Declaration

Without friends, who would be there to dry your tears after a bad breakup or eat all your ice cream in the fridge on the weekends? Certainly, not your parents. But that’s what friends are for. They are there to listen to you when no one else will and they will always be there to just hang out. Everyone should have friends in life; they keep us all sane.

I chose to do the concept of friendship because of a very special friend in my life. We may be more than half the world away, but the friendship is still there. When we first met, she was an exchange student from South Korea living in my house. I thought it would be awkward at first having some stranger living with me, but it wasn’t and that’s when I knew something was there. I never felt uncomfortable or awkward and I could just be myself.

The day she had to go back home, was the saddest day of my life. I’ve learned not to take friendship for granted because looking back, I see how much she really ment to me. We would spend everyday together and I always had a friend by my side. Anais Nin once said, “Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new is born.” Our worlds had not changed until we met. Now, we are living in a new one with eyes of different perspectives. Without her friendship, I don’t know where I would be today.

Narrative #1

Annunciation

By Raphael Soyer

That day, my sister learned the true meaning of friendship. It’s not that she didn’t before, but now she saw it differently. We were always close, only one year a part. Some never believed we were sisters. Lily had crisp auburn hair while mine was as black as the nighttime sky. We were similar in size but different in taste. Rarely did we share clothes.
Being the oldest, I always felt Lily got more than I did. She had the nicer clothes and way more freedom. In a way, I was jealous. That’s when I found the perfect gift for myself that would even impress Lily.
It was late afternoon one warm summer day, a week before my birthday, and my mother and I were shopping in town. The sun was just setting in the west, hitting our faces at the right angle, when I saw it hanging in the window of old Mrs. McNeil’s shop. It was absolutely adorable and I had to have it.
“See that powder blue dress in the window over there?” I said, pointing out exactly what I wanted.
“Yes I do,” my mother replied.
In the sweetest voice I could conjure, I asked, “Could I go try that on, mother? It would be the perfect gift for my birthday coming up.”
“I suppose. Let’s go see,” my mother said, giving in to my charm.
We crossed the narrow two-way street and entered the shop. After speaking with Mrs. McNeil, she gently took the dress off the rack and placed it in my hands. It could have been like handing me a million dollars, I was that thrilled.
The moment I slipped the dress on, I knew that was it. The way the dress fit felt like Cinderella’s shoe. We were buying it, no questions asked. My mother agreed I could have it for my birthday. She also agreed that it looked quite fit on me.
I returned home in pure excitement to show my sister my new dress. We may not have the same style but I knew she too would not be able to resist this one. I found her lying on her lavender bed spread reading Pride and Prejudice.
“You’ll never believe what I got Lily!” I said. Without waiting for a reply, I quickly whipped out the dress from the bag, waving it in her face rapidly.
“Wow let me see,” Lily said, getting up to take a better look. The way her brown eyes were starting to widen told me she liked what she saw.
“This is really something,” she said. “It’s very nice.” And with that, she laid back down and continued to read. Normally, I would have stayed to continue to nag her, but it was evident she didn’t want to talk any more. Besides, I had a new dress to gloat about to my friends.
A few days passed where I tried to wear the dress everyday. Finally, on the third day, my mother begged me not to. Reluctantly, I agreed to hang it up in my closet. That night, Lily went out with some friends while I had the joy of staying home and playing Scrabble with my parents. The next morning when I opened my closet to get dressed for the day, I noticed the most horrific sight ever! My dress that had the color of the ocean was now stained with the color of tomatoes. How could this of happened? I hadn’t worn it at all the day before. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions, so I didn’t immediatly blame Lily. After all, she saw how much I loved the dress. Our friendship was too good to ruin over something like this.
Furious with the state of my dress, I confronted my mother. She didn’t want to point fingers either, but she decided it would be best to see if my sister knew what had happened.
It didn’t take long for Lily to confess. She broke down showering tears everywhere. She kept repeating how sorry she was and that it was an accident. I forgave her, but a question that bothered me was, why? Why did she do it knowing I admired that dress?
The incident really tampered our relationship for a few days. We eventually talked it over and I learned the true meaning behind her actions. Lily said she had liked the dress a lot but didn’t know if I would let her borrow it. She saw how much I loved it. That was when she decided to steal it. She didn’t intend to ruin the dress, only wear it that night and return it in the morning.

But things ended differently.
Lily and I may be sisters but we are also friends. The biggest importance I have with friendship is honesty and that is the biggest lesson we both learned. We now know that we can be honest with each other about no mater what. Even silly things like staining each others clothes or asking to borrow them. The funny thing is, if Lily had asked to borrow the dress, I would have said yes.