Keeping It Halal

Chapter Eight

Assalamualaikum guys!  First of all I would like to apologise for updating this chapter late, I've been having no mood to write and I had a really unstable wifi. Once again I'm really super sorry and I hope you guys like this chapter :)

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     I let out a yawn and stretched my legs which were numb as I woke up to a knock on the door. I quickly put on the hijab that was hung on the armchair beside my bed.

     "Ah, good morning Arina, how are you feeling? I came to check on you," greeted Dr. Hannah with a smile.

      "I'm feeling alright, I guess," I replied with a small smile.

     "Hmm.. mhmm.. ok.." she mumbled to herself as she wrote something on the clipboard that was placed on the table. "Goodness, Arina, the injury in your head is recovering quite fast. Can you now, at least, remember  some of things that your parents told you about?" She asked.

     "I think I do remember the pendant my mother gave me when I was 18," I replied, a little unsure.

     "Hmm.. alright," she continued writing on the clipboard, "Have a good rest. Also, please eat your medicines. You may be discharged in 2 days time, if your health maintains." And with that, she exited the room. I sighed of frustration as I could not go out for what seem like a year. I was an active type of person so I had to go out at least once a day, unless I was really exhausted. 

     I heard my phone buzz from the side table to I grabbed it immediately. There were so many notifications - 13 of them belonged to Izzah's messages, 7 missed calls from my mother, and the rest of them are from my social media accounts. I quickly called my mother, wanting to know why she called me so many times.

     No answer.

   

     Weird, I thought. I let out a sigh. I ended the voice mail and proceeded to check Izzah’s messages. Most of them were those “how are you feeling?” questions. I get that she was worried about me, but I really hate to be pitied at. It makes me feel weak. But there was one message that caught my attention. I read through it and sighed once more.

     “Seriously, Izzah? Haraam, girl. Lower your gaze.” I replied her message. I shook my head while rereading the message that said “Oh my Allah Arina I saw this good lookin’ guy just by the corridor of my room and girl, he was so fine!”.

    I heard a knock on the door and saw my parents enter the room followed by a group of people which I assumed, a family. I didn’t know a single one of them. I gave my mother a ‘what’s happening?’ look which was then returned with a smile. I kept my confused look on my face.

     “Assalamualaikum, Arina,” greeted my mother with a warm smile, “This is The Haris family, they’ve came to visit you to thank you for saving this little one,” my mother pointed to a little girl with big brown eyes who had her hair in a plait.

     My expression changed to a cheerful one. "Oh, assalamualaikum to you!" I greeted, looking at each one of the strangers' faces. There were four of them, the woman in a hijab and the man who was wearing a suit were obviously the parents while the other two are their children. The guy that seemed to be in his early 20s is the eldest, I observed.

     Later that day, I learnt that the guy goes to the same university I got into.

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First Day In University

     "Oh my Allah Arina your room is just across mine! Perfect!" squealed Izzah.  I grinned as I shook my head and opened the door. It was just a small room with two single beds and a toilet, but I was told that I wouldn't have a roommate at the moment, so it was all fine to me. I dumped all my belongings on the floor and sat on the bed, taking a look around me. Seconds later, Izzah came in with two cups of coffee and placed one of them on a side table beside my bed.

     "Jazakallah girl, you really know what I needed," I thanked her. 

     "Oh no no. this isn't for you girl, it's for me," she joked.

     I rolled my eyes at her and took the coffee and sipped it. I was feeling really weary and I had no mood to joke around, after having a sleepless night because I was forced to watch a horror film with Izzah. Judge me all you want, but horror films are still a no from me. 

     I got up from the bed and took my laptop from one of my bags and placed it on a study table that was placed just across the room. I quickly turned it on and went on the University of Exeter's website to obtain my personal timetable. "Ooh, looks like we'll be going together to our first class. I have psychology first, too!" Izzah said excitedly, appearing beside me. We both looked at our wristwatches that showed 8:05 a.m. Izzah grinned, "Classes don't start until 9 a.m, why not I take you on a little tour?".

     I widened my eyes in shock. "Are you mental? No! Can't you see that I'm tired? How about we prorogue it? We can always do that later, right? For now, just show me where my classes are held at." With that, I crashed into my bed without bothering to take off the hijab on my head.

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     I was awakened by a knock on the door. Glancing at my wristwatch again, I got up and fixed my hijab and went to open the door. "What does Izzah want? It's only 8:30 for Allah's sake!" I mumbled to myself. 

     I opened and saw a transformed Izzah, no, that person was surely not Izzah. It was a quite tall guy who looked like a student.

     "Er, yes?" I asked, trying to be as nice as possible, because usually I would be cranky when my sleep gets interrupted.

     "Eh? Do I know you or something? You look pretty familiar. Oh and sorry, wrong room. My bad." He replied, walking away.

     I shrugged as I closed the door. He looked quite familiar, too. Who might he be? I thought.