In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful.
Piety is not a waste, and sin is not to be forgotten and the judge (Allah) will never die, do as you wish, whatever you sow; you reap ( Hadith )
"ZAHRA!!!!!!!!"
I jumped in my seat, nearly stabbing myself in the eye with the eyeliner pencil in my hand. The door burst open and Zayd stood there looking murderous.
I stared at him blankly, confused as to why he looked like he wanted to dismember me in the morning,"um, hi?"
"Hi to you too", He growled and marched closer to me, his face was red and I could almost see the steam coming from his ears. What did I do? I didn't mistakenly eat his snacks did I?
"So I'm casually scrolling through Instagram, and then what do I see?", He shoved his phone in my face, on the screen were the pictures I took of him at Brian's party, "I see this, on my very dear twin sister's page!", the sarcasm in his tone was very obvious and I tried my best to hold in my laughter.
I grinned, "yeah well, hey look it already has 200 likes"
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
I couldn't hold it in anymore, I started laughing and Zayd's glare deepened, "my followers think you're cute", I giggled, "don't you like that?"
Zayd looked like he could behead me, "I'd like it if you deleted it", He spat.
"Umm...", I tapped my chin with the eyeliner pencil as I pretended to think about it, "nope", I said, popping the p and bolted out of the room before he could catch me.
"Get back here you goat!", He chased me to the living room and I glided past the chairs and went to the kitchen, I almost collided with Mom who was there drinking coffee. I stopped just in time and she shrieked and jumped, spilling some of the coffee onto her hand.
"Subhanallah, you two are going to be the death of me", she said and frowned at us, "what's it this time?"
"Look what she did to me!", Zayd wailed and showed Mom the pictures, she took one look at them and started laughing. I grinned and joined her, thank God Mom was also a good sport for pranks.
Zayd's face fell, "you.. you're laughing?"
Mom smiled at him, "it's actually kinda cute", she laughed and I nodded, "see? That's what I told him!"
Zayd scowled at us, "I don't care if it's cute, I want it deleted!"
"Oh no, oh no, oh no no no no no", I sang as I spread jam on my toast to annoy him, "oh no, oh no, oh no no no n-"
"Shut up!!"
He looked at Mom, "Mom please tell her to take those pictures down", he begged, "I look like a pig"
"Well why were you eating like a pig?", She countered.
"I was in my comfort zone! Or so I thought", he glared at me, then he smiled as if a light bulb turned on in his head, "hold on, I'm sure I got some horrible pics of you too"
I stared at him silently as he desperately searched his phone, then he grinned, "yes, if you don't delete that post I'm posting this", he shoved his phone in my face. I stared at the picture and then back at him.
"You can't post that picture"
Zayd smirked, "oh yeah? You think I can't do it?"
I took a bite out of my toast, "no you can't, my hair's exposed", I said matter of factly.
"W-what?", He looked at the picture again and realization washed across his face, "oh"
Mom chuckled and smiled at us, "honestly the two of you, I just hope you don't kill each other one day", she said and left the kitchen, "better not be late for school, I'm off"
"Okay Mom bye!", I called out and looked at Zayd who was still searching his phone furiously, I rolled my eyes and decided to take pity on him.
"Okay fine I'll delete it"
A look of relief crossed his face, "you will?"
"If"
"Oh great", he threw his hands up and scowled at me, "what?"
I smiled at him wickedly and rubbed my hands, this is gonna be good.
"If you let me drive to school today", I said with finality, ever since we got the car Zayd had always been the one driving us to school.
Zayd looked horrified, "what? No way, you drive like a crazed lunatic"
"Well then", I got up and left the kitchen, "I wonder how many likes would have gathered by next week"
"Come on Zee", he grabbed my arms and turned me so I was facing him, "anything but that"
"No", I shook my head like a stubborn little girl, "I. Want. To. Drive"
"Ya Allah", Zayd threw his head back, then he glared at me for a long moment before shoving the car keys at me.
