*Jenan*
When I woke up the next morning, it took me a few seconds to realize that I was not lying in my own bed. No strange-formed cracks in the ceiling, no bright sunlight tickling my nose. You are in England now., a voice said in my mind. I pushed the checkered blanket away, remembering the awful dream of last night, and stood up to open the curtains of the balcony. The sight out there made me smile; no sandy streets but tons of clouds. Wow.
The first thing I did was make my bed. It always bugged me to see the rumpled sheets and dented pillows. Afterwards, I turned around and waddled to the door to check out if anyone was out there. Before I could put my ears onto the door, I felt something under my right foot. A piece of paper!
Good morning, Jenan. You will be home alone till 3.00 PM, sorry. You can find everything you need in the kitchen. The flat is all yours! ;) Z.
Was written there in a neat and kind of boyish handwriting. I didn't know why, but I blushed and screwed up the paper to throw it into the bin under the desk. Although I should probably be happy about the thought of not having the boys around, it scared me to be alone. But oh well.. maybe I should get ready for the day.
In the bathroom then, I braided my hair, changed clothes and went downstairs after praying the morning prayer. Damn, this place is huge! The thought of using the stairs every day somehow amazed me (you'll understand if you grew up in a small apartment like me). Well, actually the bare thought of living in this comfortable and big flat was a reason to almost freak out.
Looking around the wide room and my eyes got stuck at the door which Zayn had completely skipped whilst showing me the flat. What was behind it? Why did they pretend like it doesn't exist? Although I was a curious person, I usually kept my questions to myself and didn't dig too deep. The secret of the room was the lads' business after all, not mine. My thoughts about the secret room disappeared as my stomach started to complain about the lack of food it got the past 24 hours, so I decided to enter the kitchen part. After staring at the inside of the fridge for a while, I frustratedly sighed. The fridge was all stodged, too stodged to distinguish between the stuff inside. What kind of mess.
I sighed again, closed the fridge and leaned against the stove when my eyes randomly fell on a crinkled paper in the bin. I don't know what came over me, but I bent down and fished it out. It was a very long bill from a supermarket including Cheese, winnies, milk, water, Coca Cola, Sprite, toast, yoghurt, Nutella, strawberry jam, cherry jam, butter.. etc.
At last I saw the date and time. I swallowed. Today. At 6:08 AM.
Did someone go to the supermarket to buy those things.. for .. me?
I shook my head. Nah, they don't even know me. There has to be another reason. A party, for example..
I threw the bill back into the bin and took some chocolate cereals and milk out of the fridge. After breakfast, I didn't know what to do, so I turned the TV on. It was strange to zap through the British channels. Frustrated, I turned the TV off again. Since I didn't know what to do, I slowly took the stairs upwards, quietly humming the melody of an Umm Kulthum song. I already missed my dear country although at the same time it was amazing being in England. In my room then, I grabbed my drawing sketch and my pencil case and sat down on the bed. Reading and drawing.. two things that can put my mind and soul at ease. And I really wish to be put at ease and forget that I am VERY far away from home right now..
After doing a few sketches, I put my drawing stuff away, so my room won't get untidy. I got bored again, so I grabbed my cellphone and sat onto one of the armchairs. I had 4 unread messages. The first two were from my parents, one from Leesha and the last one was from Alia:
Leesh told me you arrived. Glad about that. Paint the town red! ;)
A smile had found its way on my lips and I clicked on reply, but before I could move a single finger, I heard some noise from downstairs. I jumped out of the chair and listened carefully. There was a quiet rustle.. and now it sounded like a cough! My heartbeat became faster. Was it a robber? Oh, Jenan, stop being ridiculous!
Quickly, I grabbed my scarf and wrapped it carelessly around my hair and opened the door, trying not to make a sound. The hall was empty. I exhaled. Slowly, I took one step after another until I reached the stairs. A door was opened or closed downstairs and I heard footsteps.
And suddenly: silence. I didn't hear anything except my own breath. What happened? Am I hallucinating?
I walked down the stairs and threw a small look into the big room and -
"Hey."
"Aaaaaaaaaah!" I screamed and turned around. There I saw no one other but the black haired boy, Zayn. But today he had a new accessory: a black earring!
"Whoaw." He said and held his hands at breast height, raising is eyebrows. "It's just me."
A glance at the clock on the wall told me that it was 12:03 PM. "What are you doing here? You said the house will be empty till 3!" I sounded accusingly, I knew I shouldn't. After all, it was his house, note on the floor aside.
"Uh, well.. I tried to finish.. work.. quickly, so that you won't be home alone, you know. Your first day here and.. I don't know." He shrugged his shoulders and stared at me, not knowing what to say, probably waiting for me to say something. His gaze seemed to burn me from inside. My ability to think properly vanished.
