Have you ever attended a birthday party that turned out to be disastrous?
Have you trusted a friend who turned out to be more detrimental than an enemy?
Have you been in a situation where you felt numbness in your body?
Today I am going to share an incident that made me realize that friendship can destroy you. Friends can turn into enemies. They can take advantage. Friends can hurt you more than your enemies do.
When I was 14 at that time, we had moved into our new house. My school was 10 minutes of walking distance from my new house. When I moved in, I didn’t know anyone. I didn’t have any friends. There was a girl who lived opposite to our flat; she introduced herself as Priya. She was talkative, bubbly and modish.
My mom urged me to go and talk with and be friends with her. We discussed for almost an hour about our schools, tv shows, cartoons, Disney movies. It became a routine then she would knock on my door around 6 in the evening; we would either climb up to the terrace or sit in the parking to talk out our hearts. I was happy to find a friend. One fine day she asked me whether I had any crush or boyfriend or liked someone from the school. I laughed out and said, not really. I mean, I am still very young and would love to concentrate on my studies. She started laughing and exclaimed, everyone, has an infatuation stop sounding like toppers. I didn’t know how to react, so I kept quiet.
After a couple of days, she introduced me to her friend Princy. Princy was tall, fair, talkative. They studied in the same class they had a good bonding. Princy invited me to her and his twin Prince’s birthday party. It was awkward for me to react and accept the invitation. I excused myself, saying that I have to seek my parent’s permission, they both laughed at me. The next day Princy and Priya both arrived at my home and convinced my mom to permit me. My mom told me you are allowed to attend the party but, don’t be too late as this neighborhoods is new for us and we don’t know anyone, even if people appear to be good, we should be cautious as we don’t know their intentions.
I dressed in a green dress and went with Priya to Princy’s house. It was a bungalow; party songs were playing, and I could hear them from downstairs. Princy’s mom greeted us and informed us to go to the terrace as the party will soon start in 5 minutes. I noticed around 15-20 girls and boys holding their cool drinks glasses. Princy introduced us to her friends. After some time, Princy’s parents came upstairs with the cake and informed us to gather around in a circle; we started singing the birthday song, enjoying the siblings cutting the cake. Once the ceremony was over, Princy introduced me to her brother Prince.
He was tall and fair; anyone could identify the twins. Prince called me and started instigating me to his friends; everyone introduced themselves, I could hardly remember their names. He played the songs, and we started dancing in a circle. I relished every bit of it, Princy and Priya dragged me in the middle, and we danced together. Prince called me and asked me from which school I am. After answering a couple of questions, I turned to walk towards my friend; he pushed me to a guy. I was shocked by that behavior. I couldn’t look at the guy as he held me tightly; as soon as I gathered my composure, he pushed me to another guy. Everyone was laughing; no one rescued me. Priya and Princy were laughing too; they didn’t stop the guys. I was numb to react to anything. 5-6 boys pushed me to another like they were playing a game with some prop. It was only when Priya’s mom arrived looking for us the entire atmosphere turned sober.
It was 8 in the evening, and my parents were worried. Priya’s mom knew something fishy had happened. She looked at my face; she didn’t utter any word. She grabbed my hand and started walking downstairs. While returning home, we both didn’t talk. I was looking down, ashamed of what happened; the abusive behavior had taken the numbness. I was aware of the incident, yet I was speechless. I knocked at my door, my parents shouted at me for returning late. I was apologetic for my broken promise to return early at home. I had dinner silently without uttering a word from my mouth.
I cried the entire night, thinking how Priya enjoyed watching me getting abused. She was my friend; she could have saved me. She could have stopped the guys from misbehaving. She could have complained to their parents, but she didn’t; instead, she enjoyed it. For the whole week, I ignored her. One day my mom asked me that why I am not spending time with Priya? I excused that we were getting assignments from school and, need to complete homework too.
Priya wanted to play the game again; she knocked on my door after two weeks and told me she wanted to talk and clear the air. I told her I have homework; I won’t be able to make it. She begged for 5 minutes; she was a good actress too. I went outside and told her I am not interested in talking with her; I don’t want to carry the mask of friendship when I didn’t want to be with her. She was sorry for whatever happened; she said even Princy is sorry. Prince liked me, and that was a prank he played with me. I didn’t let her win this time. I announced it’s over and don’t come in front of me. If she continues, then I will reveal all her dirty secrets to her mom. She was terrified; she never thought that I could break our friendship. She underestimated my silence. I was too naïve to believe her. I blindly trusted her. For me, friendship meant everything. For her, pleasure meant everything. We parted our ways and never looked back.
P.S. Always be cautious in friendship. Friends are worse than enemies as they have hidden agendas. Enemies will hate you on your face, but friends who beat behind the back are dangerous.
ValorousSoul 