"Yay!! I'm driving", I cheered and skipped outside, Zayd followed me grumbling to himself.
"I hate you"
"I love you too"
I started the car and pulled out of the driveway, immediately Zayd began to recite the Shahaddah and I laughed, "you know you're the one making me feel nervous", I informed him, "so stop it"
"Hey, I just wanna be prepared in case I die"
I rolled my eyes, my driving skills weren't terrible. Zayd was just exaggerating, but I felt more comfortable driving in neighborhood roads; highways and express roads still scared me.
"See?", I said when I parked in the school's parking lot, "we're in one piece, no dents or scratches on the car"
"Whatever, just delete the damn post", he snapped and got out of the car, jeez.
I quickly got down and locked the car, I pocketed the keys and smiled, since he ghosted me I might as well hold on to them. The harsh light from the sun nearly blinded me, I put a hand over my eyes and rushed into the building.
There was a commotion coming from somewhere in the building. I curiously followed the noise, before I got there Hailey appeared from a corner, she seemed to be out of breath, when she saw me she looked relieved and sped towards me.
"Oh thank goodness there you are"
"What's going o-", I tried to ask but she grabbed my wrist the second she got to me and started running back while dragging me.
"Hailey, what's going on!", I yelled in confusion.
"No time to explain!", She kept dragging me until we reached a crowd shouting, when we got closer I noticed there were two boys fighting in the middle. Are you kidding me, this was what Hailey dragged me like a criminal for?
I turned to her, "seriously? You dragged me over to watch a fight?"
She shook her head frantically, "no, look at the guys fighting"
I turned back to the two brawling boys, then I gasped when I recognized one of them.
Brian.
It looked like he had the upper hand seeing as he was raining punches on the other guy's face, I winced. That's gotta hurt.
"Can you stop him!", Hailey screamed into my ear.
I stared at her worried face, how did she expect me to do that? What if one of them accidentally punched me and I ended up with a black eye or broken nose, I might be overreacting but hey, I love my face.
"And how do you expect me to do that!", I yelled above the cheering of the crowd, I felt a little irritated. How could anyone enjoy watch people watch each other? And still cheer them on, this wasn't a WWE match for god's sake.
"I don't know, you're his cousin!"
That again? She really needs to stop saying that like it was some privilege.
I scowled at her, "how the hell does that matter right now!"
"Can you just try?", She begged me, "he's gonna kill that poor guy, this isn't the first time Brian's gotten in a fight. If the principal sees this he might get suspended, or worse kicked off the team, he's the captain for Pete's sake!"
Well, she does have a point.
But why should I be the one to stop him? I closed my eyes and sighed, what an eventful way to start the day.
I took in a deep breath and nodded, "alright, I'll try", I said pushed through the crowd.
Lord help me.
I got to the front and gasped at the sight in front of me, seeing it up close was even more terrifying; the other guy had blood all his nose and mouth, Brian also had blood on his face but nothing like the poor boy he was beating the living daylights out of.
Okay now I actually need to stop him.
I said a quick prayer before yelling, "Brian! Brian STOP! STOP IT!"
Brian stopped mid-punch and his head turned to look at me, everyone also stared at me in surprise. They were probably wondering how the hell the new muslim girl was able to stop him with one command.
Just then the idiot whose life I was trying to save decided to punch Brian in the jaw, Brian gave him a death glare and started rearranging his face again. I had no choice but to rush over and pull him by the collar of his shirt.
"Brian stop that's enough!", I yelled, "do you want to get suspended?"
That seemed to bring him back to reality and he released the guy, he was breathing heavily and his face was a mess; sweat and blood and all.
He stood up without a word and I dragged him away from the curious crowd, I found an empty spot in one of the hallways and stopped.
I turned to glare at him, "mind explaining why you were trying to send that dude to his early grave?", I asked him.
He shrugged and wiped his mouth, "he was pissing me off"
I stared at him, expecting him to elaborate, "what else?", I asked when he said nothing more, "that's it?"
