A Non-Hijabi's Perspective

Chapter Nineteen: Don't Worry, I Like It

She sighed, letting her glasses slide to her nose, as she fell onto her chair.

Same.

As I slowly walked over to the cafeteria, I realized that I had no one to sit with, since Sana was mad at me. I sighed, proceeding to turn the other way, however I bumped into a hard body.

I looked up to see Amir. "Where you going?" He asked, confused.

"Not the lunch room," I mumbled under my breath.

"Are you in a fight with Sana?" He questioned. He knew me too well.

I nodded my head, looking down at my black Keds.

"You want to sit with me and my friends?" He suggested, raising his eyebrows.

I widened my eyes. "Your friends scare me," I said, shaking my head.

He chuckled. "No, they're not scary. They'll accept you, trust me."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive."

I held the strands of my backpack, and rocked back and forth. "Alright, fine."

He grinned, walking into the cafeteria while I followed his footsteps.

As I scanned the environment around me, I saw Sana, sitting with Amanda, the girl who she worked with in the debate team, and a couple of other people. She was laughing at something Amanda had said. I instantly began to feel jealous.

Look away, Nafisa, look away.

Soon, Amir stopped and stood in front of a table filled with big scary looking jock boys. They all stared at me, as I l stared back at them, in fear.

"Guys, this is my friend, Nafisa," he introduced me, and they all nodded.

I gulped, not making eye contact with them. I carefully took a seat beside Amir.

"How do you do, Nafsa?" Asked a boy with brown hair, from the end of the table.

Amir bursted in laughter, as I nudged him angrily.

"What?" The same guy asked, confused, scratching his head.

"It's Nafisa," he repeated, his laughter dying down.

The dude simply nodded his head, and continued to stuff his burger into his mouth.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Asked another boy on the table, from the other end of the table.

I nodded my head slowly, turning around to reach for my bag and take out my lunch which my mom packed for me. Thanks mom.

I opened my lunch box, and my eyes gleamed in excitement. It was biryani! I smiled in delight, stuffing a spoonful of biryani into my mouth.

As I continued to stuff my food in my mouth, I could feel everybody around me staring down at my food.

I looked up and they began to questioned me. "Is that orange rice?"

"It's called biryani," I answered quietly.

"Can I have some?" Asked another boy.

Did this dude just ask me for my biryani?

I looked at me, with an odd look on my face. I turned to face Amir in order to see his reaction, but he was completely oblivious, and he was simply enjoying his own food.

I sighed, pushing my food towards the guy who had just asked.

I watched him as he happily dug his spoon into my precious biryani. He put into his mouth, and everybody waited for his reaction.