*IF YOU GUYS HAVEN'T READ YOUR SALAH YET, THEN REMEMBER THAT THIS BOOK IS NOT IMPORTANT AT ALL COMPARED TO YOUR SALAH*
Recap...
A couple of hours later, the flight attendant came and was about to hand me my food, but I told her that I didn't feeling like eating. I mean, how can I eat when I feel like my insides are being squeezed to the point of me feeling like crying.
"Why aren't you eating?" Hamza asks.
"I'm not feeling like it." I tell him, and I'm not lying; it is half the truth. He gets up and comes back with a sandwich in his hand.
"You need to eat." He says sternly, and hands me the sandwich. I nod and start taking slow bites of it. It oddly does taste good. But as soon as I think that, I grab the barf bag because it all comes back out. The amount of times that I have been humiliated in front of him now has reached an incredibly large number, much to my discontent.
He hands me a washcloth and I wipe my mouth clean. He goes to the overhead and takes out his bag. He takes out something that sounds like medicine. I look over and see that he has Advil with him. He gives me an unopened water bottle and an Advil tablet. I look at him cautiously.
"Layla take it." He says, and I know that he knows that I have my period. I groan and decide that I should take his advice since it is after all, one of knowledge. I place the tablet in my mouth and drink some of the water.
"Jaza Kallah Khair." I tell him.
"Wa iyakum." He says sincerely.
The rest of the airplane ride was very tiring but passed by faster than I thought it would. Once I got home, I threw myself on my bed and fell into a deep asleep.
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CHAPTER 25
Beep. Beep. Beep. I hear my alarm and get up. I feel so exhausted and tired because of all the drama that's going to start once I step foot into the school. I go take a shower and change into black harem pants (with leggings underneath), a forest green shirt that reaches my knees, a dark grey cardigan, and a black floral print scarf.
I go downstairs and see that everyone is already down except for Hamza. I decide to grab two crepes that are filled with Nutella, and pour myself some Arabic tea in my cup. As I start to eat, Hamza comes downstairs. He says Assalam O Alaikom to everyone and goes to sit on his seat.
As soon as I am finished, I put my dishes in the sink and wash them.
"Allah Fiz Baba and Ummi." I tell my mom and dad, and give them both a kiss on the cheek. I say Allah Fiz to Uncle Nasir, Auntie Lubna, and Hamza as well.
I run upstairs, grab my park, and don't even have to wait a minute at the front before Saafiya and Umme come.
"Assalam O Alaikom guys." I tell both of them.
"Wa Alaikom Assalam." Saafiya and Umme both say to me.
"So how was your vacation with Hamza?" Saafiya asks me.
"Well you can say I embarrassed myself in countless ways." I say with a fake smile.
"Give us all the details girl. We need juicy information." Umme says.
"Um no. I won't guys." I say jokingly but truthfully, it's because I want to keep it all to myself.
"Aww. Layla likes Hamza. Layla likes Hamza." Saafiya says in a singsong voice, like a little girl.
"Guys. Stop." I groan and hide my face.
"Look Saafiya, she's blushing." Umme says to Saafiya and they both laugh.
"But on the serious note, it feels so weird how we are so grown up now, and are going off to university next year." Saafiya says.
"I feel the same way. We better visit each other, and you guys better come to my wedding in the summer." I tell both of them and they both nod and agree.
"When is yours Layla?" Umme asks me.
"In the middle or end of July. Why?"
"Cause Ali's family asked for my hand in marriage and I said yes. Plus we planned it for the beginning of July." She said and both Saafiya and I start squealing like maniacs.
"Congratulations Umme." We both tell her and she smiles.
"How was your vacation Saafiya." I ask her, and she groans.
"Jessica was there but I did a well job of ignoring her. Dad's close friend also came to visit, and he had a snobby son as well." I raise my eyebrow at her because I know that there is more to the story than what she is telling us.
"Saafiya spill the beans. I'm not stupid." I tell her.
"Ok, ok, you got me. My dad's friend's son apparently likes me." She says in annoyance.
"What's the problem here Saafiya?" Umme asks her, and I too am confused.
"The problem is that Jessica is after him as well and she wants to be with him." She says sadly.
"Does he have feelings for her?" I ask her getting out of the car since we are at school now.
"He told me he doesn't but Jessica is so persistent that I honestly think that she will get in between us."
"So you do like him Saafiya, huh?" I ask her with a smirk on my face.
"You're so mean Layla." Saafiya says shooting me a glare.
"You still love me." I tell her with an innocent smile on my face. She shakes her head no but can't hide her smile from me.
We first go to our lockers, so we can put away our parkas, and then head to Biology class.
"Ok class today we'll be starting the next unit today. You guys can take out your textbook and do the questions on the board. We'll be having a test in two weeks."
Class goes by uneventfully, and I do my best to ignore Hamza, but don't exactly succeed. I only got 5 pages read from the 30 that we were assigned. I guess I'll just have to do the rest during lunch, or at home.
I walk to English class and sit down on my seat. Since we have an in class assessment today during class, I'm busy with that the whole period. By the time lunch comes, I'm glad that half the day is over. I give Umme and Saafiya the gifts that I bought them from Dubai. I was so excited when I found out that they bought me gifts as well.