"I'm short tempered okay", he argued and I raised a brow.
"That doesn't mean you're justified to beat him up idiot", I reprimanded, "violence isn't always the answer"
Brian gave me a bored look, "you sound just like my mom right now"
I didn't reply and regarded his face, "you look like shit", I told him and he laughed, then winced from the pain.
"You need to get to the-", I started to say but was cut off by a voice behind me.
"You're one crazy girl, you know that?"
I looked back to see Zayd approaching us, a disapproving look on his face.
I smirked, "Crazy awesome or crazy amazing?"
"Crazy stupid", he deadpanned and stopped in front of me, "what were you thinking barging into a fight? What if one of them hit you?"
Was he worried? Awww
I gasped dramatically and placed a hand over my heart, "you were worried about me? You're so sweet", I wiped away fake tears, "I didn't know you were so overprotective"
He rolled his eyes, "just cause you're ugly enough, it doesn't have to be worsened by a black eye or broken nose"
I gave a death glare and Brian chuckled beside me,"you guys are so.... twins"
Zayd looked at him, "you look like shit", he declared.
See what I said about us being in sync?
Brian stared at him in surprise, "she said the exact same thing a few minutes ago", he pointed at me.
"You need to ice that like.. now", Zayd and I told him at the same time and his eyes nearly bulged out.
"Okay stop, that was just creepy", he said and shuddered, Zayd and I laughed; it happened a lot, we couldn't help it, even mom got freaked out after a while. Dad always thought it was cute.
"I'm going to the nurse's office", Brian started to walk away but was stopped by a high pitched shriek.
"Brian! Babe!", Valerie was running towards him as fast as her platform boots could carry her, if what she was doing could be called running. It was more like speed walking considering her shoes, seriously why would you wear something so uncomfortable to come to school.
She stopped in front of him and grabbed his face, Brian winced and she softened her hold. I watched in amusement, It's a bit weird seeing her not scowling.
"Oh my God look at you, are you okay?", She asked him in a tone I'd never heard from her before, what a performance.
Brian closed his eyes and sighed, "I'm fine Valerie"
Valerie saw Zayd and I standing there and she gave us an icy look, well mostly me. Yeah, now that's the Valerie I know.
She huffed and strutted away, pulling Brian along with her. Hailey was right, she really did treat him like her pet.
"Wow, she likes you so much", Zayd commented when they were gone, "that was a look sent from hell"
I nodded in agreement, "yup, she's my biggest fan"
"Why did she look at you like an obsessed girlfriend? Doesn't she know we're cousins?"
"Nope"
Zayd laughed, "then tell her"
"I don't think I'm obligated to", I told him, "we're not friends", I looked at my watch, "come on, we have to get to first period", I started walking to class.
"Hey Zee", Zayd called out.
I stopped in my tracks and looked back, "what?"
He smirked and stretched out a hand, "the keys"
Dang it.
*****
Can someone tell me what is going on?
I stared at the two girls who stopped me when I was heading for the cafeteria in confusion, they looked nervous, "um.. Sara right?", one of them; a blonde spoke up.
I almost rolled my eyes. Right, Sara.
"It's Zahra", I replied in a dry tone, still unsure of what they wanted with me, "how can I help you?"
They weren't here to also tell me to stay away from Brian were they? Cause if they were I was
The second girl; who had brown hair, spoke up this time, "we just wanted to ask you about your brother, Zayd", she said, a dreamy look crossed her face at the mention of his name.
I blinked. Once. Twice.
What?
The two girls looked at me expectantly, and I just regarded them blankly. I wasn't sure whether to be surprised or irritated at their question.
"Um... my brother?"
The blonde nodded, "yeah, like what kind of girls does he like?"
Definitely not you, I wanted to snap, but I held myself back.
"I'm not sure, he's well-", I faltered not knowing what to say, what kind of ridiculously awkward situation was this? Damn you Zayd! This is all your fault!
