"What?" Paula shook her head as she flipped through her passbook. $93450. That was the exact sum. It definitely wasn't enough for the funeral overseas. It had been held there as it cost a hundred times cheaper, even though it was far from home. Her husband Johnny, had died in a car accident overseas. She had made an emergency trip with her family inclusive her extended family. The funeral cost $100000, a large sum especially for a family with financial difficulties. It cost an arm and a leg. It wouldn't be called a financial difficulty in any other family, but a family of seven, actually five. It was a catastrophe.

Her children studied in a public school, had to stay in trend, needed to have a good social media profile and so on. This made things a lot more worse. The youngest was thirteen, and all of them worked. They had their own savings to cover half of their entertainment or rather social expenses.

Now that Johnny had passed away, Paula had to carry the burdens of bringing up such a large family.

Shaking her head, Paula grabbed her passbook and car keys, and got into her car. At least she could claim insurance. In her car, she wept and soon reached a rundown mall, where she worked. There, she would work first, then withdraw $90000, to pay for the funeral. The other $10000 she would have to use her furniture to sell and pay for it.

"Ding dong," the doorbell in the shop rang, a tall man came in. His hair was gelled up, he wore a suit and pants cleaned and ironed.

"Hello Miss, do you know anyone by the name of Paula Mackenzie? I know her husband, Johnny Walter. He had an unfortunate accident," he said in an enchanting voice. Paula was still studying him, mesmerised by not only his looks but his voice too.

Regaining her senses, she said hurriedly,"Yes. Of course it's me." In her heart, she hoped that this handsome young man did not notice her making sneak peeks at him.

"I see. Mrs Walter, nice to meet you, I am Mr Fredrick Clinton. Mr Walter was a dear friend and senior to me. I was also stationed overseas to work with him. I had been invited to his funeral, however had not been able to make it due to personal reasons. I understand that you are tight in finances, yes?" he asked.

Paula was astonished at this time. What? Senior? Friend? I thought my Johnny was just a lowly banker. He earned huge sums as a banker with no experience but a bachelor degree in finance. He had changed jobs so often, that she couldn't keep track. So Johnny knew such a person. But is this person really trustworthy? A million of questions formed in her head.

"Well anyway, Johnny the senior banker in our company had a paycut for years. He was supposed to have it only for a month, but it carried on. Both of us fought for his rights, and now, he is getting his money back. However... He had an unfortunate death. So, legally, you will get the money. In case you're wondering, it is a large sum of half a million dollars."

"What!" Paula gasped in shock, large eyes and mouth agape. No wonder I thought Johnny was considered a lowly banker. He had a crazy lasting paycut.

"So, umm... the bank is asking where they should transfer this money to. If you would like to open a new bank account, we would give you ten percent interest as a compensation for not paying the right amount of money."

Paula finally replied,"I guess I will just open a new account then. Please transfer the money over. Here's my contact number." Grabbing a pen and paper from her bag, she scribbled her number down. As she put her pen back, she was mortified by the fact that her pad had been sticking out.

"Here," Fredrick said, passing her a business card from his wallet.

He then took leave and turned away.

This happened years ago, and currently Paula is living a comfortable life with a million dollars, as the bank had such a good interest rate. This stranger changed her life, and helped her husband who really didn't know about legal rights. She knew this as she always had to settle such things.

------------------------------------------------The End-------------------------------------------------

This is a story of a stranger who is actually a friend.

There are so many things that I am serious about.

Writing. Singing. Dancing. Sewing. Cooking...

The list could go on and on.

The things I am serious about come with a reason. Everything does. Otherwise, there is no meaning. For example, why am I so serious about showering? Because I want to be hygienic.

So I really desperately need money for studies. Studying well, has always been my dream. I am not ready to forgo my dream because of money. By studying, I mean the things that I choose that will help me out in life. Let me give you a clue, the things that I wrote earlier are the things I want to study and more.

So I am really serious. Please. Help me...

I miss you

When I look around me

I see you

Whatever I do

Whenever I do it

I think of you

I wish I could stop it

But all my mind and heart thinks of

Is you

Why did you have to leave

Why did you leave me alone

Why did you make me cry

Please help me to try

and stop my heart from hurting

and thinking of you

I just need you to say

I miss you too

There are so many things I want to run from

My Family

My Job

My weak body

My not-so-smart mind

And last but not least the reality of life

Run Run Run

But where can I run too

I try to hide

Behind the mountains

But everyone and everything just chases me

As I run out of breath

I slow down

And there goes my chance

To run away

There are so many things I want to run from

My Family

My Job

My weak body

My not-so-smart mind

And last but not least the reality of life

Run Run Run

But where can I run too

I try to hide

Behind the mountains

But everyone and everything just chases me

As I run out of breath

I slow down

And there goes my chance

To run away

When I look into the future

I wonder

Will I ever get to say goodbye

To the ones I love

What if I go away

Telling them I hate you

What can I do to make sure

My last word is good.

The last thing I want

Is to leave them in sorrow

So help me out

To make sure

My last word is good

"Gimme a smile," "Gimme a smile," the photographer said.

Forcing a smile, I thought about what Tasha said a day ago. Memories flooded back to me...

"Why are you hiding your true feelings?" Tasha screamed at me during oursleepover to celebrate our tenth friendship anniversarry.

"What are you talking about?"

" Everything! Don't you understand? Your life is yours. Nobody can interfere. You just let yourself get pushed about. Bullied. Hurt."

"What do you know about my choices? I just want everyone to be happy! How hard can that be?"

