Converting the Bad Boy ✔

Chapter 42

Salam sweetie pies! Sorry I kept you waiting but here it is - a chapter. It may not be the best, but I hope you enjoy anyway ❤

We reached #7 in Spiritual which is the highest so far! Maybe if you guys vote and comment on this chapter we could beat that??? 🙏

^Piccy of Huda (and yes it is Hailee Steinfeld and I adore her😍)

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Damian's POV

Exams.

It was enough to put any year twelve in a fit of anxiety, and with each day, with each new load of homework and tests, we were reminded of it. In the end, that was what it all added up to. That was all that mattered. And if I wanted to do well, I had no choice but to become a nerd. At least for the last few months, anyway. Then I could go back to being cool.

Aidan and I were cool. At least, I thought we were. We had worked out our differences, but then our differences became the only thing between us, creating a rift. That was when I decided maybe Aidan and I weren't meant to be, so other than the occasional head nod and small talk, we both realized that some friendships weren't meant to last. It was high school, and soon we'd be out of here, and we'd be doing what we wanted, being who we wanted, and moving on.

I had grown as a person during this year. And sometimes that also meant growing out of people, as Mum told me when I told her about me and Aidan.

"You are at a point in your life where you're working out who you are," Mum said as she was chopping some capsicum. She was better enough to cook, and she insisted on cooking me at least one good meal a week. Since Dad had gone back to his job, Mum had been taking charge of the house again, without straining herself too much, and I couldn't thank Allah enough for giving her more time on this Earth, because time was precious, and every moment spent with my mum was cherished.

"I thought I passed that point?" I said, grabbing a potato and a knife, offering my help by peeling the skin off. It was one of the few skills I was able to do with a knife and a vegetable.

"No, honey, figuring out who you are isn't a one-off thing," Mum replied. "And you're going to find yourself changing a lot in the next ten years. And that includes the friends you make, and keep."

I popped the potato into the sink and began on the next one, mulling over Mum's words. I wondered which friends I would keep in ten years. I hoped I could keep them all - they were all such awesome people.

"You and Aidan are different, and that's completely fine," Mum went on. I drank in her words, thinking about how everything she said was important, so I had better listen. "In fact, it's expected. Your paths have crossed, and now they are separating. And you may be sad, but it's for the best sometimes."

"I'm not sad," I scoffed, until I realized I was. In a way. But I had to remind myself that I had nothing to be sad about. Allah had a better plan for me, as Mariam kept reminding me. And leaving it in His hands made things much more bearable.

"It's okay to be sad, Damian, but just remember it'll be alright in the end," Mum preached.

"In Sha Allah," I murmured. Those words always seem to give me hope, because it was as if just saying it would make things better in the future.

"Now what I want you to do is focus on your school, okay? Don't worry about friends and all that drama. When I was your age I made the mistake of worrying more about that than my studies, and I want you to have the best future you can possibly have," Mum told me ardently, moving on to the onion and slicing it expertly. "Can you promise me that?"