by Gulrukh Tausif

Created on: December 01, 2009   Last Updated: April 29, 2012

Farah was sitting in the kitchen going over the party list with her mother. The December exams were finally over and Farah wanted to invite her special friends for a get together.

"Farah, aren't you going to invite Hafsa?" her mother asked, scanning the list.

Farah looked uncomfortable. Hafsa had been her best friend since childhood but now Farah had made some new friends and had no time for the old ones.

"Mother, you know I am now a part of Purple Girls Club and we have some rules about people we can be friends with," Farah answered hesitantly.

"Really? And what sort of rules are they?" her mother asked a little sarcastically.

"Well only very pretty girls can be part of our group. Girls who are cool and wear trendy stuff and Hafsa is so ... you know... dark. I can't be seen around her. It's bad for my image."

"Farah, I cannot believe that you base your friendship on a person's skin color rather than her character and intelligence. I had expected better judgment from you than this nonsense," her mother retorted a bit angrily.

Farah lapsed into silence at her mother's anger. In her heart she knew that her mother was right. Sometimes she too felt uncomfortable with her new "ultra-cool" friends but being a part of such exclusive club was a privilege. Everybody envied their good looks and sophisticated manners. Yet, the purple girls could be rather rude and snobbish at times and acted haughtily.

As Farah left the kitchen, her father called out from the living room," Farah, come here for a second."

Farah went to her father and paled when he saw the report card in his hands. She knew she had not done well in her exams and had meant to hide the report card when it arrived.

"Farah, what has happened to your grades? You are barely passing in each subject and have failed in Mathematics. You were such a good student and I had such high hopes for you, my girl." Her father shook his head in bewilderment.

Farah had no answer. She loved her father very much and hated to see such look of disappointment in his eyes. The truth was that the activities of Purple Girls Club left her with very little time for studies. The girls got together almost daily for movies, shopping, trying on make-up, chatting and making crank calls to random boys. It had seemed like so much fun but now it left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"I'm waiting, Farah," her father said, but Farah just hung her head in shame and did not answer.

"Farah, it says in this note that you can appear for supplementary papers

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>