white tulips

Nine

Tae

Khadijah was absent the last two days. I was curious if she was sick, or if she just didn't feel like coming to school but I also didn't want to bother her if she really was sick. As I walked into school I saw Khadijah. I started walking towards her, she went up to some guy. Why was she talking to him?

They started laughing and I didn't want to watch anymore. I went up to them and interrupted the guy as he was saying something irrelevant, "Hey snickers", I looked at that boy and signaled him with my eyes that he should better stay away. "Mind if I borrow her for a second? Just kidding I'm not returning her back. Come on snickers, I've got to talk to you." I didn't. I just didn't want her talking to him.

She was walking behind me and I tried to find something 'I wanted to tell her'. I just stopped and stood in front of a random locker and looked at her. I forgot that I was meant to say something and I only realized because she asked, "So, what did you wanna talk about?" I needed to think of something, anything.

"Nothing. Just missed you, snickers." Why did I just say that. "Missed me? I was only absent for two days." How do I fix this?? "Yeah but bearing Mr. Campbell without my favorite lab partner was torture." "Whatever. See you in class." Was that too much? Did I freak her out or something? I needed to free my mind and go to first period.

Being in class I didn't really pay attention to anything my teacher had to say. I was on my phone trying to find a decent soccer team in this town. I really missed playing soccer especially with my old friends. But this town didn't seem to have many teams so I spent looking until next period.

The bell rang and I went to science immediately. After I sat down I continued searching for a team as I heard Khadijah coming in. I looked at her and couldn't resist smiling. Her presence made me feel so comfortable and I couldn't explain to myself why it did. She sat down and started talking.

"What are you doooooing?" "I'm trying to find good soccer teams I can try out for. But this town doesn't seem to have many." "I was meaning to ask you, since when did you play soccer and why didn't you tell me?" She stalked my insta? "There's a lot you don't know about me snickers."

"Then tell me about yourself." "What do you want to know?" "Everything." She said that a bit too loud, Mr. Campbell was looking at her with his mean stare. "Miss Khan, is there something you'd like to share with the whole class?" "No, Sir.", she said. "Then I suggest you stop talking and start listening." After that she looked at me and did something with her eyes. I guess she was trying to tell me something but I couldn't figure out what.

At lunch I ran into Hamza and some other guys. We talked a little about soccer and one of the guys told me about his team and that they needed some new players. Training was tomorrow. "I have to go, but I'll definitely see you tomorrow at training." With that I went to the canteen and I saw Khadijah sitting there with this boy from earlier. What was the matter with these two? I decided to walk up to them.

"Heyy and hey. You don't mind me sitting there, do you? Could you just- Yeah thanks. So, what were you lovebirds talking about?" Was that too obvious? "What do you mean?" Jonah stood up while looking at Khadijah and then at me. "I should go." Yeah he should. Thankfully he really went away. "Tae. What's up?" "Nothing. Why were you sitting with this boy and talking to him again?" "Why do you care?"

Why do I care? Well maybe because- "You know what, Tae? How about we change the subject. Tell me everything about yourself." What should I tell her? "I don't know where to begin." "Then let me think of a question.. Why were you in the hospital on that day?"

"I fell from my bike. I was okay but the doctors wanted me to stay for a night to check if I had a concussion or something. How about you snickers, why were you there?" That question made her uncomfortable, I think. Maybe I shouldn't have asked.

"Well my sister has leukemia and I try to visit her as much as possible." Oh. "Shit I'm sorry. Hopefully she'll get better." I just shook my head. "She won't. She only has like 4 months left to live. But it's okay. I truly believe that she's going to make it to Jannah, so there's no reason to be sad." "If you want to talk, talk to me. I'll always be there for you Khadijah."

"Thank you. That nickname you gave me, that snicker was for my sister. I had to walk to the other end of the hospital to get her one." I feel so terrible now but she just started laughing. "Oh my god I'm so sorry. If I knew I would-" I couldn't even finish my sentence because she was laughing so much. What about that was funny?

"It's okay, Tae. But do you want to meet her some time? Then you could apologize to her and not me." "Are you sure? I'm scared." How does a sick child react to someone who stole their candy? In shaa Allah she is as forgiving as her sister..

School was over and as I walked into my house I saw my father standing there. With my English copy of the Quran. Oh no. "Son, would you explain to me why I found this in your room? I already asked your sisters about it but they don't seem to have an answer." Moon was the only one that knew I reverted and I was happy that she kept it a secret. But I also knew if I told my father the truth right now that I would be homeless the next second.

"I had to do a project with this girl, she's muslim and she forgot it here." I felt bad for lying but I didn't see any other way around it. "Why does she bring a Quran in this house for a project?" Shit, he's got a point. "I don't know, Dad. They bring their book everywhere I guess." He handed it over and told me that I should return it immediately. I was just happy that he didn't find my prayer mat.

Authors note:
Hii girls, I'm not sure if Tae's pov was as good as you guys expected, that's why I wanted to ask for your opinion and thoughts about this chapter. Have a great day, love you!!