Umme got me a First Nation leather scarf, and lavender incense sticks, while Saafiya got me 4 essential oils body wash, and eucalyptus oil. Both of them got me essential oils themed gifts because of how stressed out I was, which was quite nice and thoughtful of them.
I finish half of my biology homework as well during lunch luckily, and before I know it, the bell rings and I go to Psychology class. After writing my culminating writing assignment, I hand it in to my teacher and go sit back on my chair. I finish a bit more of my biology homework, and then go off to Home Studies.
"So today we will be looking at methods of maintaining a house. I have paired you up already. I expect each group to finish the assignment during class time, and hand it in to me before this period ends."
I dozed off after she said that we were going to be working in partners, and groaned out loud. Luckily no one looked my way, when I groaned.
"Tom you will be with Emily. Kaitlin you will be with Josh and last but not least, Laila, you will be with Farooq." As soon as she said that I was going to be paired with Farooq, I prayed that he wouldn't make any moves on me.
"Farooq and Laila, you guys go in the staircase." Our teacher said to us and told every pair in the classroom an assigned place in the school, as well.
I sit down in the staircase opposite from Farooq.
"Why are you sitting so far from me, Laila. Laila. Laila. Laila. Such a beautiful name. You'll be mine." He says coming closer to me. I just ignore him and start on the sheets we were given.
"You know you'll never find anyone besides me. I mean you should consider yourself lucky that I even like you." As he says this, I stand up. I've had enough of this freak.
"Come on. You know it's true. Stop being such a b**** and sit down."
"Shut up Farooq." I say angrily at him with anger pulsing through my veins.
"No you shut up you w****. You are just a b**** that should be glad, that I even like you. You know no one cares about you in this world more than I do." I start walking faster away from him but he grabs my wrist, and pierces my skin with his sharp nails. I fight back the tears.
"Stop Farooq! I'll never forgive you for this!" I scream at him.
"Keep yelling b****. The walls are sound proof." He says laughing.
"Let go of my hand." I say seething.
"You should get used to it. By the end of this year you will be mine." As he says this, I freeze and look at him with disgust. He sees my expression change and smiles evilly.
"Let go of my hand. Fear Allah." I say to him with disgust laced in my voice.
"Now why would I do that beautiful. I have you exactly where I want you to be." He says smirking down at me.
"Fear Allah. Be better than this." I say angrily at him and try to get my wrist out of his deathly grip.
"Why would I do that?"
"I will report you." I say to him with venom in my voice.
"No one will believe you. I mean why would they?" He says touching my shoulder. I decide to be bold and knee him where the sun doesn't shine. He lets go off my wrist and screeches in pain.
I run to the top of the staircase. But he recovers quickly and grabs my leg, making me fall and hit my face. I hear a snap, and suddenly he erupts in laughter. He crouches down to me and I hear the sound of his belt unbuckling.
"Ya Allah, save me. Save me. Please, save me. You are the Ash-Shahid (The Witness), and As-Sami (All Hearing)." I keep whispering out loud because I know that He is Al-Muhaymin (The Guardian) and is watching what's going on.
Subhan Allah, He hears my prayer and I hear the sound of the bell go off. Farooq gathers his things and leaves. I get up and leave the school quickly. I wait in the front for Saafiya and Umme, by Saafiya's car.
"Laila what happened?" Saafiya and Umme come to me running.
"Your nose is bleeding." Umme says handing me a tissue paper. I wipe my nose and cringe in pain when I touch it.
"Laila speak to us." Umme says to me with her hand on my back.
"Far-Farooq. He-he." I try to say but start another round of tears once again.
"What did he do?" Saafiya says angrily.
"He-he. Alm-almost. Ra-raped me." I say scared and terrified.
"Get in the car. We're going to your house. Umme call Auntie Khadeejah and Uncle Umar." Saafiya says to Umme.
Umme gets in the back seat with me, and lets me cry on her shoulder for the whole ride. Once Saafiya gets to my house, I see mom and dad arriving as well. Umme helps me outside, and Saafiya tells them what happened.
"Saafiya. Umme. You girls go home. We'll take care of the matter. Jaza Kallah Khair for being with Laila." Mom says to Saafiya and Umme.
"Bint (child), let's go inside." Dad says softly to me with an arm around my shoulder.
We sit down in the living room. Mom takes my back pack from me and puts it beside me.
"Layla tell us what happened." Mom says.
"I was in Home Studies and our teacher paired Farooq and me together. She told us to go work in the staircase and I started the work she assignment." I put my head in my lap and start crying again.
"Laila what happened after that?" Mom asks me.
"Mama, he, he, he." I can't get it out as I feel a sharp pain in my chest at what had almost happened.
"Oh Laila. Did he do that to your nose as well." My dad asks me with anger clear in his voice. I nod at him because I know that I won't be able to speak without crying again.
"Umar, grab your keys. Her nose is bleeding like a faucet. Let's go. Laila wear my coat." She puts her coat on me and hands me a washcloth to put under my nose. Dad speeds to the hospital and once we are at the ER, mom and dad call over a nurse, who recognizes both of them. Plus they still are wearing their scrubs.