"Your effort is paying off then. Everyone is happy. So happy that they don't think about your feelings. They spill all their silly little secrets to you. Then they are happy they let it all out. Then what? You just stand there and hope that you won't say anything about it. This way no one can call you a disloyal friend."

"Why? Can't I make people happy? Don't you think making people happy is making me happy?"

"If that's the case, why do you always frown so much. Penny, you think I don't notice how you're feeling? I know everything. It's been thirteen years since I was born. You know ten years anniversary? I know how you feel. In fact, not a day has passed of me seeing you unhappy, and moody. As I go out of your room everyday, after our little chat, I can sense that you are worried that you said or did something wrong. I'm quite sure that's how you're feeling right now."

"Tasha calm down," I said tears rolling down my cheeks uncontrollably. Was I loosing my bestie? This can't be happening.

"No Penny. You need to hear every word I have to say about this. I am not going to threaten our friendship of course. However, sometimes I feel you're so fake. Especially your smiling. No THE WORST IS YOUR FAKE SMILE. I can completely tell from your fake and real smile. From this past two months, I have not seen a real smile. Go on tell me I'm wrong. You always smile with a happy heart. Your heart is gold Penny. But sometimes in all the wrong ways. Please Penny you have to stop acting. At least not this way. But it will be better if you stop all the way. You're just hurting yourself. You know it."

"Really? You think our friendship is fake? I build this up with you Tasha. The happiness we had. Playing, camping everything. Now you are telling me you think I'm a liar. A fake person with two sides."

"No! Let me tell you this. If I had a penny for every milisecond you are sad, I will be able to be a billionaire in a blink of an eye. Imagine that. You don't need to be so pathetic. Cleaning up everyone's messes. When they do wrong, you take the blame. Do you think I enjoy seeing you being bullied? Of course not. You are really a good Friend considerate and everything. The only problem is that you don't try and be happy yourself. For real. I just want to see you happy.

"Tasha I don't understand a word you are saying. You want me to give up my dreams. Acting, Modelling and so many more. This is crazy!"

"Fine! Think about it yourself!" with that, Tasha stomped out of my room, leaving me speechless.

I stood rooted to the ground, trying to digest all the information she told me. Had she read my diary? I wondered. Then regaining my senses, I bolted out of the door sprinting up to Tasha. No this will not do. We need to reconcile and make sure everything is normal. I am a perfectionist and this cannot happen in my life.

"Say cheese!"

I jumped up, jerking into reality.

I had to fix this. NOW!

Thanking the photographer for helping to shoot me for the famous Vogue magazine, I grabbed my shiny turquoise handbag and sprinted out of the studio.

My agent, who was also my aunt, would definitely burst into rage when she heard that I slipped away from 'work'. However, I did not care. That was not important right now.

Work can always wait, but friendship is the PRIORITY.

I knew what I had to do.

As I jaywalked or rather jayran, I thought about what I could say to Tasha.

As I reached the front gate of my house, I bolted inside, and changed into some clothes that Tasha and I had chosen for us to wear on the first day of school. We never wore it together since that day though.

Then I ran my hands true my hair. No this was not the real me. The real me would make my own trend. No matter what everyone thinks.

I put on a bathrobe over my clothes and washed my hair and face that was completely painted with makeup.

Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I smiled. Now I was ready. I grabbed a hair band from my drawer, and tied my hair into a messy bun. Then I grabbed the friendship box that Tasha and I had kept since we met each other.

As I lifted it up, I realised something. It was so light. Thinking back about my fake smiling, I burst into tears. Why oh why did I fake smile all the time? I was manipulated and everything! Wiping my tears away, I began dashing out of my house and towards Tasha's house which was a stone's throw away.

As I ran, it rained. Lightning bolted, and thunder roared. Shivering in the cold, I continued making my way to Tasha's house. Standing outside her house, I kneeled down on the ground, using my jacket to cover the box of our memories.

Taking out my phone, I scrolled true my photographs. I had smiled with no feeling. My eyes looked so lively, but inside my heart, it was a completely different story.

As minutes passed, Tasha finally noticed me. She burst out of her house, making her way to me. She squatted down beside me and motioned me to go in. I shook my head vigorously.

"I won't. I don't deserve to be your friend. Please, I beg of you. Forgive me. That's all I need," I said through the tears that flowed down my cheeks like waterfalls.

Tasha gazed at me with sad eyes, and said softly,"I forgive you."

So as all stories go, Tasha and I reconciled, and made happy memories.

For me, I promised not to hide my feelings by smiling and acting as if everything was fine.

As for my modelling and acting career, I continued to pursue them. Even though my aunt was angry at me about the photo shoot, she forgave me, sympathetic about my friendship.

So the lesson I've learnt is to never hide your true feelings.

S ay what you believe strongly in

E mphasise in something

R eally trying to show that you 'strictly are speaking'

I realay just need you to know so I am so 'serious and 'crazy''

O verboard in a sense

U nconditionally want everyone to know

S trict in what you want to believe in

this is how I am STRICTLY speaking to you right now!

Look into the past

No phones No technology

Just talking face to face

No emojis to send

Just new things to speak

I wish I could say

Nothing has changed

But technology has advanced

So what else can I say

Hiding behind a screen

Using shortcuts to speak

Lol Btw and more

I want to go back in time

To laugh out loud for real

Not a text that says what I'm doing

But a smile that I can see

The things that I'm saying

Aren't funny you know

It's real and maybe one day

We will go back to laughing

The true human way