An American Muslimah

Chapter 17

AUTHOR'S NOTE

HEYY/ SALAM GUYS SO THIS MAY BE THE SECOND LAST CHAPTER... I'M STILL INDECISIVE BUT THIS BOOK IS COMING TO AN END :(

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As the weeks went by, life as a highschooler got harder, and I'm not talking just talking about the work load; I'm talking about mental and social letdowns. Laila had become much more comfortable with her hijab on despite the immense amount of hate she got from Anna and her crew. Once we were in gym class and when it was time go to change, Laila couldn't find her blouse. We looked everywhere in the changeroom but couldn't find it. Eventually Maryam got the idea to look in the garbage and there scrunched up and ripped into shreds was Laila's once upon a time pretty black blouse. Anna had an evil smirk on her face when we had found it, but Laila didn't give in. Thank God Maryam had an extra top in her locker. Another time at the end of the day there were flyers all over the floors. When I picked it up, it was an old picture of Laila and Abraham making out and the caption said, "whore". When I went to look for Laila, she seemed unphased and perfectly normal. She told me she couldn't be bothered with low lives as life is too short for that.

We were nearing summer and the end of the school year. The flowers had now all been blossomed and the grass were luscious green. I loved summer but its only drawback was the heat that came along with it. Today it was 20 degrees celsius. Normally that's decent temperature but given the fact that Elm Creek High was an old building, it did not have an air conditioning system. So here I sat on the third floor studying spanish, boiling away. Okay maybe not literally but I can feel the heat on my face. I'm pretty sure by now my face had turned a darker shade of red. Ms.Cunningham had opened all the windows and there was a fan blowing at the front of the class. Lucky for me I sat at the front so time to time I felt the cool breeze from the fan.

After school Maryam,Laila and Hillary were coming over to my place. When I got home mom was in the living room talking and laughing with Ms.Gale.

"Hey Aisha, you look worn out. What's the matter hun?" Asked Ms.Gale.

"I'm not worn out I'm just really hot as the school has no AC," I complained.

"Oh dear, that's horrible." she commented.

We went into the kitchen and started making smoothies. I love strawberries so i dumped a lot of strawberries into the blender. Maryam added some blackberries and Hillary added some melons. Laila threw in some ice cubes and some scoops of vanilla ice cream. When it was all blended, we were left with a glass of yummy and refreshing smoothie. I made a glass for mom and Ms.Gale as well. We went up to my room after we were done and just hanged around and started styling each other's hair. It wasn't after an hour till my brother, Suleiman came home. And as usual he came in barging into my room without knocking! Usually I don't mind that much but this time was different. When Suleiman came in, it took him a minute to understand what he had just done. Maryam was staring at him with wide eyes and he just stood there frozen as the idiot he is. A blush appeared on poor Maryam's face and Laila quickly wrapped her hijab around her head. I on the other hand had to push him out of the door as he seemed to have lost his senses. What is wrong with him? I closed the door after me and started scolding him.

"How many times do I have to tell you to knock before entering?" I hissed at him.

He was staring down at the carpet while rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I'm sorry okay, I didnt mean to" Suleiman tried saying but I cut him off.

"This isn't the first time in which you walked into my room while my friends were here."