MANAL

18. Manal

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The ringtone of my phone, woke me up from my sleep. With my eyes still closed, I fumbled around for the phone, but could not find it. My eyes widened in realization when I felt vibration underneath me. I sprung to a sitting position and quickly picked up the overheated phone from beneath me. "Oh no!" I exclaimed and thoroughly checked to see it the screen had been damaged. Thankfully, the screen was not broken. I heaved a sigh of relief and quickly called Ummi back.

"Assalamu'alaykum, Ummi. Good morning." I greeted, getting out of the bed.

"Wa'alaykum salam, dear. How are you?"

"I'm fine, Ummi, Alhamdulillah."

"Hope everything is fine there. Is there anything you need? Are you comfortable?"

"Yes, Ummi." I smiled. "I'm comfortable here."

"And your other roommate; has she arrived?"

"Yes. She arrived yesterday."

"How is she? Is she a nice person?"

"Yes, she is, Ummi. She's my course mate as well. I think we're going to get along well."

"You should study her well, before befriending her. I don't want you mingling with people that will end up being bad influences on you. Always remember all the things your father and I told you."

"Okay, Ummi. How's abii and Imran?"

"Abii just left for work. He went to meet up with some foreign investors. And Imran is fine. He misses you a lot."

I chuckled and shook my head. "No way. I'm certain his is overjoyed by my absence. Anyways, please send my regards to him, since he doesn't know how to call."

"Okay."

"Okay, Ummi, I have to go. I have a lecture to attend this morning. If I keep talking, I will end up late and the lecturer won't allow me inside the class."

"Okay, okay, you should hand up now. Make sure to call me when you return, okay? Have you prayed?"

"I'm about to."

"Alright. May Allah protect you always." Ummi prayed and ended the call.

I let out a yawn and stretched my limbs, before going into the bathroom to perform ablution.

When I emerged from the bathroom, my roommates were still sleeping. I walked up to our bunk and tapped on Hala's arm first.

She groaned and turned to the other side of the bed. "Go away!"

"Wake up, Hala." I hit her harder. "You need to wake up. It's time to pray and we also have lectures by eight."

"Red card." She mumbled.

My brows arched in confusion. "What?"

"On the rag!"

"What?"

She turned to me and rolled her eyes. "Seriously? Do I have to spell it out to you?"

"Oh!" I exclaimed. Only then did I realize what she meant by 'red card'.

"Yes. So you should go and pray alone. Wake me up when you're done." She turned back to the wall and continued sleeping.

I walked to the other bunk and woke sister Hauwa, then Ajoke up.

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"Hala!" I yelled. "Haven't you had enough sleep yet? We're going to be late." I groaned. "I'm going to leave without you."