I sighed, shaking off those strange feelings and thoughts. "I'm sorry, it's not your fault. I was just afraid you might be a robber." I smirked and rolled my eyes.
He smiled hesitantly. "So.. you can say you are lucky it's just me."
"Lucky." I repeated, raising my eyebrows a tad bit.
He looked away. "Anyway... Let's do something."
I swallowed, becoming nervous. "Like what?"
Now his smile widened and he looked at me again. "What about.. cleaning the kitchen?"
I rolled my eyes again, this time to help me hide my insecurity. "That would be so exciting. Can't wait to start."
He chuckled. "Just kidding."
I shook my head. "No, let's do it." Then I turned around and entered the kitchen.
"No, I..."
"I wash the dishes then you dry them and put them away, alright?" without waiting for his reply, I grabbed a sponge and put some dish detergent on it.
He pried the sponge out of my hands and I winced out of surprise. "You are our guest. I won't let you wash our dirty dishes!"
I took the sponge back, my heart racing faster than normal. "Did you really think I'm gonna stay here for 4 months without doing anything? Now do me a favour and shut up." Quickly I started washing the dishes before he could take the sponge from me again. For a few seconds, he stared at me in silence, then sighed and took the cup I was giving him to dry it.
"So.." he interrupted our silence. "Where do you come from?"
I threw a look at him and completed cleaning the plate in my hands. "You don't know where I come from? Didn't your friend Simon C. tell you anything about me?"
"Barely. We only know that you are a foreign girl who needs shelter for awhile and that you... ummm.. don't know much about famous people."
I caught my breath and stopped rubbing over the plate. So that's what my mother says about me? That I am a fool in celebrity-stuff? I completed my work. "Hmm.. that's not much. And kind of a random fact to know about me." I felt embarrassed and offended.
"It isn't. That's why I'm asking you questions. Or: trying to." He said after opening a tight drawer to put two forks in it.
"I'm from Egypt."
His eyes became wide. "Oh, wow."
"It's not that far away." I remarked.
He smiled. "Yeees."
Here I made the mistake to look up into his face. His smile was contagious, so I couldn't help it and smiled back. But as soon as I realised that, I turned away again.
He hawked and said: "Do you like music?"
A strange question. "I don't know. I have barely time for something like music or TV. During school I do nothing but studying and in the vacations I prefer reading and drawing." Yes, keep on babbling about how boring you and your life are, jeez.
He put the towel beside the sink and left the kitchen-part of the room. He (maybe I should stop just calling him 'he' in my mind) went to a stereo in the corner. It's the first time for me to notice it, but on a lathy table there was a stereo and beside it a shelf with CDs. He picked one of the CDs, put it into the stereo and clicked on play.
The sun goes down, the stars come out, and all that counts is here and now my universe will never be the same, I'm glad you came..
Zayn returned to me. "What's that for a song?" I asked him, still confused about the situation.
"It's Glad You Came by The Wanted." He smiled and I gave him another plate. And with the music in the background, it was much more fun to work with Zayn. There were soooo many dirty dishes!
"So.. you speak Arabic?" it came suddenly from Zayn as I polished a pink bowl. I grinned. "Yes, of course. Half of my subjects at school are in Arabic." And oh how I hated them! History, Geography, Philosophy and Arabic were all in the Arabic language and I couldn't stand them.
"Wow." He replied. "You know, I can read Arabic."
My eyes got wide and I eyed him suspiciously. "You do?"
"Yes. I'm half Pakistani. And .. I'm also a Muslim."
I almost dropped the spoon which I was holding. This boy was not fully British, but also Pakistani? And .. "You are a Muslim?" the words slipped out of my mouth and I almost immediately regretted them. "Sorry, didn't want to offend you." I mumbled and looked away, feeling my cheeks getting warmer. At the same time my mind was busy with putting the puzzle pieces together.
"Why did you say it like that?" he asked me, searching for eye contact.
"Seriously, you don't really look like one." maybe I shouldn't have said this too.
A silence filled the room, only the sound of the sponge scratching over the dishes was heard but then he spoke: "Why not? Tell me."
I sighed deeply and looked at him. "Well, the earrings, the tattoos.. " my eyes fell on a Marlboro packet on the table. "Smoking?" I asked. I could clearly imagine him with a cigarette between his lips. Zayn looked down on his hands and I eyed his profile from the side. My hands became sweaty when I (again) noticed how handsome he was and I found myself imagining him without the earring and the tattoos..
My thoughts were interrupted by him, leaving the kitchen with quick steps and climbing up the stairs.
"Wait, where are you going?" I called, terrified but he didn't reply and just carried on walking. The slam of his door made me wince. I groaned painfully and hid my face in my hands.
Well done, Jenan.