——Maryam's POV—-
The next morning was dark and cloudy as if a calamity was about to come. I couldn't figure if it was because I was nervous about Tuesday arriving and the grand encounters that were about to take place soon or if it was a sign from Allah to turn back on my decision.
But, I had done Istakhara the previous night and something in my heart was pushing me to continue with my plan. Without wasting more time overthinking, I quickly got ready for school.
Once I was done putting on my maroon maxi and white cardigan with a white hijab, I pulled on my sneakers and rushed out of the room. When I stepped outside the mansion, my face was hit with cold air.
The smell of slightly wet soil and the wet artifacts laying out in the garden seemed awfully pleasant to me. Abdullah caught my eye beside his black car. He waved at me and I walked over to him.
"Want a ride?" he suggested and like it had been a long long time since we were acting like normal husband and wife which, unfortunately, was untrue, I agreed. "Sure."
In the car, I took out my phone and opened the messaging box to Noor. With a deep breath and the awareness that Abdullah was peeking at me, I started to write.
Before I could go back on my decision, I quickly sent the text and in the next few seconds, it had been delivered. I could sense Abdullah shift in the seat beside me as if wanting to say something.
Surely, he had read the whole thing but decided not to ask anything. I thanked Allah silently for that because I had no answer to give him. Things were about to unfold in front of him and he could only wait.
We made small talk during the ride but he didn't tease me like yesterday, which I was disappointed about. It was like I was waiting for him to make another move and express his wish to get closer to me. It was such a wonder how that boosted my confidence to a completely new level.
Maybe that was how Allah created women. Their craving for attention was a big factor in their love for their partners. Even though Abdullah used to be my number one enemy, I was still yearning for his gaze and smile.
"Allah Hafiz. Have a nice day." I was outside the car door when he said that. I nodded and smiled. "Allah Hafiz. You too. Take care." with that, I walked away to the school building.
The stares of the students were very different that day. It was like the world had been turned upside down. I almost jumped when a cheerleader greeted me as she passed. The situation made me vary of my surroundings and I even did something as dumb as asking her if she was really talking to me.
A pat on my back gave me another jump scare but I breathed a sigh of relief when Cornelia's smug face appeared in front of me. "Look at the new popular girl at school~," she said in a sing-song voice that irritated me to the core.
"Don't you know what a normal greeting looks like? Did you really have to scare me like that?" I responded but Cornelia seemed unfazed by my cold tone. "I do but this is much better." she gave a toothy smile and both of us started walking to the lockers to grab our books.
"Seriously." I shook my head at her in disbelief, not particularly disliking her goofy attitude. We were taking out our books when Cornelia's smile faded and she looked like she was about to say something serious. "You ready for today, Mimi?" she asked, concerned. Her blue eyes weren't twinkling so much as usual and it put me in a confusion.
"Yes of course. I've been waiting for this day. To teach Noor a lesson she would never forget and to knock some sense into Abdullah's head. Why are you asking?" Cornelia nodded slowly as if telling herself something and then smiling brightly again.
"If you're confident about it, then I support you fully!" she put one hand on my shoulder to prove her point and pumped a fist in the air with the other. I smiled gratefully at her, saying thank you with my eyes. We shared a cute moment of friendship and then went ahead to our first class.
Cornelia spoke about her dad on the way, making me uncomfortable again but I didn't dare let it show.
"I just hope Abdullah Saleh agrees to everything. I mean, I miss my dad so much. The house is so deadly quiet all the time without him around. And many friends of his have come to us to ask about him. Damian dealt with them but it was so hard to keep his imprisonment a secret."
I kept on nodding to show her I was listening. Of course, I could sympathize but in my heart, I was wishing for David Wilson to get a lesson he would remember forever. At the same time, I was terrified of Cornelia getting to know about the truth. She would completely lose herself. I didn't want her to be torn between two great relationships.
But Obviously, she would choose her father over me.
The time went by slowly which just added to my anxiety. I couldn't concentrate on a single word any of the teachers were saying because I was too busy looking at the time again and again. It was enough to make me completely ignore the looks everyone in the room gave me.
Honestly, I was getting used to it to the point it didn't bother me in the least. I was just feeling worried and getting sweaty palms in the process. Finally, the time flew and it was time to go home. Cornelia met up with me on the way to the exit and started a conversation about how her day was.
"And then, the teacher ended up not taking the test. I was so relieved!" then she looked up, one eyebrow raised with a questioning expression. "You're listening, aren't you?"
I turned to her with an apologetic look and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I can't focus on anything. I'm just a little... Distracted." Cornelia understood me almost immediately. "Hey. Don't worry. Everything's going to be fine. I'll be there with you for support. Of course, if you're fine with it."
