My name is Abena. When I was little I had to move towns because my Dad got a new job. I remember being really nervous about starting a new school, but on my first day everybody was really nice to me and I made loads of friends.

One of my closest friends in school is Kofi. He is the most popular boy in school and is always making everybody laugh. Kofi is always busy playing football with the boys at lunch time, but we travel home together and talk and play throughout the day. It is nice to have such a good friend. Kofi helps me with my homework, cheers me up when I’m upset, and shares his lunch with me when I’m extra hungry.

One day at school, Kofi came over to me. He looked concerned and asked if he could speak with me privately. I started to worry as soon as I saw his face – Kofi is always laughing and smiling so seeing him look serious worried me. I asked him what was wrong and he told me that when he was walking down the hall he saw Yvonne, a new girl in school, sitting on the floor by herself. He said that she looked lonely and he wanted to be her friend, but he was too nervous to speak to her. I told him to try making her smile with a joke and to ask her how she’s feeling about starting a new school. I also told him that he shouldn’t be nervous, he is a great friend to me and will be a great friend to Yvonne too.

That’s when Kofi told me that most of the boys in school want to be friends with us girls because we’re smart and funny, but sometimes they are too nervous to speak to us. I was really surprised to know this is what boys really think – I always thought they just wanted to be friends with other boys, but now I know that they admire girls too! It’s funny to think that there isn’t that much difference between the way that boys and girls think really!