Everybody was extremely excited!! It was their farewell. Four years of fun, hardniversity. Carla and Jen were childhood besties and the most popular girls. Jen was the hyper-active one, work and competition had finally come to an end. Lots of memories were created in Crayford Ualways ahead in all the cultural activities, very expressive and made friends instantly. Carla was rather a calm one who excelled in academics. She was reserved, but you can hear her name on top of the list of rankers in any quiz or test. As they say opposite poles attract, these both became friends immediately.

They got ready for the farewell. Both of them looked as ravishing as ever. They reached the party and found dj booming out of a corner. There were games and snacks. It was a perfect party. Little did they know that it would be a not so perfect day in their lives.

Jen was having fun. She laughed and danced and talked with all her other friends. While Carla , though she liked the atmosphere, felt a little lonely. As she was sipping her drink, she saw Jen talking to somebody and she heard her name a couple of times. She wondered why would Jen talk about her with somebody who looked like….. Omg is that her enemy.. Sure it was. It was Paris. Her “all time favourite” enemy. But why was Jen talking to her.

She had told Jen to stay away from Paris. What was she doing? Anger raged inside her. She wanted to know everything. Curiosity ate her up. Carla went towards Jen who was now talking to somebody else. That’s when she heard Paris calling her a shy ass. Carla controlled her fumes. Then she started calling her a puppet in Jen’s hand. Paris also said that Jen always protected her and that she will never know what Jen talks behind her. That’s when it struck Carla.

Was it Jen who told Paris all this? Did she really mean it? There were tears in her eyes. She felt defeated. She fled towards the door. Few minutes later, jen came behind her and asked what had happened?

Without even trying to act calm Carla burst out, “What do you think you are doing Jen? I am not a puppet in your hand. I don’t need your protection. I can deal with my own life. To hell with you .”, and she left

Jen found it all hard to comprehend. She didn’t understand a word Carla blurted out. What was she even talking about. She had come out behind Carla when she saw her running towards the door. And now she is acting way too weird for her to understand and act accordingly. But Jen, being the egoist she was, Didn’t bother to run after Carla, not after what she said.

That night after the party Jen tried to recall all the incidents that happened. Paris trying to have a conversation with her, telling her she wanted to know more about Carla, so that they can mend their relationship. But she just told her that Carla was a bit sensitive, but very sensible. She also told her that Carla would definitely accept her apology. Then she remembered her best friend yelling at her frantically and fleeing away. Jen thought she had acted foolish. She was a bit mad at her. She waited for Carla to make the next move herself.

After a few days, she met Carla at a supermarket. Carla’s anger had subdued, but not Jen’s. It actually grew as Carla had not even tried to call her after the incident. She ignored her. Carla went behind her and asked what the matter with her was?

This threw off Jen. She shouted back, “What is the matter with you Carla. You get angry, you yell at me. You leave the party. You don’t call me back and you are asking me what is the matter with me. I pity you. You have no control over your emotions. Yes!! Paris was right. You let people puppet you. You are fragile Carla.

” Carla didn’t find words to say. She found herself saying, ‘I don’t want to talk to you anymore. I thought you were my friend. I thought you could understand me. Did you ever ask how lonely I felt when you left me alone and enjoyed with your other friends? You will never understand. That is because you are a self-obsessed freak.”

“ You know what, I told Paris, you were a puppet in my hand”, was all Jen said.

Carla had been sure all this while that Paris had just exaggerated and Jen would never say such a thing. But hearing what Jen said, she couldn’t believe her ears.

Same was with Jen. With every passing minute, she felt all the more terrible for lying to her only best friend.

All the classes came to an end. But Jen and Carla still couldn’t overcome their fear or as I call it their ego to confront each other and mend their mistakes.

What had been a terrible misunderstanding turned to be a scar in both their lives. Now who is wrong? Jen or Carla?

I would say both of them. .

Creating misunderstandings are the terrible talents we teenagers especially have. Why can’t we ever get our words straight? We think of saying one thing and come out saying something else altogether Why is that we feel our parents don’t understand us? Are they right? Are we unbelievably stupid? Do we really need to grow up and act our age as they say it?

Well I might not have an answer for all these questions but one thing I can say for sure. SORRY is that one small word that can bring two worlds together. It can heal the deepest of the deepest wounds. Saying sorry doesn’t make a person insignificant, instead he grows as a proper human being.

Same is the case with silence. As they say silence is gold. When you are silent you will make an effort to understand the other person’s agony. You will understand his point of view.

“Most of the problems of the world stem from linguistic mistakes and simple misunderstandings. Don’t ever take words at face value. when you step into the zone of love ,language as we know it becomes obsolete. That which cannot be put into words, can only be grasped through silence” –The Forty Rules of Love.

Kunde Sanjana