Can't Escape

Chapter 1

I shrug and take a long sip from my bubblegum milkshake and let the beautiful creamy substance hit all of my tastebuds. I raise my eyebrows in amusement as Maria huffs and messes with her floral printed outfit which seriously doesn't match the weather but somehow she can pull it off. "Your my best friend, Maz, I understand that you want to pretend you don't enjoy it. Don't worry hun, my mouth is zipped!"

Since I've been friends with Maria, I've learnt that she dislikes the idea of having crushes on the opposite sex, however being a girl, I know that every girl has a crush at least once in their lifetime.
I bet you have one, don't you? (Keep it halal, guys.)
The good thing about my best friend and I is that we constantly remind each other to 'LOWER YOUR GAZE!' even though it's difficult at times. We know our limits. Stay away from boys- they have cooties. Gross.

Maria growls and hits my arm. "I don't enjoy it, Alvina!" She defends herself with a whine. "I hate it, I would definitely have left ages ago but there's no other maths class in our year so be quiet!"

I burst out laughing and raise my hands in surrender at her face which is now burning red against her light brown skin. She exhales whilst rolling her hazel eyes and fixes her flower print headscarf.

"Whatever," She huffs and places the straw into her mouth again. "Boys are not my type."

I nearly choke on my drink. "Oh, so girls are?"

Her eyes nearly fall out of her sockets. "EW, NO!" She hits my arm extremely hard with a strong force. I wince in pain and grab it with my right hand, however that is a hard task due to my milkshake being held in my right hand also. I turn away from Maria and purse my lips, breathing in slowly trying to not make a sound.

"Oh my gosh! Al-Oh my gosh!" I hear Maria's words stumble out of her mouth and she runs infront of me. My head is lowered and my eyes are shut as I try to block out the pain. "I'm so so sorry! I totally forgot, oh my gosh!"
She blabbers out a few more sentences but I block her words out. How I wish I could just block out the pain instead.
After a few moments, I clear my throat and force myself to smile before looking up at Maria's worried face. I flex my arm which she hit and tilt my head to the side, gesturing for us to carry on walking.

"I'm so sorry!" She gushes out and hugs me. "Are you okay?!"

I laugh into her headscarf. She smells of her house- an Islamic Spray mixed with a hint of curry. "It's alright," I say when she lets go.

She holds me at an arms length with one hand and studies my face in sympathy. Her bushy eyebrows are raised and her lips slightly pouted.

"What?" I squirm away from her hold, uncomfortable with her silence. Maria's always speaking so it's unusual for her to be quiet-except when there's food involved.

"I totally forgot, Alvina." She sighs and we begin to walk again. "How is it feeling?"

I shrug. "It's alright." I repeat.
I can tell she is feeling regretful as she lowers her head in shame. I close the distance between us and wrap my arm around her shoulder in order to reassure her that I am fine. Maria looks at me and smiles sadly.

"I swear if you say you're sorry again then you're getting slap." I warn her.
Maria laughs lightly. "I totally forgot about it, Al! Ugh, I feel so bad right now! I was alert when you had that cast on but now that it's off it slips my mind! Ugh, I'm so so sorr-" She instantly stops her last sentence when I widen my eyes at her. "Sorry." She says sheepishly before realising what she just said and she raises her arms in desfense, shielding her face in protection. "NO! NO! I MEANT SORRY FOR NEARLY SAYING SORRY!"