.
Amelia was my best friend and she had just heard the news of her mother's demise. She would stay up at night, crying and I'd try all I could to comfort her.
"Please Amelia, stop crying like this. You could get sick and things will only become worse." I said to her.
"How can I stop crying when I do not have anyone else in this world?" She asked me and sobbed.
"Who said you don't have anyone else in this world? How about me? You have me and you're not losing me anytime soon." I tried to comfort her but my words couldn't do much.
"What could you possibly do for me? Will you pay my fees?" She asked me and I honestly couldn't answer that question. "I thought so too." She said and sniffled.
"Amelia, your question is about the future. I'm glad that your fees have been paid before this tragedy struck. We'll be graduating from high school soon. Why don't we focus on that for now? Let the future think for itself." I said to her.
She stared at me for some time. I knew my advice wasn't going to help but I was relieved when she lay her head on my shoulder and slept off.
I felt bad for her. She had no one to turn to for help, as her mother was a single mom whose family ousted her because she got pregnant out of wedlock. The woman had been a great mom though. She made sure that Amelia got all she needed, she sent her to the best schools and she gave Amelia a good life. Now, with her dead, things would be hard for Amelia and this very thought broke my heart.
Months later, we both graduated from high school and I took her home with me. I had already pleaded with my parents to let her stay with us and they gladly accepted her into the family.
"Amelia, this is your home now. See Jenny as your sister and see us as your parents as well. We might not be able to give you the life you wish for, but we will try our very best to care for you." My Dad said to her.
"Thank you, sir. I appreciate you taking me in. Most people wouldn't want to do this seeing how bad the cost of living is in the country, but you did. Hopefully, I'll be able to thank you properly in the future." Amelia said and with that, my Dad patted her and left the room.
I shut the door after him and turned to see Amelia with a sad look on her face.
"Hey, what's with the frown? Ain't you happy to be here?" I asked her.
"Of course, I'm happy. We've always wanted to live together. It's a shame that it had to be this way." She replied.
"Everything will be fine. I promise." I comforted her.
Not long after we had returned home, I got admitted into the university and Amelia was sad with the thought of me leaving her for school.
"Amelia, you can't seriously think that I'll leave this house without you with me." I said to her.
"How do you mean? Are you going to reject the admission?" She asked me.
"No, I won't. But you'll live with me when I get there. I asked Dad to pay for an apartment so we both can live together there." I explained to her.
"But how can I be there when I'm not even a student? Wouldn't that be a crime?" She asked again.
"No, not at all." I replied, laughing. "You could even attend lectures without being a student." I offered more explanation and she seemed amazed by it.
"Whoa, that is very nice. I'm surely moving in with you." She said excitedly.
"Surely, you are." I responded.
Amelia and I moved into the apartment together, and she attended lectures with me. She would wake up the same time I did, we'll go for lectures together and return home exhausted afterward. One day, I had a thought for her future.
"Amelia, I think you should sit for JAMB (Joint Administration And Matriculation Board Examination) this year." I said to her in the early hours of the morning as we got ready to leave for lectures.
"Did your Dad say that?" She asked me.
"No. He might say it though, but that'll be later in the future and it'll take a long time to get there." I responded.
"So why are you asking me to take JAMB, when I have no sponsor?" She asked me.
"Take the JAMB first and leave the sponsoring to me. I'll figure something out." I said to her.
After much persuasion, she wrote the exams and being a brilliant girl, she passed and was admitted into my school.
"Jenny, now that I've gotten the admission, the easy part is done. How do I pay my fees?" She asked me.
I reached into the drawer and pulled out a bundle of money that I had been saving for a very long time.
"This is my life savings. It's not much, but it'll be able to get your acceptance fee paid, and also get you some textbooks for this semester." I said and handed the money to her.
Amelia was shocked. She neither said a word nor took the money from me. I had to push it into her hands.
"Jenny, why are you doing this for me?" She asked me, with her eyes already brimming with tears.
"You're my friend and friends help each other. I told you that I was going to be with you. Didn't I?" I responded.
"You did, but not like this. Asking your parents to take me in was already enough, but this........., I don't know what to say." She sniffled in an attempt to hold back her tears.
"How about 'Thank you, Jenny, you're the best, Jenny or I love you Jenny'. You could say those things instead." I said and she smiled at me.
"You already know that you're the best and more." She responded.
"Of course, I know that." I said and she laughed.
Amelia began life as a student and she was very happy. She smiled more often and she would laugh at the slightest of jokes that someone would make. It was good seeing her like that, so I sought ways to ensure that those smiles never faded. I started baking cakes and we would take them to our various lectures and make sales. This way, we were able to pay off her school charges before the exams started.
We kept doing this, and soon we became a known brand. People would hire us to bake cakes for their events and parties. This was a huge blessing for us because paying Amelia's fees was no longer a problem.
One day, the school held a competition for bakers with a scholarship as a reward. I was one year ahead of Amelia and paying the fees wasn't much of a problem for me, so I suggested that Amelia enroll for the competition.
"I can't do that, Jenny. It should be you, not me." Amelia frowned at the idea of her going to the competition in my stead.
"You can and you're going to do that. I have just two years to stay before I graduate. I don't need the scholarship but you could make use of one. See it as an opportunity for us to save for our futures. If you win this competition, we'll be able to keep the money we make from baking for ourselves." I said to her.
"What if I lose? She asked me.
"Why would you lose?" I retorted with a question.
"I don't know. There'll be tons of bakers for the competition. How will I beat them?" She asked in fear.
"You'll beat them because you're Amelia and it's not like you're going to be alone. I'll be there every step of the way and I'm confident that you'll win. Have some faith in yourself, Amelia." I responded.
Amelia went for the competition and with luck being on our side, she won and was rewarded with a scholarship that'll last till she graduates from the school.
She was overjoyed and I was happy too. It felt good to know that paying her fees wouldn't be a problem anymore and we could now use the money from our sales to take care of ourselves.
The school held a party for the winners of the competition and they were given opportunities to share their source of motivation. When it got to Amelia's turn, she took the mic and made me famous with her speech.
"Jenny has been more than a motivation to me. She's my guardian angel sent from God, himself. She's a friend, a sister and more to me." She said as she looked towards my direction.
"Can the person please come up to the stage?" One of the hosts said.
I stood up from my seat and went up to the stage. Amelia hugged me as I came close and I felt tears surging to fall out from my eyes.
"Thank you, Amelia. Could you not say anything else?" I whispered to her.
She smiled at me and shook her head, then she raised the mic again to her mouth.
"How can I not show the world the person who had shown me what friendship is all about? A person who had been with me on my rainy days. Jenny, anyone else could have easily butted out, but you were there for me. Words can't express my gratitude to you." She kept talking amidst tears.
"Thanks, Amelia. You're a great friend too and this is more than I could ever ask for. Thank you for the acknowledgment." I said to her. I was overwhelmed by powerful emotions and seeing everyone stare at us, made me want to cry out.
"My kids will hear the stories of all that you've done for me and they'll be friends with your kids as well. I'll tell everyone about the girl who chose to go through thick and thin with me, to see that I become a person in this life and till the end of time, we'll always be friends." She said and I could no longer hold the tears. I cried and left the stage to my seat.
The hall was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. People seemed to have gotten emotional from all that Amelia had said.
Indeed, we had gone through thick and thin together and the result was worth all the sweat.
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