The Essence of Noah (Muslim story)

Phone

Noah stands almost immediately, when he recognises the girl and offers her a confused look instead of his surprised one. I follow suit, balancing my mug as I stand and dust off my sweatpants.

I'm not going to lie, as I stand, I immediately become conscious of my attire compared to the girls dark washed jeans, neat jumper and matching converse. Her hair is neatly gathered and her face is practically flawless, with scattered freckles over her nose, that if anything, add to her youthful appeal.

"Your door's unlocked," She says to Noah as her gaze peels away from my form to meet his. "I knocked first but you weren't answering."

"It's fine." He dismisses with a brush of his hand through his hair. Noah then turns to me, giving me a brief side wards glance before deciding to introduce me and the girl he's 'fine' with being in his apartment.

I'm not offended, but annoyed would sum me up pretty well right now, and for reason unknown to me. Feelings, the voice in my head says and I have no choice but to agree.

"This is Hana, my neighbour." He gestures his arm out to me and I acknowledge by waving awkwardly. The girl smiles as she rubs her arms from the cold.

"Nice to meet you." She says and it's then I notice her voice has an unbelievable layer of sweetness that balances out well with her Aussie accent.

"Hana," Noah interrupts, "This is Madison, a friend of mine." I nod my head with a curt smile and manage a 'hi'.

"It's Mads," Madison corrects, "I hate Madison." She laughs it off and I smile. When I look away from her, I catch Noah watching me, but when our gazes meet he averts his and distracts himself with a long drink of his coffee.

"What are you doing here?" He asks Mads.

"I brought a couple of boxes to pick up bits and bobs really." Pointing behind her and back into the apartment, Noah looks behind her, as if to confirm, but I can't see past their bodies.

"Cool." He nods and shifts his gaze. To me, his brief monosyllabic answers and to the point questions seem like a good indication for Mads to leave or perhaps come back later, but she either ignores the hint, or doesn't get it. It doesn't matter really, because out of the three of us, I feel like I'm the outsider.

"So what were you guys doing out here?" She looks at Noah with a warm smile, waiting expectantly for him to reply. He doesn't however, and that's when she decides to address me. "It's a bit cold to have drinks out here, don't ya think?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Do you hang out here often?" I sneak a look at Noah, hoping he'll intervene in this conversation, but he doesn't. It's not that I don't want to talk to his friends, but I feel cautious doing so. I can't tell what to say; that we actually hang out here a lot, and at Amu's or that he's a convert or not.

"From time to time." It's here that Mads runs out of things to say to keep this dying conversation alive. The three of us just stand in an awkward silence rustled by the wind that envelope us. "It's getting late." I finally say, when I can't bear the tension any longer.

"Yeah," Noah straightens up and turns to Mads. "You want to get what you need?"

"Actually," She turns to me briefly then back to Noah, "I'm in no rush. Maybe we could talk for a bit?" Noah seems hesitant to reply and frankly I'm not sure if it's because he doesn't want to talk or he doesn't want to say anything in front of me. Both, bother me just as equally.

"It was nice meeting you." I say to Mads, and give Noah a strained smile. He returns it, though his lips part as if he has more to say, but the words don't come through. I make to walk back into my apartment, when I realize I've still got his mug. Turning back around, I extend my arm and hold the mug out.