ALONGSIDE YOU

21|Friend-zoned

^Benjamin Abdallah on the picture above^
Jaxton Kincaids Pov

I can't believe Ayaan just did that. How could she even think that I would fall for her little seduction plan? I may be a lady magnet, but I have some standards. And besides, I can't stop thinking about Ugbad. She's always been there in the back of my mind, but I never really acknowledged my feelings for her until now. But what am I supposed to do? We come from such different worlds.

And now Ayaan is trying to mess everything up by bringing up Cumar. I can't stand that guy. She really just said that she loves him? How can Ugbad like him? Ayaan is just trying to get attention from me, right?

But at the same time, why wouldn't Ugbad like him? He is a good Muslim, he seems kind to his friends and he is more controlled and nicer to her than I am..But at the same time, I know that Cumar would be the perfect match for her. He's everything that I'm not for her.

I'm so angry right now. I can feel the heat rising in my chest and my fists clenching tightly. I start kicking and punching the lockers around me, the sound of metal clanging and echoing through the empty hallway. It's like I'm trying to physically beat out the frustration that's boiling inside of me.

The thought of Uggy being interested in someone else is unbearable. I can't lose her to someone like Cumar. I need to find a way to make her see that we're meant to be together, despite our differences. But for now, all I can do is take out my anger on these lockers.

I punch and kick them with all my might, feeling the impact reverberate through my entire body. It's like I'm trying to fight my way through this impossible situation, even though I know that won't solve anything.

But I can't help it. The anger and frustration are just too overwhelming. I keep hitting and kicking until my knuckles ache and my legs feel like jelly. And even though it doesn't solve anything, it feels good to let out all this pent-up emotion.

As I collapse against the lockers, panting and sweating, I hear footsteps approaching. I turn my head to see Ben running towards me, his face etched with concern.

"Jaxton, what's going on? Are you okay?" he asks, his voice laced with worry.

I took a deep breath and tried to compose myself. "It's nothing, man. Just some stupid girl drama. ill figure it out"

Ben looked at me skeptically. "Is it about Ugbad?"

My heart raced at the mention of her name. "Yeah, how did you know?"

Ben shrugged. "I had a feeling. Look, Jaxton, I knew you liked her. I could see it in the way you looked at her."

"Wow, so is it that obvious?" I ask just looking forward.

"Yeah.." he says and just sits beside me.

"It's so weird that everyone knows or knew that I liked her, but I myself found this out recently," I say while looking at him.

"What? So you never figured it out before now?" he asks in shock.

"I always thought that I hated her, okay...!" I say to him..

"So, what happened? Why are you like this?" he asks while looking at me with a lot of concern.

I struggle to catch my breath as I try to explain everything to him. I tell him about Ayaan's failed attempt to seduce me and my feelings for Ugbad. I ask him how I can be with her, knowing that she's Muslim and I'm not.

Ben looks at me with a solemn expression. "Jaxton, in Islam, a Muslim woman cannot marry a non-Muslim man. It's just not allowed."

His words hit me hard, and I start to think about everything I've learned about Islam from Sheikh Suleiman and from Ugbad. Maybe I should start exploring this faith more deeply and try to understand it better.