LOOK AT ME (Muslim Story)

He looked at me (42)

When I walked in the court room, the first thing I noticed was the silence. The court room was full to say the least. People were sitting down comfortably. I saw a couple of signs up. I saw the judge and I saw my lawyer standing up.

What? Everyone seems to be looking at me.

When I walked to the left front side of the court, my lawyer leaned in and whispered in my ear, "You're late."

Oh.

I dusted my pants and decided to sit down.

The judge looked at me from the high chair she's sitting on, eyeing me up and down while fixing her glasses, "Late gives you the wrong impression."

In order to win this shit, I have to be respectful.

I bowed my head, "Apologies, your honour."

The judge nodded her head at me as if to tell me it's alright before waving at her security guard, "Call Brandon Blake to enter."

My heart started to beat fast. The sound of his name and the fact that right now he's about to show his face here was giving me anxiety. My hands started to sweat. I'm not usually the kind of be scared, but I felt extremely scared. Who knows, maybe if I see him I'll probably loose it.

"Psst." Someone whispered behind me.

I don't know if I'm dreaming or anything so I shrugged it off thinking it was my bad habit of hallucinating.

"Pssst." I heard again.

I turned my head behind me only to be welcomed by a familiar face, leaning in from two rows behind me. He was smiling widely but also in a reassuring smile, he winked "Its going to be okay."

Ahmed.

It's like he knew I was nervous, hearing the name of the man who basically stole everything that made me special.

I smiled back at him, but it was a sad smile. He noticed that and honestly, I wished Ahmed was standing beside me, holding my hand. I kind of need him right next to me.

Ahmed hardly ever seen me scared before. I'm almost never threatened until today. He's not used to that.

When I looked on the other side, I saw my dad staring right at me. He nodded his head. He didn't smile but the simple nod made me feel okay. Made me feel like my dad was on my side no matter what.

And you know, no matter how fucking crazy he can be, he's still my dad. And I know one thing is that he cares about me and he loved me when no one else did.

I nodded back at my dad, mouthing 'I love you.'

He accidentally let a smile take over his expressions and mouthed it back, 'I love you too.'

Brandon walked in, his hands cuffed and I a familiar jail orange jumpsuit. He looked like a mess to say the least. The cop held him tightly around the shoulders, pushing him towards his seat.

And then he made eye contact with me.

Brandon stared dead in to my eyes. He looked mad, angry and a mixture of fucking pissed and fucking exhausted. He looked like when he gets the chance, he'll rip my soul out my body.

And then he smirked, his yellow teeth showing.

I shivered, Shit.

That's when the hearing started. At first it was just simple introductions, from Lawyer to lawyer.

My lawyer was first.

"Imagine being a seventeen year old, going to school and being bullied. Everyday, being harassed by people and insulted. Imagine people taking continuous pictures of you, violating your personal space. Sounds terrible right? Well that's Emerald Green for you all." She walked around the room, looking at the jury, speaking to the audience about my life. "Her fierce and defending personality is what keeps her going in the school. Although Harper High took everything from her, they didn't take one thing special from her. They didn't take her virginity."