I have never been the kid that gets in trouble or that ends up in those situations. I have always done as I was told and always avoided conflicts with others. My mother always told me "honesty is the best policy" and those words constantly run through my mind. Being kind to others and showing compassion are other values that I hold dear to my heart.

My name is Bailey and I am a senior in high school. I grew up being the youngest of three and in many ways I was always overprotected. My brother and sister would seldom listen to my parents and often did whatever they wanted. They still wanted me to succeed, so they always kept a tight leash on what I did.

My parents always made sure I was involved in sports and because I became an athlete at such a young age, I was able to be on all the varsity teams for the sports that I played all throughout high school. I played basketball, football, baseball, and ran track. I helped my team win many championships. Now that it is my senior year, I am president of student council and I enjoy getting to make a difference at my high school. I take pride in everything that I do. I have always thought about having a more relaxed high school life but I just do not think I could do it. I enjoy being involved and doing good things for my community. Every month my mom and I volunteer at the local food shelter. We go about two times throughout the month. I have gotten to meet people there and I really enjoy that. I have always been caring towards others and often I find ways to help others do better.

I get straight As in school and I will be valedictorian this year. I will be applying to colleges soon and I have been actively building my resume. I will be retaking the college entrance exam so that I can achieve a higher score. The first time I took it, I let my anxiety get the best of me and I blanked out. I still did well and above average but I know I need to push myself to do even better. I want to get scholarship offers as well as acceptance letters from various universities. I am taking the exam today and I am extremely nervous. I have studied endlessly for it but for some reason I still feel incredibly nervous.

I get to the classroom and I take my seat. There are others around me that look just as nervous as I am. I wait for about twenty minutes. Finally! The test proctor walks in. As she walks by my desk she drops a packet. I picked it up and saw that it was the exam key. I am so tempted to keep it because I know it will guarantee me a solid score. My conscience is telling me to turn it in and then I remember "honesty is the best policy." Suddenly, I want the chance to think for myself and I decide to keep the answer key. I look at the answer key every time the test proctor is looks away. I walk out of the exam and I know I got the score that I needed so now I am going to treat myself to a night off from studying to celebrate while I wait on my score to be delivered in the mail.

My mom just texted me that I have mail. I get to my house faster than I usually ever do. I walk in and I see the letter on the table. I open it and read:

Dear Bailey,

We regret to inform you that your score was invalidated. It was brought to our attention that you took the exam with the help of the master exam key. The witness will not be disclosed. We are writing you to explain the next course of action. We will be notifying the universities that you listed as recipients of the scores. Unfortunately, it is in our policy that we must disclose the incident. Integrity is a core value of The Board. We will be putting you on a one-year inability list. Once this term is up you will be allowed to retake the exam. If you decide to appeal this decision you can notify us in writing.

Sincerely,

The Board of Higher Education

Suddenly, my face gets really hot, my stomach starts turning and tears run down my face. My future and career are destroyed! I will never get into the school that I wanted. I should have listened to my mother. If I would have taken the test on my own, none of this would have happened. I would have retaken the exam if my score was not what I wanted. Now, I put everything at risk. I run out of the house to get some air and then I trip on the stairs of the porch. I land face first.

Then, I woke up. It was all a dream. My exam is in two hours. Honesty should always be the only policy.

Author's Note:

This story was derived from the tale, the “Dishonest Friend” from the book The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India. In the story, the moral is that "honesty is the best policy." I used the same moral to create a different story that can still be relevant. In the original story, there are two friends and one asks to the other to take care of a plough. The dishonest friend sells the plough and then lies about it when the friend asks what happened to it. The friend figures out what happened and he sets up a plan to trick the dishonest friend. He tells the dishonest friend that a hawk took his son. The dishonest friend does not believe him and takes him to court. During court the friend reveals that he knows the truth about his plough and he gets his son back. He learns that honesty is the best policy. In my story, I decided to make it more about someone that is genuinely a good person but when he sees a chance to do something bad, he decides to take it versus doing the right thing. I do add a plot twist at the end to make it more of a lesson than can be learned and corrected. The original characters are two men who are friends and one friends has a a lot of trust for the other friend. He leaves his plough with him and trusts that he will keep it safe for him. I wrote the story in first person so that the twist at the end would have greater significance and effect on the story as a whole.

The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India- The Dishonest Friend

By: W. H. D. Rouse

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Waking up from a bad dream. [source]