"Tara, this is our daughter Laila. Can you perform an x-ray for her nose." Mom says to the nurse.
"Sure, I'm on it. I'll have the head of the fracture clinic informed about your daughter." She says to mom and leaves.
"Laila, we have to report him. Who knows who else was a victim of his assaults before and who might be in the future, if we don't have him told to the police." I just nod at dad, and he calls 911.
The nurse Tara comes back again and she has a doctor take an x-ray of my nose. The doctor tells me there surely is a fracture. A couple of minutes later, the doctor comes to the waiting area and takes me to a room, and fixes the broken bone, and wraps the broken area tightly with gauze.
"You'll have to ice it for the rest of today, and the next couple of days. I suggest you take the next couple of days off from school, and make sure to not get the gauze wet. I suspect the bone to heal and fall back into place within a week or two, and there isn't any permanent damage. You're very lucky Laila." She says to me, and I head back to mom and dad.
The police officer are in the waiting area, and I see that dad is talking to them. The woman officer takes me to a private room, and I tell her everything from the start. She asks to look at where his nails dug into my wrist and arms, and I show it to her. She cotton swabs it and places it in a bag. After I finish answering her questions, she tells the nurse Tara to get my wrist and arm wrapped up and disinfected.
Before I walk to Tara, the officer tells me that I was lucky to have been able to escape when I was, because if the bell didn't ring, then....
I have my arm wrapped lightly in gauze by Tara after she cleans it up.
I keep thinking of one word-lucky. It's such an odd word, isn't it? In my perspective, luck isn't real; it's called fate. I say that it was fate that kept me from getting raped. And in whose hands is fate kept in? The One who is the Almighty, Sovereign and Merciful. It was his mercy that kept me to have my dignity intact, and it was his Nur (Light) that opened the path for me to not have faced such a boulder.
Once we get home, mom goes upstairs with me. I quickly change into my Pajamas, and lie down. Dad brings up a glass of milk with honey for mom and I. After drinking it, he takes it downstairs into the kitchen, and comes back to my room.
"Laila remember that it is said in the Quran: "Those who, when disaster strikes them, say, "We belong to Allah and to Him we will return". Those are the people who will have blessings and mercy from their Lord; they are the ones who are guided (Chapter 2, Verse 156-157)." Dad says to me, and kisses me on my forehead.
I lie down on mom's lap and she plays with my hair.
"Laila, this is just an obstacle in the path that Allah (swt) has assigned for you. Remember that Allah has faced you with this obstacle because he loves you. Instead of feeling despair, you should get closer to Allah (swt). Bint, there will be many obstacles you'll face in this life. This life isn't supposed to feel like Paradise, because the actual Jannah (paradise), will be given to us In Sha Allah after we die."
I hear my mom's words and remember what dad said. I feel ease settle in me as I let what they said sink in. Once I feel myself calm, I fall in a deep sleep.
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AN: I'm going to start off with a rant because I have been noticing that people on Wattpad are either copying my story line or are copying the title of this book. I just wanted to say how this makes me very upset considering the fact that it has took me a year to get this far, while for some other person, they have the plot line set within a week or two because they copied. Plus I do this in my spare time, and feel very upset by the whole thing going on. If you are reading this, and are one of those people who have done that, I request you take down your book or get a different story line, because by changing the characters of my book and having the SAME plot and title, you really are plagiarizing my work.
I feel so down by this and I really wished that I wouldn't have to face this in my writing career but I guess, I do *sighs*. Ok on the bright side of things...
WE HAVE REACHED #87 IN SPIRITUAL ON WATTPAD!!!!!!!!!!!! Jaza Kallah Khair to EVERYONE that comments, votes, and reads my book. I am so thankful to all of you guys who help me to write each chapter, as honestly I couldn't have gotten this far without you guys.
NOT EDITED
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QURANIC VERSES OF THE CHAPTER
We will test you with a certain amount of fear and hunger and loss of wealth and life and fruits of your toil. But give good news to the steadfast: Those who, when disaster strikes them, say, "We belong to Allah and to Him we will return". Those are the people who will have blessings and mercy from their Lord; they are the ones who are guided. ~Chapter 2, Verse 155-157
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PLEASE PLEASE Comment, Vote, and Follow. Remember that the faster the chapter goals are met, the quicker I'll update. Plus I have this book up for the Wattpad's #JustWriteIt contest, so PLEASE SHARE THE BOOK ONLINE (via Pintrest, Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
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Plus I know that this chapter was horrible. It's just that all of these chapters are a portrayal of my emotions and feelings at the time I write them, and I don't like this one, even though it portrays my feelings at the moment I wrote the chapter perfectly. Maybe when I edit this book, I'll change it. Tell me in the comments section below, how this chapter made you feel.
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GOAL FOR THIS CHAPTER: UP TO 14K READS, 50 MORE VOTES, AND 30 MORE COMMENTS
(THE FASTER THEY'RE MET, THE FASTER I'LL WRITE)
Word Count: Approximately 3350 😮😴 It's 2 am right now... going to sleep
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