Lost

Chapter 41: Heading for Heartbreak

"Let me guess." She smiled, following Lena's gaze to William. "You chose not to heed my advise?"

"Quit it, Anderson!" Lena fumed, tearing her eyes away from the the curly haired boy who was talking animatedly to Asim and his mother.

"Told you." Claire shrugged.

Glaring, Lena grabbed Claire's arm and headed for the elevators, her heels clicking on the tiled floor as she went. Lena's bad mood continued till the girls reached their car. Claire tried to unlock the car, but Lena grabbed her hand and slumped on the hood, pulling Claire down with her.

"Charlayne was close by so I asked her to meet us here." She informed a confused Claire.

As they waited for Charlayne to show up, Lena suddenly jumped and hid behind the hedge. Upon Claire's questioning, she made a crying face and pointed towards the front doors.

Claire turned around to see Asim and his family coming out of the hospital.

"You didn't tell me she was getting discharged today?" Lena whined.

"I didn't know," Claire replied, watching a man she had bumped into earlier, protectively drape an arm over Salma, who now even had her face covered with the headwrap.

"Is she the one with the man?" Lena asked, peeking through the leaves. "Isn't he kind of old for her?"

"Dad! Stop it," Salma's voice carried over as everyone laughed at something her father must have said.

Claire gave Lena a pointed look.

"Oops." She shrugged.

The family came closer and Lena paled when William was only a few feet away. He barely noticed though. His eyes were fixed on Salma who was laughing away with her brother, father and uncle. Claire gave Lena a side glance to see if she had noticed this too.

William and his parents piled in a car and drove away leaving only Salma's family behind. Lena relaxed, letting out a breath. They saw Charlayne walk towards them just as Salma's father pulled out of the lot. Salma, who was now sitting in the car with her face uncovered, saw Claire across the lot. She smiled and waved.

"That was the girl?" Claire heard Charlayne's surprised voice as she joined them, her eyebrows raised skeptically.

"Same Char, same," Lena muttered.

Claire could hear the surprise in her friends' voices. It was an open secret that some of the exceptionally beautiful girls around the campus, including Lena, harbored strong feelings for her brother. For Zayn to not even spare Lena and the others a glance, her and Charlayne, like many, had expected the girl of his interests to possess heavenly features of some sorts. Salma, despite her twinkling, huge brown eyes and friendly smile was average looking - or a little above average, at the most. Also, she had a very strange sense of style - given her robes and the headwrap. 

Zayn's interest in Salma confused Claire. She could not figure out what Zayn had fallen so deeply for. The only thing that intrigued Claire was this strong, yet gentle aura that Salma had about her. Something about the way she carried herself added a spark to her personality, even if she stood out as weird in those robes.

"Yep," Claire replied, "that was her."

"Your brother needs to have his brains checked if he chooses her over Lee," Charlayne huffed. "Don't worry Lena, I'd marry you."

Claire laughed when Lena gave her friend a fake grin.

"So how's it going between you and Niall? Don't tell me you've been friend-zoned," Charlayne turned to Claire. Claire grimaced. "So no? Honestly, just make a move before he's taken. Invite him to my party tomorrow."