I rested my forehead against the open textbook. Didn't Valentino catch the hint? I let him have my phone number a week after we met at the beginning of the school year. Yeah, I told him he could only use it for school-related stuff, but still! How much more of a sign did he need to know I had the biggest crush on him?
Hearing the jingle of my dad's keys from the front door, I swiped a quick layer of Vaseline over my lips, put the textbook away, and followed my dad.
"Is it okay I didn't say bye to Mama?" I asked.
"Yeah. I don't think she'd hear you, anyway," Baba added in a softer voice, rubbing his chin that sported a short beard a few shades lighter than the dark curls on his head.
I slipped into a pair of flats, tossing my bag into the backseat with Baba's work briefcase. The warm April air made me hesitate to get into the car. It was hard to think how gloomy the house was when the rest of the world was so bright.
Ducking to get in, I sank into the car seat and closed my eyes. Baba said the travel prayer, and I followed along in my head. He switched on the radio connected to his playlist. My favorite song was playing, written by two Muslim women and sung with just vocals, and I imagined myself at a seaside cottage in a flowing white dress, pretending I had a lover to sing it to.
I used to believe love was a storm—
We'd tear apart the darkness
And raise up the ground;
I never thought I could withstand it
But you were my thunder
And I was your lightning—
So I let the sky touch the seas
Let the winds howl at the trees;
What I didn't realize
Was that you were drifting away from me...
Now every time I cross the open sea
The sky whispers a desperate plea:
Bring back the ocean,
And bring back the winds;
But you were the sun who broke up our clouds,
The anchor that kept me a-ground
Why can't we love like a storm again?
Why can't we love like a storm again?
I used to believe love was a storm,
I used to believe we could tear apart the darkness
And raise up the ground;
I never thought I could withstand it
But you were my thunder
And I was your lightning—
I used to
I used to
...believe in our love.
YOU ARE READING
The Badboy, the Catfish & Me
Teen FictionA crush on the popular boy at school sounds tough enough... Gorgeous, charming, and captain of Maxwell High's soccer team, Valentino Rosas is every girl's dream. And Inaya Muhammad, Despite being head-over-heels in love with him, knows she can't do...