All American Muslim

Campus

Amy was sitting at the cafeteria in campus, waiting for John and Sarah to show up. Her two best friends that she was having coffee with after Bio. She was absentmindedly chewing on the end of her pen, which left small grey dots on her perfectly even front teeth. The sides of her lips pulled into a smile, a deep dimple appearing in her right cheek. 

Today was a perfect cloudless sunny day and that meant a long night of partying awaited. Just like always. Interestingly enough, getting used to partying wasn't so hard and the hangovers were easily nursed. Partying on Sundays were hellish though, because no matter how much the hangovers were nursed, Monday morning Mathematics was always migraine inducing. It always felt as if the numbers were jumping off the white board. Nothing made sense in that class and maybe that's the reason Amy got such bad grades in her latest Math's exam. 

The sun was warming her face and she was developing a soft brown tan. Girls in class were always so jealous that her skin had the ability to turn into a golden shine, whilst they resembled something of a deep red tomato. Amy was indeed beautiful and though she always made sure to perm her blonde dyed hair every three months, some small coils were already appearing on the bottom ends of her hair. 

She studied the campus building all around her. It was a huge complex that comprised of four brick buildings, organized around a big campus park in the middle. The campus dorms were located in the ground floor of the building, while the classes took place in the three storeys above. Amy had found this campus on the backside of a brochure that was sent to her home adress in Colorado. The University, located in a sunny area in Florida, was just as far away from her family as she could get. Also, the University offered various degrees in Biology which suited Amy perfectly. She had always had a knack for Biology and hoped to be able to work in a lab one day.  

John and Sarah came running across the campus park and bounced down on either sides of her. John was rather tall and well built, with a muscular frame and thick blond hair that was shaved off on the right side and hung in a fringe on his left, perfectly obscuring his dark green eyes. He had a habit of combing his hair backwards  while talking; this made so many girls at Uni stare longingly in his direction each time he passed by. 

Sarah was also very tall but had a very slender, athletic physique. She came from a rich family. Her mother had been a professional ballet dancer and had therefore enrolled Sarah in professional ballet classes from a very early age. After a leg injury that resulted from one of her many  training camps, she had finally put her foot down and quit. Her parents weren't happy about it. But Sarah, with her five feet nine, and sharp, brilliant light blue eyes had made such a statement that day, that none of her parents had had anything to say about it. Amy really looked up to Sarah's resolve and strength in character. 

"So Amy, are you coming to the party tonight?" John asked, with a slight intake of breath. Sarah nodded ferociously in her direction, willing her to say yes. Amy already saw this coming. Hiding her smile, she nodded yes in John's direction.

Suddenly they heard a shuffling of steps, a groan and a loud bang of books that were accidentally dropped on the asphalt. Amy jerked up and stared at the figure that was now stooping on the ground. It was a guy. He was wearing rather baggy jeans and an oversized t-shirt with 'faith' written on its back.

John gave a snort. Amy broke her stare and looked back at John. 

"That dude is sooo weird. He's in Bio with us and always keeps to himself. You should've seen how much he stuttered when Professor Dan asked him a question today."

Strangely enough, Amy didn't recall him at all.

"What's his name?" she asked, all the while intently staring at his retreating figure. She developed a wrinkle between her eyebrows when she murmured the word 'faith' both slowly and cautiously. She was scared. Somewhere deep inside of her, there was a room and inside that room she had placed a big black box. Now, over the years, lots of dust had gathered on top of the box. In big white bold letters, 'faith', was written on top of that box. Just as she read the word 'faith', that box shuddered. Amy was scared that it might unlock.

John just gave a shrug and answered.

"Ahmed I think."

Then he started to laugh a little.

"Imagine being named after a terrorist. He might as well call himself Osama Bin Laden, for all the good it will do him." Sarah joined in the laughter, but Amy just stared after Ahmed. A terrible ache in her stomach. Suddenly she felt a little emotional and her eyes started to tear up. The black box gave another shudder. Amy bit her lower lip.

"Hey...what is it? Are you okay Amy?" Sarah grabbed her arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. Her searching blue eyes on her.

Amy nodded quickly and tried to refocus on reality. Her mind had taken her somewhere far away for a minute and if she wasn't quick enough she might get lost there for the remainder of the day. So she shook her feelings away and stood up.

Sarah and John stared up at her, waiting.

"Well come on then. Let's go and grab a coffee before Chemistry-class, shall we."

Amy forced a smile.