I shook my head. "Thanks for the motivation. I'll be fine. You go home and rest. Besides, you need to be energetic when you meet your dad." I winked at her and saw a big smile spread on her face at the mention of her father. She nodded and with the last wave, walked away to the car waiting for her outside the gate.
That was an indication for me to act. I walked out of the school premises and into the street to find a cab. It was not long before I was successful. With a little flick, I put on my sunglasses and tried to get out of the main sight. The man in the driver's seat looked at me from the rear mirror and shot me a weird glance as I tried to duck a little to hide myself.
"Take me to KUDOS, please," I told him and turned on my phone to check if I had received a reply from Noor. Sure enough, she didn't respond but I could see she had read the message.
"Okay." the driver was quick to catch on because he probably met many weirdos in a day. The car engine screeched and turned on, giving a few jerks in the process. But I ignored it all. He started to drive and it wasn't long before the school building vanished behind me until it was a faint dot in the distance.
I shivered as the cold air hit me through the window. With the thought that the ride was going to be a little long, I sat back and relaxed once I knew no one from school was going to spot me. My moments of peace were cut short when my eyes caught a pedestrian who looked awfully like a cheerleader in my class.
I sighed once our car passed her and I saw her face properly. That woman was way too old to be a high schooler. Relieved, I sat back again. This time, the driver interrupted me to tell me that we had reached our destination.
I calmly got out, paid for the ride, and walked inside the building with a neon-light billboard that had a blinking title saying 'KUDOS' in big bold letters. I could smell the sweet aroma of lattes, sundaes, cold coffee drinks as I passed the beverage counter that was not very far from the entrance.
I looked around, noticing that it wasn't very crowded but nodding knowingly after remembering that it was a working day and most people were at either work or school.
I strode towards the counter and flashed a small smile at the young girl standing there with a badge on her shirt. I glanced at it and looked back at her face. "Stacy?" she nodded politely but not very approvingly. I guessed she wasn't too happy with a hijabi in the shop with the look she was giving my scarf.
"I booked an appointment here yesterday by the name Maryam Junaid. Can you show me my table?" I ignored her looks and got straight to the point. She nodded again before opening her register and searching for my name.
"Right," she said when she found it. "Come this way, please." she took me away and brought me to a table wonderfully decorated up to my taste. "Thank you, Stacy." I smiled sweetly and sat down. She returned the favor but not for long. With the first moment she got, she dashed out of there without asking about my order or anything else regarding it.
I didn't bother with it for longer than a minute and was quick to escape the slight anxiety I felt.
I took a look at my phone and stared at the message I had sent Noor in the morning as if it would give me an idea of when she was going to come. If she was coming at all.
I waited for what seemed an hour but was actually just 15 minutes. Somewhere at the back of my head, I had a feeling that she wasn't going to come but I still clung to the last string of hope I had left.
Another ten minutes passed when I glanced at the clock hung at the creamish colored wall. Exactly at that moment, a wave of nostalgia hit me gently, gently enough not to faze me much. "3:45" I murmured to myself. My eyes ran back to the empty chair in front of me and I frowned.
Suddenly a camera flash blinded my sight and my mind went back in time.
The chatter of people was loud enough to muffle the voice of a teenager rushing and pushing through the crowd of foreign and unknown people. Most of them holding a glass or a bottle which, she guessed was probably drugs. She stripped her gaze away from them and continued making her way to the table her eyes were targeted at.
"Noor!" she was yelling that name for the fifth time but Noor didn't budge. She was enjoying her time, giggling and smiling shyly, averting her gaze and acting like the charmer she was.
But it definitely was not the right time because Maryam was FREAKING OUT.
Plunging her leg into another crowd thinking it was full, she was caught off guard when a few people moved. Her leg slipped and she went tumbling down to the wooden ground. Her bum hit the floor hard and the impact made her close her eyes.
She didn't feel the pain right away because her mind quickly trailed to the horrifying possibility that she was the center of attention of the foreign and 'unethical' people standing in the Cafe. She opened her eyes quickly and looked around, frowning almost immediately after realizing they couldn't care less.
She glanced at her legs fallen apart, not to mention the small rip in her new, precious skirt she had bought with the money she earned by sacrificing her blood, sweat, and tears.
It was an arrow straight to the heart.
On the brighter side, Noor had FINALLY noticed her. But only because the blonde-haired cutie sitting across did before her. Maryam caught his stare on her and quickly adjusted her posture after noticing his dark blue eyes, glinting and so intensely looking at just her.
