ility, but also as a friend. After receiving good news from Mabel about school, Lily responded, stating, "There is not much for me to say to you other than expressing my hearty thanks to you for your friendship. I hope that some day I may to see you personally." (Page 79) Soon thereafter Lily even went so far as to insinuate that she wanted Mabel to play the role of not only a friend, but of a maternal figure as well. Despite Lily's obvious knowledge of Mabel's skin color and the segregated world in which she lived, Lily still addressed Mabel not as a superior entity, but as an equal. Lily's hope for Mabel's friendship continued in the following weeks, and was strengthened because of events that occurred within her campus.
             During her time at Adams, Lily did not develop friendships with her peers, and as a result she was very reliant on Mabel and other older figures, such as the Bombacks and Miss Makanya. In the midst of her first year, there was a large student protest on campus, in which she took no part. Consequently, Lily became even more of an outsider to classmates, and this loneliness manifested itself in a more blatant reliance on Mabel for friendship. After the student protest Lily wrote to Mabel, sounding quite desperate for companionship, "I can be glad if I can see you frequently. Your letter has been the source of inward happiness...I hope that you stay for years, with me. You cannot leave me alone in this merciless wo
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