LIMITLESS

Chapter I

"You're going to get caught one of these days."

"What do you mean?" Rayan asked her best friend Hani innocently.

"Don't play dumb. You need to cut it out before you give your father a heart attack."

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him." she said as she ran her fingers through her hair in the school bathroom mirror. "Also, you can't really lecture me about covering my hair if you don't cover yours either." she shrugged as she looked at Hani in her reflection.

"You know that's not what I'm talking about." she rolled her eyes. "And at least my parents know that I don't wear hijab. I'm not sneaking around like you."

Rayan knew exactly what Hani was talking about. It was the secret that she had been keeping from her family for months. It was the reason for all of the constant lies and the reason why all of the other Somali girls at school gave her critical looks when they walked passed her in the hallway.

"He's not that bad." Rayan turned around to face her.

"That doesn't matter. He's white!" she exclaimed.

"Why does his race matter? I'm 18, I should be able to date who I want."

Rayan had been dating Mason for six months now. She had been lusting for him since freshman year and was ecstatic when he finally gave her the time of day on the first day of senior year.

"Seriously, this is going too far. Stop acting like you're one of them." They both turned to face the mirror again. They looked like sisters and many people confused them as such. Both were tall with caramel complexions and had dark black hair that was perfectly staightened every single morning. They might have looked alike but the two girls couldn't have been any more different. Rayan was always very different from most of the girls in her area. It could have been because of her strict father, or because she was homeschooled up until high school, or maybe it was because of her sheltered lifestyle after the death of her mother. Rayan was definitely different, and only she knew why. Hani on the other hand was her polar opposite. She was a good girl that never caused much trouble. She was the voice of reason in the friendship and spent most of her time making sure that Rayan didn't self-destruct.

"Can we talk about something else?" she asked, annoyed. She walked away from the mirror and picked her bag up off the floor.

"Fine." Hani sighed. "You know I'm just looking out for you right?" she pointed at Rayan with her lipstick.

"I know."

"Did you hear back from Ohio State yet?" she asked, shifting the topic of conversation.

"Oh yeah, I completely forgot to tell you. I got in."

"How could you forget to tell me that?" she asked, surprised. "Congratulations!"

"It's not really as exciting as going to university in Dubai. I can't believe you're traveling across the world without me."

"I'll be back every summer to visit. And you'll be so busy with college that you won't even have the time to think about me."

"I would much rather visit you in Dubai every summer. You're going to have so much fun living alone with your sister. I'm kind of jealous."

Hani was about to reply but the bell rang before she could. They collected their things and walked into the hallway. Uncoincidentally, the first person they saw was Mason. He smiled as soon as he saw Rayan and put his arm around her. Hani stood back and watched from far away.

"I was looking for you all morning." he said. "Are you as excited for tonight as I am?"

"Of course." she smiled.