Write about a time when you formed an unexpected friendship with a very unlikely character in

school.

The room was dimly lit and only had a single window situated overhead, allowing the beams of

sunlight to stream in slowly. The room was aloft and the cacophony of sounds produced by the air

conditioning systems drowned the noise streaming in from the four corners of the school. That was

my sanctuary of peace, my lone favourite place in school.

I was an introvert, hardly socialising and constantly bottled up my feelings, never showing signs of

emotions, as I held a belief that people who openly show their emotions are weak. I always faded

into the background during group activities, and a sometimes teacher even forgets my name. I was

estranged from and had an aversion to all social norms. I turned a deaf ear to my parent desperate

pleas to socialise and behave like an ordinary teenager.

The sanctuary of peace known as the roof access to most was my hideout in school. It was the most

isolated place in school where hardly anybody visits. I prided myself on keeping this place a secret

for the longest time. It was not particularly difficult, considering I hardly communicate.

Therefore, there I was sitting on the steps, contemplating on why many people held such a high

regard for their materialistic possession. Out of the blue, I heard wails coming from below. I was

taken aback.

“Nobody ever comes here,” I thought to myself.

I peeked down through the rails. There I saw a girl in distress, crying profusely as she ran up the

stairs. My brains instantaneously started devising a plan to escape, but could not thing of any. I was

in distraught. Questions were racing through my head. What was I going to do now? What was I

going to say to her? ...

My heart palpitated uncontrollably, as I met face to face with the girl. Her stare bore through my

heart, causing me to empathise for her. When she wiped her tears away with her blouse, I was

shocked to realised it was Jane.

Jane was the most popular girl in school, affluent and intelligent. She was an elite in the school. She

shuns away from ordinary folks and despises freaks like me. In addition she only hangs out with

those she feels are on par with her in terms of popularity. Hence it was odd that she was at my

sanctuary.

Moments later, Jane broke down into tears again. I was in a dilemma, one part of me wanted to help

console her, while the other wanted me to escape the situation. My conscience as it turns out was

not debauched and seared, it made me stay. I kneeled down and began showing some care and

concern for her. Having an emotional quotient of zero, I caused her to feel worse on a few occasions

due to my insensitivity.

After she calmed herself down, I asked her why she was here.

“I was here to ... to ...think things clearly... I am broke...my friends...they all left me in the lurch” She

said in a hoarse voice as her throat dried up from the large amount of tears shed.

I decided to probe no further, preventing a repeat of what had happened earlier on.

Soon, I began to get comfortable with the idea of socialising with people. Gone were the days where

I was void of socialising, and all things concerning it. I had the opportunity of having a chat with her

and learnt that she was never happy with all the hypocrites which surrounded her, but had to go

along with it to make sure that she was “cool”. I also shared with her that being lonely was not all

that fun either.

We met at my sanctuary every day after school, and I even renamed it to, Sanctuary of Hope. We

were soon close acquaintances. She was the unlikeliest person in the world to be my best friend ,

but she is. Miracles do happen.