Simply Sanam

Chapter 2 - Attan Practice

Chapter 2 - Attan Practice

The day after the henna night, Nadia made it a point to gather all of Omed's cousins and relatives who were willing to do attan with us. I was dreading it non stop. As I woke up on the day, I didn't even want to get out of bed. But Nadia was very serious and even my mom did not want to make Nadia unhappy. So it was set for us to start practicing at noon and finish before dinner.

I got up and did my morning routine. While brushing my hair, I randomly thought about when I went to Omed's house, more specifically when I saw Darya. He seemed like a nice guy, but I don't remember seeing him before. Maybe he was just visiting and already left. I decided to stop thinking about it.

Madar Jan made us breakfast which consisted of eggs and vegetables along with sheer chai and we had it together as usual. Then we cleaned the house and did our last chores before it was time to go.

The location was set to be Omed's house because unlike us he was rich and had a bigger living room. Our house was just not the ideal place. Nadia and I picked up her friend first and then drove to Omed's house. I made sure to get there early because I didn't want to embarrass myself again with my lack of parking skills. We walked in the house and the guys were already gathered, they were just waiting for us girls.

Omed greeted us and said the rest of his family was out shopping so it was just the attan crew in the house. I was happy to hear that because I wouldn't want even more people seeing me embarrass myself.

Nadia and Omed talked while I tried to not pay attention to Masud staring at me. Out of all people, it was Masud staring at me. I've seen Omed's cousins before and most of them are okay, but Masud seemed like the literal definition of a luchak. Gave me super strong vibes of that from the movie Hadesa. Kam manda bud ke barem Maida Maida Mera Banoo ra mekhaand. I tried to get my mind off it by making small talk with Nadia's friend.

The conversations went on and slowly everyone started to show up and once all of our cousins and friends came, Nadia said, "Alright let's start guys!"

But Omed didn't seem ready and said "Wait there's one more person who needs to be here"

"Who?" Asked Nadia

"My bache mama, Darya."

"You've never told me about Darya," said Nadia.

"He lives on the east coast but my mama decided to be here for the henna night and wedding."

"Alright I guess we can wait for him," said Nadia.

For some reason, I felt uneasy at knowing that Darya would be coming. I excused myself to go out on the porch with my best friend Laila. Laila was always there for me, but this one thing, I tried to brush off and not make it a big deal. So I never told her about what happened when I returned Omed's phone on the henna night. We went out on the porch and I walked back and forth, taking deep breaths.

"Sanam, what's wrong?" asked Laila.

"I'm fine Laila, I just needed fresh air."

"In all the years I've known you, not once did you look this red."

"WHAT! I'm red?! Oh God no"

"Calm down, is something wrong?"

I told her about what happened when I returned Omed's phone, and she said, "Sanam, you just have feelings for the guy."

"Laila you did not just say that, what am I stupid to have feelings for a guy?"

"Sanam, listen to me, it's not stupid, it's normal."