Vanished

Chapter 1

"All right, I'm finally done."

"What about your hair? You aren't gonna leave it like that, are you?"

"Can't do much about it now, although I must tell you I tried my best."

Serena and Mahnoor both laughed at this, they knew how messy Keisha's hair can get in this kind of weather.

"All right girls, I'll leave you to set up by yourselves. If you need any help, you can always just give us a shout."

"We will Mrs Moore. Thank you so much, again!"

"No problem Keisha!" Serena's mum leaves the girls in the small backyard but pretty backyard.

The girls start setting up their sleeping spaces on the mowed grass, doing so silently as they think about their night ahead, each looking forward to spending the night with their best friends.

Once they were done, they all stood up and looked over what they had set up. Serena's pink sleeping bag was in the middle of the row, with a pastel green oil lamp next to it. Serena had decorated this earlier with stickers of flowers and hearts and her drawings, as she wished for it to look dazzling. Serena enjoyed art, and she enjoyed decorating anything, but drawing and painting were her passions. She hoped to become an artist one day.

To the right was Mahnoor's dark blue sleeping bag, which was pretty obviously a cheaply bought one. Mahnoor had never been camping with her family as they didn't enjoy going outdoors. Hence why she was reluctant sleeping outdoors. Next to her sleeping bag was a copy of 'Pride and Prejudice', the book she was currently reading. Serena and Keisha had insisted many times that she didn't bring a book, however, she couldn't resist. She loved reading and writing (and academics in general, like the rest of her family), and she hoped to become an author someday.

To the left was Keisha's grey sleeping bag, with her bulky bag as a pillow. Keisha was known to be the forgetful one, and she had forgotten to bring a pillow this time, and Serena refused to give her any of hers as she believes Keisha needs to learn to be more organized. Next to her was her basketball, as she hoped Serena and Mahnoor would agree to at least play catch with her. They both refused though, several times. Keisha was also known for being the 'sporty' one out of the three of them, enjoying every sport, especially basketball. She hoped to play professionally one day, but she knew that would be unlikely considering the time their living in.

The three of them all supported each other's aspirations, and they all admired each other's skills. They all had a long way to go they knew, but they kept each other's hopes alive.

Both Serena and Keisha turned towards Mahnoor, and they both saw her taking off her hijab, which she rarely did. She had started wearing it a year back and although she was a bit self-conscious at first as she was scared that people would think differently of her because she was the only one wearing it, she got used to it. No one had made comments to her face however both of her friends heard people making offside comments now and then about her wearing a hijab. They were both triggered by this at first, but they learnt that is how people will behave.

"Mahnoor, are you sure you feel comfortable taking off your hijab in front of my dad?" asked Serena, who was a bit worried for her friend not thinking this through.

"It's fine. I asked my mom before I left the house. She said this would be a one-off though." Mahnoor mumbled, with a pin in her mouth as she unravelled her hijab. She seemed relieved once she had finally taken it off. Her dark brown, waist-length hair fell loose, after being tied in a messy bun for a long time. Serena and Keisha stared at Mahnoor while she tied her hair back up, as she was not allowed to leave her hair open.