Dinma looked so mean the first day I set my eyes on her that I concluded that she was a spoilt brat. Of all the girls in high school, I naturally didn't want to mingle with her because of that.
One day at school, Mr. Kodjo, our biology class teacher, gave us an assignment to go look for a specimen for one of our practicals, and Dinma was in my group. "Oh no. I felt very upset because I knew it was going to be hard to work with a girl I didn't just fancy. "Can I work with someone else?" I politely asked Mr. Kodjo, who gave me a stern look. "You must work with whom I have paired you with!"
From that moment on, I knew I had no other choice but to start up a conversation with Dinma: "When are we going to look for the cow's horn?" I reluctantly asked her. "Let's do it over the weekend; I am usually less busy by then," Dinma replied casually as she walked out of the class since the period was over.
The weekend arrived, and at about noon, we headed out as we began our journey of searching for the cow's horn as a specimen for our biology practical. We were both quiet for the first 30 minutes, but eventually, Dinma broke the silence and said, "Do you care for ice cream?" The sun is frigging hot." She politely asked me, "Yes, of course." I replied immediately, and then we dashed to the closest eatery to calm our nerves. While having the ice cream, we started a random discussion, and before you know it, Dinma laughed for the first time in my presence, which created a very beautiful impression in my head.
"Tell me more about yourself," I requested. She wore a very beautiful smile as she began to tell me things I never knew about her, some of which I could resonate with, and many others were like we had so many things in common that I felt guilty for a moment and couldn't hide it any longer. "Oh no, Dinma, I am so sorry to have judged you without getting to know you," I pleaded because Dinma was a very sweet soul from the conversation we had. "It's fine; I am used to people judging me by how mean I look." She replied, still wearing her smile, as we held hands and headed out of the eatery to continue our search for the specimen.
That day was the start of something beautiful, the once mean girl I knew became the sweetest soul ever, As time went by I came to realize that Dinma was way different from how she looked, very calm and collected, well-mannered, very caring and honest.
Our friendship waxed stronger, and to this day, she is one of my dearest friends, even after so many years have passed I can't help but thank Mr. Kodjo for bringing us together on that particular day in search of a specimen for our biology practical.