Mrs. Baxter drew the curtains slightly so that she could look out the window. Her 16-year-old daughter Stephanie had snuck out of the house a couple of hours ago and Mrs. Baxter anxiously waited for her to come home. As soon as she spotted her daughter walking slowly towards the house, she opened the door and stood on the porch with her arms crossed.
“Stephanie! Where have you been?” demanded the girl’s mother. “Do you know what time it is?”
“Um, 10:30?” the girl asked nervously.
“It’s midnight!” the mother exclaimed. She held the door open and motioned for Stephanie to enter. “Get inside now!” The girl obeyed and Mrs. Baxter shut the door. “This is the second time you have come home way past your curfew. Do you realize I was almost ready to call the police?”
Stephanie apologized and tried to explain. “I’m sorry, Mum, but Sasha wanted me to go with her to the pub to find her brother. She didn’t want to go alone.”
Mrs. Baxter looked accusingly at her daughter. “You were out with Sasha? I thought you said you were going to the cinema with your friends. I can’t believe you lied to me! I thought I told you that I didn’t want you to have anything to do with that girl. And what were you doing at the pub? Didn’t I tell you I don’t want you to go anywhere near that place? The pub is not a suitable place for young girls. It’s dangerous.”
“But Mum, I told you that I went there with Sasha to find her brother,” Stephanie argued. “I didn’t do anything wrong. Sasha thought her brother might be in trouble and she wanted to find him.”
Mrs. Baxter shook her head and sighed wearily. “I don’t know what happened to you, Stephanie. You never acted like this before. You always followed my rules and you always came home on time. Now you don’t listen to a word I say since you met that Sasha girl. Stephanie, that girl is a bad influence on you and I don’t want you to hang around with her anymore. Do you understand?”
“But Mum, she’s my friend!” the girl argued.
“You think that girl is your friend?” Mrs. Baxter asked in disbelief. “If Sasha was your friend, she would never encourage you to lie and sneak out of the house. A friend would not force you to break the rules or put you in a dangerous situation. Sasha is not really your friend. I will say it again, Stephanie, I don’t want you to hang around that girl anymore. Do you hear me?”
“That’s not fair! I was only trying to help my friend,” Stephanie complained.
“That girl is not your friend,” Mrs. Baxter replied. “One day she will ask you to do something that goes against your conscience that could get you in trouble.”
“No, Sasha wouldn’t do that to me. She’s my friend,” said Stephanie.
“That’s enough!” Mrs. Baxter exclaimed. “You are grounded for a week. You have to come straight home from school and you are not allowed to go anywhere else. Get upstairs right now and get ready for bed. You have school tomorrow.”
Stephanie groaned and muttered under her breath as she stomped up the stairs to her room.
A couple of days later Sasha called Stephanie on her mobile phone.
“Hi Steph, I really need your help. Can you meet me at my house in ten minutes?” Sasha sounded desperate.
“Listen, Sasha,” Stephanie explained, “I would really like to help you, but my mum said that I cannot hang around with you anymore. She already punished me for going out with you to the pub and for staying out late. If I come to meet you now, Mum might find out and I would be in even bigger trouble than I am now.”
“Stephanie, please, I really need you to help me,” Sasha pleaded. “I wouldn’t have called you if I didn’t need you. I promise I won’t ask you to do anything else for me ever again, but I really need you to come over to my house right now. You’re the only one I can trust.”
Stephanie sighed. “Okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Thanks a lot, Steph,” Sasha replied gratefully.
About 30 minutes later Stephanie arrived at Sasha’s house and knocked loudly on the door.
Sasha opened the door a crack and seeing that it was Stephanie she opened the door a little wider and said, “Hi Steph. Come in, quick.”
What’s going on, Sasha?” Stephanie asked as the girl hastily shut the door. “It’s so dark in here. Why do you have all the curtains drawn?”
“You’ve got to do me a big favor, Stephanie.” Sasha explained, “My brother got arrested this morning.”
Stephanie opened her eyes wide in shock. “Arrested? Why? What did he do?”
“The police caught him selling drugs at the pub,” Sasha replied.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Sasha, but what do you need me to do?” the girl asked.
Sasha picked up a black duffel bag and handed it to her friend. It was very heavy. “I want you to take this bag home and put it in a safe place where no one will find it.”
“It’s very heavy,” Stephanie remarked as she rested the bag on the floor. “Why do you want me to take it home? What’s in it?”
“That’s not important,” said Sasha, as she avoided her friend’s gaze. “Just hold it for me and I’ll come and get it tomorrow.”
“I’m not doing anything until you tell me what’s in this bag,” Stephanie replied firmly.
“Okay, okay,” said Sasha impatiently. “It’s a couple of thousand dollars worth of weed.”
“What? Are you crazy? I can’t take that home with me!” Stephanie exclaimed.
“Shush! Keep your voice down,” Sasha hissed. “Please Stephanie,” she begged, “if you don’t help me the police will come and search the house and they’ll find the drugs. They might arrest me too. Do you really want that on your conscience?”
Stephanie remained firm. “I’m sorry, Sasha, I can’t. This is wrong. I can’t believe you would ask me to help you to break the law! I thought I was your friend.”
“You are my friend, Steph,” Sasha insisted. “You’re the only person I can trust. That’s why I asked you to help me.”
Stephanie replied, “If I was really your friend, you wouldn’t ask me to do something illegal. You wouldn’t have made me leave home without my mother’s permission, especially when you know that I am being punished. My mum was right. I don’t think I ever was your friend. You were just using me. You know, Sasha, a person does not try to get their friend in trouble.”
Sasha glared coldly at her. “Well, if you’re gonna have that kind of attitude then you can just leave. Get out! I don’t need you! I can do this by myself.”
As Stephanie walked away, she knew from that day that her friendship with Sasha had officially ended.
Stay away from so-called friends who try to get you to do things that go against your conscience. These friends are a bad influence and they can destroy your life while they destroy their own.
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