Unsuspected Natural

NASEEHA - Welcome to Ambercrest Junior Middle High School

I wipe my forehead on my sleeve. Basketball this week was only forty-five minutes long, so Ms. Sonya made us play like we have unlimited energy. But I think my friend, Ayah, does. She had a sip of water and now she's running laps. But that's just Ayah. She has basketball with me on Tuesdays at lunch, but she also has something at every other lunch. Her only free lunches are when something is canceled or if she's let off early.

Monday she has student council, Wednesday she has volleyball, Thursday she has photography club and Friday she has Muslim Student Association (which she started) meetings. Then after school, she has flag football on Monday, Tae kwon do lessons on Wednesdays, swimming class on Thursday and a program at the mosque on Fridays (which I also go to).

And that's only weekdays. Yeah, there's more.

If I had all that, I would be dead by now.

Ms. Sonya dismisses us from the gym. "I hate time decreases," I mumble.

Ayah jogs up next to me."Why?"

"Because Ms. Sonya makes us use double the energy even though she only decreased ten minutes out of fifty-five!" I say, exasperated.

"I, for one, think that it's good to have a challenge once in a while," Ayah replies matter-of- factly. "Besides, we get to do our make-up-your-own-dessert presentation today."

Our teacher, Mr. Florent, is the funnest teacher ever! Our current project is the make-up-your-own- dessert project. Everyone makes up their own dessert, hence the name, and the whole class gets to try a sample of it.

But, obviously, there is a written piece. We were supposed to write the steps of how we made it, and our difficulties and challenges.

Our presentations are going to start in about ten minutes. But first, the rest of recess! Like most middle-schoolers, I love recess! People can have different favourite subjects and classes, but the one thing we all like, is recess.

Ayah spends the rest of recess playing football with a group of people, but I head over to the ice cream truck. I decide to get one for Ayah too. Everyone already got their ice cream so I don't have to wait in line.

"Hey Corney," I say to the ice cream seller. His real name is obviously not Corney, it's Conrad. But he tells all the kids to call him Corney. In fact, he prefers it.

"Naseeha!" Corney says. "Long time no see!"

"I saw you yesterday, " I reply.

"Eh, doesn't matter," he says, shrugging it off. "Anyway, what'll it be today? Raspberry? Pineapple? Vanilla?"

"Actually, can I have a strawberry slushy and a double death chocolate sundae?" I say, choosing Ayah's favourite.

"Ah, orderin' for Ayah too I see," Corney says. "Only lass I know that can eat chocolate ice cream while playin' football. Actually, only person I know who can eat ice cream while playin' anythin'!"

"On second thought, can I have that, as well as a rocky road ice cream?" I say, getting one for my cousin, Abdalla, too.

"Sure ya can lass!" Corney replies, excited for more orders. "Probably for Abdalla, isn't it? Sometimes I wonder how he and Ayah are so alike. By the way don't tell her I said that."

"How so?" I ask, wondering how in the world they could be alike at all. I know for a fact that if I tell Ayah that Corney said that, the glare she would give him would be enough to make him faint.

"Well, they both love chocolate ice cream. Too much for normal people," When he says it, he sounds like a reminiscing grandpa. I hold in a giggle. "Also they both love sports, and play every single one of 'em. Both of their initials are A.S.-"