The girl who changed my life

I don’t know what suddenly reminded me of her __ it just struck me, all of a sudden, that perhaps I wouldn’t be where I am right now if it wasn’t for her.

***

Long back, when I was in Grade Four, I was considered a good-for-nothing kid, who neither knew nor cared about her studies. All my teachers had given me up as hopeless, and mom decided to put me in a new school, hoping that a change of atmosphere would change my attitude.It was there that I met her, a tall, bespectacled girl, standing in front of the classroom with her parents.

 As I made to get inside, her mother walked up to me and said that her daughter, Sophie, was a new girl here too, she was a slow learner, she would need help to cope up in school, and would I be kind enough to be her partner and help her out. She was so earnest that I could do nothing but accept, trying hard not to think about the fact that I myself needed all the help I could get.

I went in, shocked at what I had just committed myself to.She followed me, and sat beside me. I looked at her. Her uniform was perfect, not a single crease anywhere; she wore such thick glasses that her eyes were magnified to more than twice their normal size; anyone who looked closely at her would say that her mother’s care was visible upon her person.

As the day passed, I noticed that she was unusually quiet, with an occasional smile, and became increasingly fidgety as time passed. But none of the teachers seemed to mind the fact she never paid full attention in class, or that she was far too slow in taking notes. After some time, it struck me : she wasn’t like us. Her parents, knowing that she should, sometime or the other, go to a special school, were trying to give her a normal life. It was then that I made up my mind __ I would help her get through this, whatever it took.

***

My mother would have been surprised at my sudden enthusiasm in studies. I would pay full attention in class so that I could explain to Sophie later. I would complete my notes and give my books for her to take home, since she couldn’t write as fast as the rest of the class. I’ld feel guilty if I didn’t go to school for a single day. She was a sensitive thing, and I was protective. After all, she was my responsibility.

Two weeks before the final exams, her mother came to pick her up from school. She came up to me; thanked me profusely, then confessed to me that on the first day, when she had asked me to help Sophie, she really didn’t think I would. She said that in the previous schools, no one had helped her, though she had asked many of them to. “Sophie was very happy here, since she knew she had a friend.” Before leaving, she told me that they were planning to put her in a special school next year.

The last time I saw Sophie, she was sitting in her mother’s car, waving to me, with one of her rare smiles; not knowing that this would be last time she saw me. Trying hard to control my tears, I waved back.

***

But the influence Sophie had on me was profound. Unconsciously, she taught me more than I had ever taught her. She helped unearth my potential, rediscover myself, and taught me to experience the little joys of life. At the end of the year, I was among the top students in my class, thanks to Sophie.

I am forever indebted to her.