An American Muslimah

Chapter 15

It was now the end of March and the snow were slowly starting to melt away. Yes, it turns out that we did get a late, but snowy winter after all. The streets of New York were covered with slush and melting snow. To be honest it wasn't a pretty sight at all. The remains of snow had turned black, swamped with mud and dirt. School wasn't great either. Over the weeks, the workload kept on piling up. By the end of this week, I was expected to finish a lab report for science, finish making a powerpoint for gym class since we it was part of the curriculum do touch on a unit on health in gym class and finish my skit to present in spanish class. But the workload wasn't the only thing that was stressing me out. Believe it or not, it was Laila. She had turned paler over the past few weeks and she had also lost some weight. I know I shouldn't be worrying about her too much, but my gut instincts told me that there was something wrong.I decided to wait for the best opportunity to talk to her alone. I was currently sitting in the library with Olivia after school as our spanish skit was due tomorrow. Ms.Cunningham had told us to act out a scene from a restaurant and we had to use as much as vocabularily that we had learned thus far. We had props and costumes with us to act out the skit in order to be prepared for tomorrow. I looked up at Olivia and I couldn't help myself but laugh.

"What?" Olivia asked pouting.

"It's your mustache. You look quite fascinating in it," I said giggling.

"Oh shush, I know you envy my mustache." Olivia said.

The next day, Laila wasn't present in gym class. When Mrs.Jayce asked us if anyone knew if Laila was alright, Anna replied Laila had texted her telling her that she had catched a mild cold. The rest of the day was just plain boring. Well except for spanish because we were presenting and the entire time, my heart was pounding really hard. I absolutely hate presenting. When I was younger I always wanted to be a teacher as I had the best teachers, especially when I was in elementary. I still remember my grade one teacher, Ms.Graham. She was such a sweetheart. But as I got older I lost interest in wanting to become a teacher as I realised how hard and nerve wrecking it really is to stand in front of the whole class and teach every single day. Why was presentation part of high school curriculum anyway? Do they love seeing kids pass out and turn into a wreck? I secretly think its to take revenge on us since we're nothing more than a bunch of rebellious teens to the adult world.

After school Maryam, Hillary and I walked home together as this was our usual routine. But today Abdullah has once again decided to ditch his friend Elvin and walk with us. How wonderful (sarcasm). As we were walking, I heard a couple of guys laughing and talking behind us. Out of curiosity I turned back to see who they were and saw Connor, Daniel and Abraham. When Hillary and Maryam went on their own ways, I was left alone with Abdullah. I have to tell Suleiman to talk to him. He is my non mahram and I can't be with him alone. The entire time he was talking, I was just ignoring him. Couldn't he get the hint?

When I arrived home, mom was waiting for me with a worried look.

"Assalamualaikum ummi. What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Wa alaikussalam dear, why don't we have a seat? I have to tell you something."

I took off my boots and took a seat across from mom at the kitchen table.

"Laila's mom called and she said Laila isn't doing too well. She said it would make Laila feel better if you visit her." Mom told me.

Whoops, I guess Laila's mom doesn't know that we're not friends anymore and that Laila probably hates my guts. But mom's words told me that it was serious. So I decided to go as a muslim since it is required of us to go visit the sick.

When we got there Laila's mom was expecting us and she made us sit down and have some tea and cake.

"So Aisha hunny, how are you? It's been a while since you've come here."