Behind Her Hijab | ✓

17| Reach for The Sky

"Iman?" I asked.

"What?" she groaned.

"I was only wondering if you could help me with my speech."

"Well, no, sorry." she said strictly, leaving the bedroom dramatically.

I sighed, the began to stare at my blank page. I hadn't gotten anywhere with the essay, and I needed the first draft ready in time to edit, and maybe even draft again.

Iman had a journal back in Dubai with numerous short stories, majority of which were fantasy, filled with unicorns, princess heroines, and all sorts of amazing stuff.

And although Iman had never written a speech, I had began to realized over the past several weeks that she could help me write something magnificent to share with the rest of my grade, the teachers, and the rest of the school.

But I needed to get her to accept my apology. Or apologize herself.

She knew fully well that she had started the outburst a few days ago, but she had barley spoken full sentences to me since then, much less a full apology.

Mama said to give her time, but time was ticking. I couldn't do anything about it though, so I was stuck waiting, waiting, and waiting, with nothing to do but stare at an empty page and pray that an amazing idea pops up in my head.
*******************

Another day of waiting passed, and I began to wonder if Iman would ever apologize. It felt like forever since we had actually talked like normal sisters.

Our family prayed Maghrib, and as Iman and I folded the prayer mats up, she began to speak to me, as she normally would if the outburst had not happened.

She forced a smile, then told me, "Okay, so, I thought about it, and I think you shouldn't listen to the podcast, if you don't want to."

I pinched myself, just to make sure this want a dream, "Did you— are you even Iman?"

She began to giggle a little, but stopped herself, "No, I'm an alien named Nami, I'm Iman's secret twin you never knew about,"

"Oh really? Why the name Nami?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"What's my name backwards?" she replied, turning towards me.

"Uh... Iman... N... A... Oh!" I exclaimed in realization. We both began to giggle a little, then Iman sat up straight and switched her face to an more serious expression.

"I know I shouldn't have bothered you too much about it, and I'm sorry," she apologized, making direct eye contact with me the entire time. "I'm also really truly sorry about what I said to you the other day, I was just frustrated, and I took it out on you. "

"It's okay, thanks for apologizing, " I told her. "Maybe... after you, me, and Sky finish studying for our tests, we can all listen to it together."

She grinned again, and cocked her head, "I'd like that. And maybe... after that, we can all help you draft your presentation speech thing again."

Yes! In my head, I was already celebrating, but because of Imans apology, which meant we were finally good again, but also because she could finally help me with my speech.

I reminded myself to be calm in front of Iman, Giving her a simple smile and a quick "Thanks, that would be really helpful for me."

She glanced at the clock, then jumped up. "But... Sky was supposed to get here twenty minutes ago."

"She was? I don't know if she'll come then... we kind of... got into an argument this morning." I explain.

"Oh," Iman said, turning to stare at a brown couch pillow. "You should talk to her, I'm sure you could sort things out." she suggested.

I nodded, thinking about all the possible outcomes of if I did text Sky, "I will, and thanks a lot Iman. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Neither do I," she grinned, wrapping her arms around me. "Now go reach for the sky!"

"Huh?" I asked, putting my arm around her.

"You don't get it," she smiled, sighing.

I slowly let go of Iman, and then pulled the phone out of the top drawer of the nearby nightstand. I pulled up my messages with Sky, then switched the language from Arabic to English. I stopped, unsure of what to type. I wondered, was I even actually sorry?

Now that I had a clear mind to think about it, we had really just overreacted to the situation. There wasn't actually anything that we actually argued over.

I clicked on the keyboard, then began to type my text. I read it over, and twice at that, then asked Iman if she thought it was good, and even Googled examples of apology texts so I could compare mine.

After about twenty minutes of checking over my text, and eventually stalling, I took a deep breath, shook my hand to get the sweat that had formed off, and pressed it, the send button.

"Did she respond?" a voice asked from behind my shoulder, practically giving me a heart attack.

"Iman!" I yelled, then took a deep breath. "I just sent it."

"Oh, okay,"

"You should start studying," I suggested, putting a hand in her shoulder.

"Uh... fine," she groaned before trudging towards our bedroom door.

I felt my phone buzz, then pulled it up so I could read the notification. A message from Sky.

I clicked on it, and quickly read it as fast as could, surprised that she even managed to text a whole letter.

I'm also sorry about what happened, it was my fault. I'm still coming, just running a little late, Mom is still mad that I didn't tell her about the detention. But I also studied beforehand, cause I think that we should do something that isn't about me.

After all, it's my fault that you even got detention. We can help your sister afterwards, but you and I need to relax and just talk (Also, I forgot where I put the sticky note with your address, mind sending it to me in a text?)

Maybe not every friendship would go wrong after all.

Question Time! How many of you knew that Sky would still come over?

What did you think about Iman and Samira's sister talk?

There's a lot I could ask about, but I won't lol. Any other thoughts or questions?