Our Struggles

Chapter 1

Just a gentle reminder that there will be Arabic sentences included in this story, but no need to panic, they will be translated into English for you. Also, the whole story will not be filled with Arabic wording - it's just the conversations between the main character and her parents since Arabic is their first language. The rest will be in English. Enjoy!

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My mum came into my room while I was adjusting my hijab in my mirror.

" هل أنت مستعد ليومك الأول في المدرسة؟".
(Are you ready for your first day of school?)
She asked softly.

I turned around and lightly grinned.
" نعم ، لكنني متوتر قليلاً."
(Yes, but I'm a little nervous.)

" .لا بأس ، ستكون بخير. سيكون الله معك"
(It's okay, God will be with you.)

I smiled as I quickly got up from my seat, threw my bag onto my back and kissed my mum on the cheek. I knew school wasn't going to be easy, and there were definitely going to be other students who didn't like me.

School wasn't far so I was able to walk there myself. I also have no siblings to walk me there. If you're wondering, yes, we do have a car but there's no point in wasting gas to go to such a near place.

When I arrived, I stared at the scene for a minute. The school wasn't really big - but I wasn't expecting it to be anyway.
I had only just made it and there were already some people glaring at me. I assumed from there that this school wasn't full of Muslims.

I searched for a teacher to help me adjust to my classes. I felt a tap on my shoulder as I walked in.

"Hello, there." the woman said politely. She was a teacher... right?
I smiled at her.

"Hello." I replied.

"My name is Mrs. Laney. You're new here, right?"

I knew she thought that because there weren't many Muslims at the school... and I also wasn't a familiar face from them.
"Yes, I am."

"Great! Well, we can get you started right away. What was your name again?" Mrs. Laney reached in her pocket and grabbed a pen. She was holding a clipboard in her hands already.

"Iman Darwish." I said. It took her a little long to finish writing my name.

"Alright, so, we've already set everything up after the entrance exam you took. Your class will be 9C..."

After she finished explaining everything, I looked for a place to sit and relax before my classes started. I took out my sketchbook, pencil and rubber. Just as I was about to start drawing, I heard a seemingly stuck-up voice very close to me.

I looked up and saw a tall blonde girl with a sloppy posture. She was staring at me as if I was some kind of bug.
"So... you're the new girl?" She said straight out.

"Yes." I said briefly. I didn't want to cause a drama by adding an unnecessary remark.

"Aren't you hot in that... thing?" She asked rudely. I wasn't surprised to be honest. I've gotten that question a million times before by random strangers I passed on the street. And I responded with the exact same thing I do every time.

"No."

She just looked at me for a minute and walked off. I'd just like to know why they ask such questions in the first place. What are they gonna get out of it? A trophy for talking to a Muslim? We're not monsters, ya know?

I could easily tell there were lots of people staring at me from a mile away, but I ignored them as usual. Starting something wasn't going to help me on my first day of school. Neither was it going to on other days.

It wasn't long after when the bell rang. I read my timetable and realised that I had ELP (English Learning/Language Program) first. I quickly packed all my things in my backpack and ran to class. ELP was in Room 53, and it took me a few minutes to find it. When I finally found the room, everyone was already there reading their books, so I was pretty much the center of attention when I walked in.

"Why hello there." said the teacher sitting behind his desk. "You must be new, seeing as you came a significant amount of minutes late."

"Yes, I am." I said shyly. The man smiled at me gently. "You can take a seat next to Vivian here." He extended his arm towards a brunette with her eyes staring down at her book, looking ticked off. I knew that she didn't want to be sitting next to me. I walked up to her without making a sound and sat down. She quickly glanced at me then back to her book. I tried to look around without anyone noticing to see if there were any other Muslims in my ELP class, but there were none. I took out my book and started reading.

After ELP, we had Science. I got a few death stares here and there, others kept on bumping into my table and not even bothering to make the excuse that it was an accident. So yeah, that's my life now. Although, there was one particular boy who didn't stop staring and giving me death stares. He was quite tall with broad shoulders, light brown hair and eyes.

His name is Noah, I heard the teacher call him. I don't know his last name though. He wore the cross around his neck, and it seemed like he was trying to show it off when he was called up by the teacher when he couldn't keep his hands off it.

I'm never really bothered by this type of stuff, but I don't know why he tried everything in his might to annoy me.

But I don't understand why this school is filled with people who hate Muslims. I mean... is this some kind of 'the-school-where-you-can-hate-against-Muslims' school? There had to be at least one student in this school who didn't hate us... right?

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I know this chapter was a little short, but I hope you like it! Please leave a comment and your opinions and thoughts.
Thanks!