white tulips

Two

I woke up from the sound of my alarm and I knew what it meant. Today was the first day of school. I got up like a normal human being until I realized that I hadn't picked an outfit for today. Shit. What am I going to wear?? Oh, I know, this cute purple abaya with a white dress underneath. Now I have to find it. "Mom, do you know where my purple abaya is?" "In the right drawer, next to your scarves." "Thank you mom."

Alhamdulillah for my mother. What would I be without her? Exactly, nothing. She's the reason I'm on this dunya, she's the reason I never had to worry about having nothing to eat or drink. Everything I know is because of her. I just love her in a way I can't describe.

I put on my abaya and decided to wear a white hijab with it. Then I went downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed myself an apple. "Why are you so dressed up Khadi?" Hamza asked while looking at my abaya. "Don't be jealous just because I am the better looking twin", I joked. "Yeah you wish." Mom came into the room and told us to get going because we were running late. We got into the car and Hamza started driving. On our way to school Hamza and I talked about our new teachers and how we had to take this year seriously. "Do you think we could get into an Ivy?" I asked him. "Obviously if we tried enough." he responded. He was right. I think. We never were really invested in school, we just learned a day before a test and did good homework. But it was never our dream to be the best student.

We arrived at school and I got out seeing Grace waiting for me. "Heyy." I hugged her. Even though we saw each other two days ago it felt like it had been a decade. We used to spend everyday together but since Aaliyah got sick I started spending more time at the hospital. Grace obviously came to visit often but she knew that I needed some time alone with Liyah. "What class do you have first?" she asked. "Math, how about you?" I responded. "Same. Let's get going, I heard Mrs. Adams is going to be our teacher." "Oh that new good looking one? I hope she's nice." We went to class and sat next to each other. Thank god she didn't have assigned seats. Maybe she really is nice. "Hello class, as you probably know, I am Mrs. Adams and I'm going to be your math teacher for your senior year. I hope we're having a great time together. How about we start with two truths, one lie?" Oh. I didn't prepare for this.

"Khadijah, is that right? How about you start?" She had got to be kidding me. "Well, um.. I'm a twin, I am left handed and I have never been outside the US." The last one was a lie. How can a desi girl never have been once in her home country? I stayed every summer for one month in Pakistan with my family and it's just wonderful. "That's a hard one." Mrs. Adams admitted. "But I think that you don't have a twin. Am I right?". "I do, actually. He's not in this class though. The lie was that I had never been outside the US. I'm in Pakistan every year because my parents were born there." "Oh, that's very nice. Thank you Khadijah. Next I'm going to pick Avery." She went on picking everyone and when she was done class was over.

Next I had science with Mr. Campbell. God how I hated this man. And I knew he hated me. That couldn't end well. Grace didn't have science so I was on my own. To be honest, besides Grace I didn't have any friends at school and that was okay with me. I didn't really want to be surrounded by too many people anyways. So I sat alone. "Welcome class. Please get out your books and turn to page 23. We're going to read the instructions before we start our first experiment this year." A knock on the door appeared and a guy with black hair came in. He had a tattoo next to his ear. Wait. Is that him?

That asshole from the hospital. Can this school year start any better? "You're late." Mr. Campbell said. "I know, I'm sorry. It's just that I'm new here and couldn't find the room. Won't happen again." he explained. "It better not. Now sit next to Khadijah, since it's the only place available." He looked at me and I looked down. I didn't want him to recognize me. This was so embarrassing. He sat next to me and didn't say a word. Thank god. "What was your name again, young man?" Campbell asked him. "Jeong. Tae Jeong." Oh that was his name. Guess I don't have to call him asshole anymore. Even though he's still one. The bell rang and I was never happier to get out of class. "Before you're all leaving you need to know that the person you sit next to is going to be your lab partner for the rest of the year. And you all have to start a project with him or her which you will finish by the end of next week. Have a great day."