Elham
"Hadeel!"
Yasmeen had jumped out of her seat and hugged the guy in yellow, they both had smiles on their faces. Asaad however, stood with a bored expression.
"You didn't tell me you were coming!" Yas pouted.
"Surprise!" He chuckled, while the rest of us watched them.
Yasmeen turned to us. "Guys meet my half brother, Hadeel. Hadeel, meet my friends, Elham, Sufyan, Imaan, and Audrey" We all exchanged our pleasantries.
He and Asaad took their seats and I pretended to type something in my phone because for some reason., Asaad's presence made me nervous.
The night ended soon, we all had fun and went back to our various homes. I had decided to sleep off at Imaan's place so I would not feel too lonely.
Weeks had passed by and I was starting to get better, and so was Ummi.
I had tried reaching my father a couple of times on phone but he never picked up. Days later, I got a text from him which said, 'at work, will call you back'
Of course he never did.
Finals were around the corner and I had so many mixed feelings. I was excited to graduate from high school but I was anxious about what came after. I applied to NYU and other colleges and I was yet to hear from any. Sufyan had left a few days ago and I was starting to miss him. The plan was for all three of is to go into NYU. Now, we were only hoping that Iman and I would get in so that our long lived childhood dreams would come true.
It was a Friday evening and I had received a call from Asaad asking me to come to the hospital because apparently, she was up and now, my heart raced as Iman's mother drove us to the hospital.
I was excited, but struggled to believe it was true. I needed to see for myself.
I didn't know when i had jumped out of the car even before the car had fully stopped. I took long steps, with my nails digging into my sweaty palms.
A thought crossed my mind, how was Asaad the first to know about my mother's condition? I shrugged it off, that was something I would ask him later.
Asaad and I had grown closer over the past couple weeks and we were starting to understand each other a bit more better. Thus, lesser arguments.
The rooftop became somewhere we'd meet up at every now and then to vent out. Well, I was the one doing most of the venting while he just listened. He would also always drive me to see Ummi after school everyday and drive me back home at night.
I didn't realize I was so deep in my thoughts until i tripped and almost fell but caught myself. Iman quickly caught up with me.
She held both of my hands. "Relax, will you?" She said in a soothing voice. I nodded with a smile. We continued walking with her mother behind us.
Aseeyah had gone back to the UK where she was now exploring her modeling career and apparently, Asaad's other siblings had left with her too. So he was now alone. I always wondered how Asaad managed to own the luxurious cars he always drove but I didn't want to pry and just assumed he had wealthy parents.
Imaan and her mother had stopped a few steps by the door, leaving me some privacy with ummi. I wondered where Asaad was until I heard his voice echoing from the room.
"I can't believe he'd do that to you. I can't believe my own father didn't tell me about this either!" He sounded furious.
I barged into the room, two pairs of eyes staring at me, and I ran to the ones i missed the most.
"Ummi!" Tears rolled down my eyes. Everything felt surreal as i embraced her tightly, unwilling to let go until she coughed.
Panicking, I released her but heard a chuckle. She smiled.
"How have you been darling?" She asked me.
I was still finding it difficult to believe everything happening.
"Alhamdulillah... I'm at a loss of words ummi" I started crying.
"Why're you crying? Shouldn't you be happy ?" She asked with a smile.
"Yes of course I am. I've just been... scared" I stated.
She grabbed my hand and squeezed it.
