Take off your Hijab (Rewriting)

The Calm Before The Storm ✅

"And what even is this feeling of dread that i feel?, some would refer to it as the calm before the storm but what is it really?"

Amal's POV

"And It's already 40 minutes past lecture time today, i don't think the teacher is coming in today," Zach says, making me nod in agreement, the class was already basically over so the possibility of the teacher showing up now, barely10 minutes before the period ends is pretty low.

"Hm, yeah, I guess so" I say, looking toward the front of the class, eyes glancing at the digital clock on the wall for a split second, only to dragged back to reality by the sound of my very noisy classmates

"So I write poetry," I say out of the blue, making his brows furrow. He looks at me with surprise.

"Oh Really?" He asks out of genuine curiosity, I mean it's obvious it was random and it's obviously not everyday people make such confessions, luckily he wasn't one to judge or at least he didn't act like he is... judgemental towards me.

"Yeah, sometimes i write them in my free time" I murmured shyly.

"Oh?, I'd love to read them, sometime" he says with a grin, making my cheeks flush as i felt a rush of joy at someone not making fun of my interests for one.

"It's online. I started writing after I took your advice of not continuing to keep all of my pain inside my heart, my poems are now on a site called Wattpad where you can write anything—poems, stories, you name it, i wrote it in hopes of making others feel hope, and maybe even strength, maybe You should open an account there too so that we can both be there" I ramble on making him smile but the smile didnt reach his eyes, i was too focused on my excited ramblings to notice.

"Ah Thanks, but no thanks. I'd probably end up typing out my whole life story if I ever did that" Zach says with a laugh, his tone bitter. It makes me frown, my excitement going down the drain alnost immediately.

"Yeah, you're right it's a stupid idea anyway," I say, dragging my phone away from his presence where i was previously showing the site to him.

"No it's definitely Not stupid, I'm glad that you're finally letting it all out, so I'll definitely be reading yours, but however writing is absolutely not my thing, i usually just word vomit whenever i try So, that's why I'd rather not try out that activity for fun sake " he explained himself further making me nod in understanding, sometimes i forget that we all have our own personal differences that ee all need to accept and move on from.

"Anyway, the bell just went off. We better get going. So What do you have now?" He questions while packing up his books into his backpack while i did the same

"Science?" I replied making him raise a brow

"Hmm such a proud nerd i suppose!, for me I have drama class now something much more exciting of course" he says, raising his eyebrows up and down teasingly, making me roll my eyes at his dorkiness... sometimes i forget just how annoying he could be...it can even be said to be one of his charms honestly.

"Ah a Theater nerd-dork," I say back, making him laugh.

"Is that even a word?" he asks with a laugh.

"Oh Whatever. See you at lunch." I announced as we made our way out of the class

"Um Actually, I was thinking that we could meet at the garden instead of us meeting up at the cafeteria instead, since you aren't eating at the moment. Why sit where everyone else is eating?" he suggests thoughtfully, making me smile. He's so considerate, but I'm not going to tell him that until another realization hits me, i struggle to hold a laugh in.

"If we go to the garden, aren't you going to be eating Mr Perez?" I question inquisitively

"Of course" he says in a confident tone, making me shake my head at my very "thoughtful friend."

"That doesn't make anything better for me, but I guess that's very considerate of you so thanks " I say, making him grin. Cockily, smh that wasn't even a compliment but i guess he tried with the consideration a bit.

"Yeah, you're welcome anyways this is my stop so Buh-bye" he says. Making me smile and wave at him as he made his way towards his next class before plugging my earphones in, pressing play on my spoken poetry playlist.

And You know what?, it's actually kind of funny how in the past I kind of used to hate poetry, with a burning passion because i never really understood the comfort people found in the fancy words of people like Shakespeare but somehow, along the way it's something that I myself have come to love and even go as far as finding a little bit of comfort in...it turns out that poetry is not about the fancy words that some random dead or alive person had spoken but it was a message that 'a fellow bleeding heart sends and hopes that they would be someone else out there be it in the world of today or several generations to some who would listen or read a piece and say; "yeah i get you, i hear you and maybe i can relate too."

As I walking down the hallway, completely lost in my poetry playlist, something or should i say someone slams into me hard from behind, sending me flying and crashing unto the ground roughly and before you even say what i think you want to say...

No it was not a mistake or that someone had bumped into me while they weren't looking, no...it was very much intentionally done and it's something that in the next chapter you would definitely get to understand more, that this chapter was only the calm before the storm...

***

So yeah...indeed this is only a filler chapter however, do make sure to brace yourself for the chapter to come, maybe this is my own little trigger warning of some sort, anyways be prepared for the chapter to come...yes it is a double update so see you there in a few minutes or latest in an hour and also last but not least, thank you for reading- Aysha