"Maryam." the name rolled off his tongue so perfectly, without giving off his pure American accent at all. It was probably the first time an American had pronounced her name right without dragging the 'Maaar'. She nervously and with her confused smile stood up, politely refusing the hand for help held out for her by him, much to his disappointment.
"Maryam! Are you okay? Why were you running like that?!" Noor probably noticed the strange softness in Damian's tone for her friend and tried to keep them away. Maryam's attention was diverted, unlike Damian and she glared at Noor.
"Did you see how many times I called you?!" she exploded. "Mom was about to tell Dad everything! I don't know how I took care of the situation!"
Noor stood there frozen for a moment, trying to understand what her friend was talking about. Suddenly, it clicked and her eyes slowly widened. She rushed to pull out her phone and look at the notifications.
" OMG!" She almost yelled, walking closer to Maryam. "I'm soooo sorry! My phone was on silent and I was too busy—"
"Leave it now!" Maryam didn't let her finish. "Just call my mom and tell her I'm here with you and not with any boyfriend of mine. She's probably patrolling the gate with a rolling pin in her hand, waiting for dad to come home and rant to him about my rebellious nature." That was enough to make Noor understand the seriousness of the situation.
She quickly did as she was told and after dialing her mother's number, she brought it close to her ear." Assalam u Alaikum, Aunty! I'm so sorry for not calling earlier. Maryam just reached and told me about how worried you were for her." Maryam 'tched' at that, folding her arms and facing away from Noor.
She met Damian's observing face directed towards her and gave him an apologetic look for the trouble she was giving him. In the background, Noor was trying to butter Maryam's foster mom up and looked like she was having a pretty hard time.
"Sorry, my mom's not very used to sending me alone with friends," she told him briefly even though he didn't need to hear it to guess that. "Understandable. You must be very valuable to her." He had a hint of mischief in his voice that Maryam couldn't quite catch, being the naive girl she was.
She bristled. "Yes. Very." He smiled gently at her, his eyes still glinting with that softness he revealed only to her. "Noor convinced her to let you come, I'm presuming?" he guessed, sitting back down on his seat.
Maryam didn't find it nice to keep Noor standing and making herself comfortable with him. More so, after being very well aware that Damian was Noor's obsession.
Literally.
"You guessed right. I wasn't supposed to come but Noor insisted. Funny thing is, my mom trusts her more than me. It's been like that ever since she laid her eyes on her. Maybe Noor's charming like that." Maryam's eyes weren't on Damian, rather they were gazing at the ground, half-closed, holding some sadness in them.
Damian noticed. "That sucks. But, I'm sure she does it to make sure you're sitting with the right people." He assured her and she smiled at him in return for it too. "I don't really think so. But you could be right."
As if on cue, Noor reappeared after ending the call. She exhaled deeply, showing how mentally drained she was. "Maryam. That's the last time I'm calling your mom. What a woman she is!" she plopped down on her seat, deliberately falling beside Damian which, by the way, Maryam did not approve of.
"Can't say I told you so."
"Well, sit down. We've come this far." Noor gestured towards her frowning friend and then looked at Damian. "Let's have a blast tonight, shall we?" she smiled cheekily at him. Damian nodded, liking the idea very much. "For sure."
But his gaze was still fixated on Maryam, who had gone a bit quieter. She sat down hesitantly as if silently regretting her decision.
"The boys will be here soon. Then we can go to the party." Damian spoke up, filling the short silence between them. Maryam perked up at that. "Boys?" her eyes immediately ran to Noor, who was kind of expecting that reaction.
"Don't worry, Mari. They won't eat you up." Noor joked, trying to divert Maryam's sudden worry. But, it did more harm than good. Maryam flashed her an angry glance. "I didn't say they were going to. I'm just asking because I'm not aware of how many people are coming." she tried to hide the fact that she was totally against hanging out with boys in front of Damian, not to accidentally offend him or something.
And also to hide her religious beliefs which sounded conservative to non-religious people like him.
"Is there a problem if they come along?" Damian was quick to catch on because he instantly realized that Maryam wasn't very comfortable. She was about to say something when Noor jumped in.
"Not at all! Maryam's totally fine with it. Right, Maryam?" she turned to her friend, throwing her a pleading look to go along. Maryam internally sighed as she melted at those puppy dog eyes. She nodded slowly, still looking unconvinced.
"See? There's no problem." Noor grinned at Damian, sounding very appeasing. But his eyes were glued to Maryam just like they had been ever since she had entered the shop. "Are you sure?" he asked to which Noor nodded furiously.
