Shadow of Resistance

Chapter Six

The next day, marking the start of the week, I'm usually dragging myself out of bed after staying up late over the weekend. But this Sunday is different. I wake up earlier than ever, after barely sleeping for a couple of hours. My mind has been consumed with the thought of going out with Sarah, and even in those few hours of sleep, I dreamed of racing with her.

Me and Omar arrive at the school and each one goes to his class room. I enter and see her sitting at her desk holding her phone. "Worried about the race?" I ask while I am passing by her on my way to my desk. "I am worried about the heartbreak you will have when I win." She replies.

I sit at my desk, unable to stop smiling as Sarah and I exchange glances. "What race?" Youssef asks, snapping me out of the moment as usual. "Sarah and I are going to race with our bicycles after school today," I say while my heart is bursting with joy. "Ohhh, things are moving fast, right?" he teases.

Why is he saying that? Maybe it's because Wednesday was the first time I actually talked to her, and now, just a few days later, we're going out. "I don't know. I think the pace is just right," I reply, feeling more confident than I expected.

The school day passes and it is time to go out with her. It was just an ordinary school day. I can remember that the biology teacher explained the circulatory system which was really interesting. It is so magnificent that all of this complicated cycle happens every second and that human life depends on it.

I also remember that in the History lecture we listened to Pasha's palace story. It is an ancient historic building where its first floor was built in the 13th century by the Mamluk and its second floor in the 17th by the Ottoman. Now it is a beautiful museum that contains several monuments from different eras and cultures.

This is all I can remember, the rest was so boring and useless. I told Omar to head home on his own, and now I'm standing in front of the school with my bicycle, holding a box with the shop's name on it. Inside is the Nammura I made yesterday, still fresh and fragrant.

I see her walking towards me, her hair flowing gracefully in the breeze, each strand dancing in the air. Her presence is captivating, my heart beats faster as she approaches.

"I got us some Nammura." I say, opening the box with a grin.

"Oh! This is my favourite Nammura shop. How did you know?" she asks, her smile lighting up her face.

"I didn't." I admit, feeling a bit nervous. "This is actually from my father's shop, and I made this one yesterday."

"No way! You made this?" Her eyes widen in surprise, excitement dancing in them. She eagerly takes a fork and tries a piece. "This is really sooo good. I can't even tell it apart from the ones at the shop," she says, clearly impressed.

I can't stop smiling, my grin stretches from ear to ear. It feels like I'm floating. I pick up a fork and join her, savouring the moment together.

"Ready?" she asks, unlocking her bicycle after we finish eating.

"Yeah," I reply with enthusiasm. "I know a great spot for racing. Let's head there."

We keep talking until we reach there. We stand on the same line, count to three, then start racing. I was leading in the beginning but then suddenly she accelerated and... I can't believe that actually happened, but she won the race.

"Not bad" she says, hardly smiling as she is trying to catch her breath. "Not bad!!" I say while trying to catch my breath too "You just got lucky."

"I can do this all day" she says and puts her hand on the bicycle's grip and her feet on the pedals. I start counting and we start. This time I go as I never did before. I'm incredibly fast, feeling the rush of air against my face and the adrenaline surging through my body.

"Not bad" I say after winning the race and we both laugh. I think we are both so thirsty at this point so I ask"Do you want to drink something?"

Her eyes light up as she replies, "Yeah, that sounds great!"

We go to the store and drink sugarcane juice. "What do you want to study after school?" I ask her, trying to open a new topic.

"I am planning to study media to be able to show the beauty of Gaza, its farms, buildings, sea and even our great old traditions. And you?" she says.

"I want to study medicine and become a doctor. The idea itself is fascinating for me that someone is suffering from something and really causes him a lot of pain and the doctor can diagnose this and give him the right medicine to make him better." I replied.

She doesn't say anything and neither do I. We are just looking at each other's eyes smiling. This is the first time I love the awkward silence and wish it lasts forever. "I have to go home." She says after we finish our drink.

"What about a final race to your home?" I ask. She agrees and we race to her home. She wins this time but I think this is because she knows the way, we are literally racing to her home.

She gets off her bicycle and looks at me. "I really had a lot of fun today." she says.

"Yeah me too, we should definitely repeat it" I say.

She holds her bicycle and starts moving to her building "It seems like you like losing" she says as she enters the building.

I ride my bicycle and return home while thinking of this day and replaying every second again in my head.