Blondie wasn't convinced, "you're his twin sister", her tone was accusing, "how can you not know?"
Excuse you, who actually knows their siblings type? Give me a break.
I racked my brain trying to find a way out, then I decided to just say whatever, "well", I started, "I guess he's kinda specific?"
Brown hair perked up, "specific how?", she pressed.
"Does he like a specific body type?", Blondie wanted to know, "what's he into?"
Ya Allah.
A coy smile crept onto Brown hair's face, "does he like boobs or ass?"
I snapped, okay I was done. My annoyance probably showed on my face because they started to look a bit uncomfortable.
"Here's a good idea, act less desperate and respect yourselves more", I advised coolly, "and trust me, you don't wanna date my brother"
Their gaze followed me in stunned silence as I walked away from them.
I brought out my phone from my pocket and sent a simple and clear text to Zayd.
Me: You should have been born ugly.
*****
I was going to murder Zayd.
Not because of the awkward situation I ended up in because of him earlier. School had already closed and I was standing outside by the car, I had been waiting for almost an hour already and I was starting to get pissed off. I couldn't find him anywhere and he wasn't answering any of my calls or texts.
Just as I was wondering which would be the most ideal place to bury his body, he finally sent me a text.
Moron: You go on without me, I ran into some stuff.
My brows crinkled, what was he talking about?
Me: What stuff?
Moron: Just something, don't worry about it and just go, I'll come home later.
Was this guy being serious? He says this after keeping me in the sun for an hour, this is why his name was saved as Moron in my phone.
Me: Are you kidding me? You realize you're with the keys right? How am I supposed to go anywhere you idiot.
Moron: you could ask Brian
I blew out an angry breath as I typed out a response.
Me: Fine, but you better have a good reason for keeping waiting for one hour, otherwise I'll have your head on my wall.
I could imagine him rolling his eyes as he typed back.
Moron: Whatever, quit acting like some big sister.
Me: I'm six minutes older than you.
Moron: Shut up, and by the way what was with that earlier text? Why should I have been ugly? So you can be the favorite twin?
Me: I AM the favorite dummy, and we'll talk about that later.
There wasn't actually any favorite, our parents loved us both equally. It was just a game we liked to play, we'd each come up with reasons why either of us thought was the favorite twin. I pocketed my phone with a chuckle and went to look for Brian, after searching around for a while I finally saw him by his car, but it wasn't just him.
It was him.
And Valerie
And they were kissing.
Just my luck, I rolled my eyes and turned the other direction. There was no way I was going to walk up to them while they were... Occupied. Valerie would bite my head off, besides seeing Brian exchanging saliva was threatening to bring up my lunch.
I kicked a pebble as I wandered around the parking lot, trying to find a solution to my predicament, I considered waiting for Zayd, but I was exhausted and just wanted to take a shower. I might end up having to walk home at this rate.
I was so deep in thought that I didn't really notice my surroundings and bumped into someone, "sorry", I apologized and looked up. Adam's blue orbs stared back at me.
"Zahra, I thought you had gone home", he glanced round the surroundings before focusing on me, "didn't you say you were going to meet your brother?"
"Well..", I explained my situation to him, and to my surprise he offered to take me home.
I hesitated, "are you sure? I don't want to impose"
He flashed me his signature smile that always put me at ease and shook his head, "it's okay", he reassured me, "I want to, besides you don't have another option do you?"
I swallowed back my argument, he was right. It was either this or I sit and do nothing for God knows how long.
"Come on", he urged and motioned for me to follow him, "let's go, tell me your address"
I smiled gratefully as I followed him to his car, "you're a lifesaver, thank you"
•••
I was going to keep on writing but I decided to stop here since it was getting too long.
I just realized that Zayd is mentioned a lot in this chapter. Oh well, he's my favorite character anyway 🥰😁
What do you think of the three girls that stopped Zahra?😂😂
What's the stuff Zayd's talking about?🤔
Lemme know what you think! 😊