In the meantime, Maryam got back to her senses, realizing she would be in big trouble if she went along with Noor's lie.
"Can I talk to you in private for a second, Noor?" her voice stopped them both, adding to the tension in the air. Noor gave a last glance to Damian who looked like he wasn't buying her lie. She turned to Maryam, sighed, and got up. "We'll be right back, Damian. Could you order two drinks for us until then, please?" she smiled at him.
"Sure. No alcohol, right?" he confirmed to which she nodded. "Right."
Finally, Damian looked away from the nervous, yet angry hijabi in front of him. His heartbeat, which had been uncontrollably violent, calmed down when she left his sight and went with her friend to a corner. He was disappointed for a moment but it was short-lived when he told himself to snap out of it.
"What was THAT?!" Maryam whisper-yelled at Noor who was bracing herself for exactly that. "I should be the one asking you that! You could've spoken to me later about it. Just not in front of him!" Noor folded her arms over her chest after pushing a strand of red hair behind her ear. Her beady earrings clinked as she did that.
"Stop being so paranoid about him, Noor. We're here to have a nice time and so is he. If you're going to force us to be happy about something we dislike, it's going to pollute the air. No one is going to be able to enjoy." She tried explaining the facts to her friend who looked like she was going to explode after sulking like that.
"Do you realize he's the most popular guy at school?! It was so hard to get him here with us and you're going to make him regret it. I'll never be able to leave an impression on him!" her words only made Maryam scowl deeper. She did NOT like this obsession of Noor's which was going over the limit.
"All you care about is your stupid impression. If he's going to like you, it's not going to be because you called him here and acted like this perfect, sweet, kind girl that you really aren't! He's going to like you for your real self, not for this fake Noor you're trying to show him!"
Noor huffed, going all red despite her dark skin. "You don't get it! He's got all the pretty girls after him. I don't stand a chance against them. Especially when I can't even wear a skirt because of Islam! He's never going to like me!"
Maryam's eyes widened. "You're degrading yourself too much, Noor. Don't forget your worth going after this guy who isn't Muslim. You can't even marry him!"
But the red-haired sixteen-year-old girl wasn't as sensible as her hijabi friend who had learned a lot after being kidnapped at the age of ten and had been dealing with an abusive foster family for the past four years.
"I don't care about that. I'm going to marry him one day! And if you aren't going to help me then you can very well say goodbye to me forever."
Maryam couldn't believe her ears. "Are you threatening to end our friendship?" she did a double-take when Noor instantly nodded, completely sure about it. "If you're going to make me. I don't want to leave you but when you don't even care about me, I can't be with you."
Maryam fell silent. Her immature side was taking over because she was just a little girl after all. She couldn't bear to leave the only friend she had made after coming to that scary country, amidst all those scary people. Noor was the only support she had during the years she lived with her abusive father and her perverted foster brother.
"Fine."
The two girls returned to their table with identical smiling expressions on their faces. It was like nothing had happened and they couldn't be closer to each other than that. Maryam's changed look made her look a hundred times prettier. Especially when her beautiful eyes glowed like that.
She was happy if Noor was happy.
Damian was relieved to see that the matter was resolved because he really wasn't looking forward to leaving the pretty hijabi behind and going alone with Noor. Not that he didn't enjoy her company, he was just glad to finally get a chance to interact with the mysterious yet attractive Maryam Junaid.
They quickly finished their drinks until the sky was dark blue outside. Maryam pushed away her conscience as it continued to prick her of the possible dangers that were about to come. She went along with Noor and Damian, with the addition of a few more people.
When they left the shop, there were four girls and about five boys. The boys were rowdy but pretty cute but that wasn't enough to make her feel safe. Noor usually agreed with Maryam but because of Damian's presence, it was like she was a completely different person.
She giggled and kept her voice low, acting twice her age and moving like she was at least twenty-five.
Maryam controlled herself and kept at a side, smiling at one of the girls every once in a while. She didn't fit there, that was for sure. But Damian's constant tries to talk to her made her feel at least not unwanted.
They got into a jeep and a guy started to drive them to a place where they were supposedly going to have a party. The boys were about one or two years older than them but that didn't mean they were mature enough.
At the end of it, Maryam accepted the situation with a heavy heart. But that didn't last for long because she was taken off guard once again when they stopped in front of a building dressed in LED lights and with a long line of teenagers standing in front of a door.
She frowned as she climbed out of the jeep and saw that a man was interrogating the kids. Something about having access to the party inside.
Now, if Maryam had watched a few Hollywood movies or drama series, she would've instantly known what was going on but unfortunately, she was as naive and innocent as a seven-year-old.
