Shadow of Resistance

Chapter Eleven

As the long days of summer stretched out before me, I enjoyed my long vacation in every possible way. The academic year passed in a steady rhythm, each day bringing new experiences but maintaining the stability that I really appreciate.

This year has been a whirlwind of emotions, and unforgettable moments with my friends and family. Me and my friends spent our time exploring new sports, trying new restaurants, and of course going to the cyber, our usual outing.

At home, I cherished the moments I spent hanging out with my family. I also started going more often to my father's shop, and made a lot of new friends from the workers working with my father.

For me and Sarah, our frequent conversations had become a treasured part of my daily routine. We talk about everything that happens in our days. We also helped each other a lot studying during this year. To be honest, she helped me a lot, as she is more dedicated in most of the subjects.

7 July 2014, marks the end of the semester. I walk out of the school after finishing the last exam, which was physics. The exams came and went in a blur, leaving behind a wave of relief and exhaustion. I look for Sarah, but she's still inside the school, so I wait for her. When she finally comes out, we review our answers together, just like we did with all our other exams. Now, we're officially one year away from college.

"Finally, summer vacation!" I say after we finish checking our answers and realise we got most of them right.

"Yeah, it wasn't an easy year. I'm so relieved that we did well in all the exams," she replies, taking a deep breath.

"So, what's the one thing you're most excited to do this vacation?" I ask, slipping my hands into my pockets.

Her eyes wide with enthusiasm, she says, "I want to learn to crochet. My mum does crochet and makes wonderful things. I can't wait to learn from her. And you? What is the thing you want to do most?"

"I have been waiting to learn driving since I was young, and dad promised me that he is going to teach me this summer" I say.

"Interesting, maybe one day we could race with cars" she says and smiles her charming smile.

"I am sorry I have to go so that mum doesn't get worried." she says, looking at her watch.

"I will miss you" I say while she walks away. She looks back surprised while moving. She doesn't say anything back, but I can see her face blushing while she is trying to hide her smile.

I don't know if it was right to say that now, but I don't regret it. I go to talk with my friends for a couple of minutes before I go home. Me and my friends usually hangout on the last day of every semester and we actually had a plan in mind.

Unfortunately, this plan was cancelled because the last couple of weeks were so chaotic. This period was full of violent events such as three Israelis getting kidnapped and found killed, Israel accusing Hamas and launching rockets on Gaza and Hamas launching rockets back on Israel.

Our parents were worried about these rockets so they insisted that we all stay at home. Although I am not really convinced as any place could be hit by a rocket whether it was a restaurant or a residential building but I agreed on staying at home anyway.

I arrive and see hot fresh popcorn that my mother made. Omar and my father were sitting in front of the TV picking a movie. They wanted to make it up for me, so they prepared a movie night for us. I change my clothes quickly and go to the living room. We spent the night watching a movie and eating popcorn, so it wasn't so bad at the end.