The Teachings of a Petty Thief: The Lessons that changed me.

Frances and I first met in 7th grade.

One afternoon after school, we were waiting in the band room for our parents.
Frances eyed my possessions.
Mostly my purple, butterfly lunchbox.

"Wow, this is pretty," she said. "Do you like it?"
"Of course,” I replied cheerfully. “My big sister just bought it for me."

Frances examined the lunchbox.
Smirking, she wedged the lunchbox under her arms.

Then she ran away.

When I realized she wasn’t coming back, I sprinted after her.
Unfortunately, our band teacher caught us and scolded us.

This was the beginning of my friendship with a thief.Frances was a cheery Asian.

Thin with straight loosy hair and gnarly glasses. I was a quiet Asian. A bit chubby with thick locks of curly hair and big, shiny eyes. Terribly shy me always felt an awkward stiffness when I walked to my seat in class everyday. I avoided attention and was soft spoken. Outgoing Frances talked to me nonstop in class everyday whether I wanted to or not and always got us in trouble.

As we grew fond of each other, France’s love for pick pocketing flourished. Pens. Gum. Books. Sparkly Objects. Her attempts were relentless. However, the proud practitioner of this dark art lacked stealth. She often tripped over nothing, constantly lectured for being a loud mouth, and easily irritated by tapping. She was definitely a silly thief.

One day she pronounced us as Best friends.
From then on, I went over to her house constantly.

"You're always so serious," Frances said to me at her house.
"You're always so goofy," I said.

She hit me with her pillow.

"Wait! Read these!" she pleaded gleefully.

She gave me dozens of papers, filled with her own Japanese manga styled art. She loved drawing. She must’ve spent hours on those comics alone. Many more by teaching herself. I then saw a mini me. My body was a box with little wings. My mini me had a big head, eyes that took up half my face, springy hair, and a watermelon sliced smile.

I snorted.

"Hey! I made you laugh," she said happily. "You should laugh more. It’s cute!"

I restrained my smile.

"Your drawings are just freaky," I said haughtily.

She hurled her pillow at me but missed.I was sitting in right front of her.
We laughed for God knows how long.

I believe in the teachings of a thief, the lessons all taught by example. I realize thieves go to jail. I realize that petty thieves are obnoxious. But I believe out of all people, this thief has the most noble heart. It was this thief that taught me countless of life lessons. The most important was on life. She taught me to enjoy life. That the present was a gift and I needed to open each day with a laugh and end the evening by treating myself with sweet dreams.I no longer huddle in the corner of the classroom and avert my eyes from people. I can now walk comfortably in the halls at school and smile at friends and strangers. I can now laugh at jokes as loud as I want, start conversations, and share my thoughts and dreams.

My old life was stolen, and I was given a new one.

Fin: Thanks for reading! :D

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