The Other Twin

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

*Broken Words*

Hafsa's house is like my second home.

No, not even.

I practically live in her room.

So why was it so hard all of a sudden, to ring the bell to her front door? I hesitated outside the door while staring at the buzzer and silently willing my hand to complete the simple task of pressing the button. My arm remained at my side. Instead, I stalled by studying the porch. It was empty. Something that was very wrong when it came to the Manar household. Usually, on a normal day the front yard was occupied with Hafsa gardening or her brothers playing soccer. Today it was barren, something that unnerved me to no end.

I'll be honest, I was scared.

You know the type of scared you get when you're about to do something big? The kind of scared where your heart thuds frantically in your chest as if planning an emergency escape route while your palms get all clammy? Yeah, well I was getting pretty well acquainted with that feeling.

"Just ring it already." Beth urged behind me, her green eyes mirroring my own concern. I had filled her in about Mikail earlier and we both agreed to go to Hafsa's immediately after school. If I hadn't been so intent on getting here, I would probably have had passed out from the life threatening way she drove over the speed limit.

It had been a week since the "incident" and I hated how it had taken me this long to talk to Hafsa about her brother's actions. She shouldn't carry this burden alone.

"C'mon Taryn, Hafsa needs us." Beth continued, her serious expression clashing with the assortment of animal prints she was clothed in. "And Mikail." She added while adjusting her cheetah print dangly earring. I silently agreed, I wasn't worried about Hafsa it was Mikail who needed all the help he could get. Mikail, who seemed to have gotten caught up in the wrong crowd. Either way, reinforcements were needed.

Finally, as I was about to ring the bell, the door violently flung open, just narrowly missing my nose. The air whipped against my face from the near impact, freezing me in surprise. After recovering from my initial shock, I turned my gaze to the person who almost assaulted me with the door.

The boy in question stood before us.

His black hair stuck up wildly on his head, matched by the seething rage in his amber brown eyes. His face was flushed red against his tan skin with his body tense. In his fisted hand, he gripped a red sweatshirt, the very one that he had worn the day of the incident.

Mikail stopped when he caught sight of us, the anger automatically melting away from his face. Before he could say anything, Hafsa's voice sounded from behind. "Mikail, come back here-I'm not done with you." Mikail's face reverted back to his earlier scowl.

"Well I'm done with you." He retorted coldly as he slipped on the sweat shirt. The sound of stomping could be heard as Hafsa came into view. Still dressed in the black dress pants and blazer that was part of her school uniform, Hafsa's long hair flew around her in dark waves with her brows knit together. Even in her obvious state of anger, seeing her without her hijab reminded me yet again of how beautiful my friend really is.

She glared back at her brother without noticing us. Beth gripped my arm worriedly, she hated arguments more than I did and it looked like things would be heating up quickly.

"Quit acting like a jerk Mikail. You need to stop what you've been doing." Hafsa stated. Mikail's scowl deepened as he pulled on his sneakers. "Since when do you care about what I do?" Hafsa grit her teeth in attempt to stay patient, "I'm your sister-of course I care." He snorted in response.