"Do we have to stand in line?" she asked Damian who offered to stay with her when everyone else had already joined the queue. Noor wasn't very approving of it but when a boy, Jacob dared her to poke one of the people in the line, she had to leave Damian's side.
"Yeah. That's just to blend in though." He said. She raised an eyebrow at him. "How is that?" she questioned when he gave her a smirk. "That's 'cause I know another entrance from the back. My dad owns this club but I follow the rules or else the bouncer over there will tell him that I came here." he pointed at the buff man with black glasses at the front.
Maryam frowned deeper. "You aren't allowed here? But what's wrong with this place?" she asked cluelessly which made Damian find her even cuter. He chuckled as he answered, "I'm not eighteen yet. Father would kill me if he got to know I was drinking alcohol before the legal age."
That was when Maryam felt a tinge of suspicion. Something wasn't right. "So how will you pass the bouncer?" she asked again. "Bribery of course. He won't let you and Noor in otherwise. You're even younger than us."
Maryam took a step back, exiting the queue. "Wait, wait, wait." Damian raised an eyebrow at her in confusion but still followed her out of the line. "You mean this is an illegal party?" her voice showed a tint of fear. But Damian wasn't expecting her to ask that question.
"Well, we're not adults yet so it's illegal for us. But who cares, right? Everyone does it." He tried to sound convincing but to no avail. Maryam's breath got stuck in her throat. "Noor didn't tell me that."
"What kind of party is it, Damian?" she asked breathily, not making eye contact with him. "The normal kind. There's dancing, drinking but you don't have to drink if it's not allowed in your religion. It's all chill so relax." but Maryam wasn't chilling.
In fact, she felt betrayed. She felt used. Finally, it was making sense to her that Noor was just using her to get close to Damian. That was her only role in her so-called 'best friends' life. Noor was willing to engage in Haraam activity just to gain his pleasure.
She pulled away from Damian and turned her back to him. "Sorry but I'm leaving." she started rushing out of there, not knowing where she was going. The only thing she knew was that she had to get away from that place.
Not too far away from the building, she could see a couple in the shadows doing what they were doing. She was caught off guard, thinking that it was just a hallucination but reality had hit her hard.
It was not the kind of party Noor had told her about.
She was running away when a voice called her from behind. She didn't stop to listen because her emotions were welling up inside her and she had to take them out somewhere. She only halted in her steps when Damian blocked her path and called her name again, but harshly this time.
"Where are you going? It's nighttime and it's not safe out here." He demanded, seeming a bit annoyed that she wasn't listening to him. But Maryam couldn't care less. "And you're saying it's safe in there? I understand now where we are and I can't believe Noor would do this to me." she was near to tears because her voice cracked.
"I-" he wasn't sure what to say or how to assure the crying girl in front of him. Mostly because he wasn't sure why she was being so sensitive in the first place. "I'm sorry but I don't know what's going on between you two so I can't say anything."
Maryam narrowed her eyes at him. "Then why did you stop me? I'm going home because I can't sit here and go along with all her stupid plans. Please don't stop me."
She turned to walk away again but Damian stopped her. "Wait!" she sighed and faced him again. "What?" she couldn't help but sound a little rude but what could she do? She was the victim there. Not him.
"Let me take you home."
I blinked when I was brought back to the real world after the flashback ended. It took me a second to realize where I was. Looking around, I noticed the familiar clock on the cream-colored wall and the empty seat in front of me.
It came back quickly to me, where I was, and what I was doing there. I sighed as I recounted the memories of the flashback I had just experienced.
That was how Noor and I went our separate ways. Even after the betrayal I faced, she was the one to end the friendship officially. The following morning, she had come up to and yelled a few curse words before saying how much of a traitor I was. She explained how I had trapped Damian into bringing me home and tried to flirt with him during the ride.
I rolled my eyes at the thought. What a pathetic lunatic Noor was.
I glanced at the clock hanging on the wall again and read the time in my head. 4:20, it read. I sighed once more looking at my phone and the message I had sent Noor to meet me there at 3:30. Soon, I realized that I was looking like a mentally disturbed woman lost in an unknown city.
"And may I know why you chose this shop as our meet-up place?" just as I was leaning to grab my bag and keys to leave the place, a voice caught me in my steps. My head snapped to the owner of the familiar voice and I smiled.
"To bring back old memories," I told her. She rolled her eyes like she always used to, pushed her red strand of hair behind her ear, and sat down in front of me, filling the empty seat. My fake smile was still fixated on my face and I could tell that irritated her.
"Make this quick, Junaid. I don't like this place."