the boy theory

three

"please tell me why i am not at home sleeping at seven thirty AM on a saturday."

"could you not complain for once?"

"no."

"jesus what's wrong with you?"

"you're the one who wanted to be friends with me."

"psh yeah right, i have so many other friends. i could leave you right now and still have somewhere to go and people to converse with."

"mhm yeah sitting in the library during lunch does not count as a social life."

"oh look we're here."

"the mall? you're kidding."

"i realize you hate the mall, but i asked a friend to meet us here."

"if this is another one of your interventions about the male species..."

"of course it is."

"you are never letting this go, are you."

"you wish. anyways yasmeen said she'd meet us at the food court."

"woah you mean yasmeen alzaghari?"

"the one and only."

"the one with the head scarves with super cool patterns?"

"they're called hijabs. don't let her hear you call it that."

"too late."

"hey yasmeen, how've you been?"

"pretty good i guess. and i assume this is your friend matthew."

"in the flesh."

"you could do so much better analyn."

"i heard that!!"

"i said it out loud genius. anyway, analyn filled me in before i got here so i'll make this fast."

"thank god."

"do you ever shut up?!"

*a h e m* "so, i assume you're familiar with riley nakamura."

"i am not, but that name already sounds like it belongs to an asshole."

"watch your language!"

"that's not even a bad word!"

"analyn as much as i love you, please get your friend to shut up. it's way too early for this."

"fine fine i'll stop talking! yeesh..."

"thanks. so this guy, riley. starting forward on varsity basketball, reasonably popular, grade-a jerk. i remember sophomore year he sat next to me during lunch one day and started randomly talking to me. i'm pretty sure it was a dare, but i wasn't as sharp as i am now, so when he asked for my number i gave it, assumed he was being friendly. didn't expect him to call me later, but he did."

"was he cute?"

"could you shut up for one minute?"

"alright i'm gonna keep going. so that day he called i was like 'what the actual heck'. me being me, i totally roasted him, and i could here some 'oooh's in the background. later on around midnight he texted me, apologizing for his friends and a bunch of other things. he said he wanted to make it up to me, and buy me lunch. reluctantly i accepted, and the next day i ended up having a good time with him and his friends."

"analyn this is longer and less awkward than the other ones, can we leave now?"

"who do you think you are? sit down!"

"one lunch turned into two, and soon enough we were texting everyday. the thing i had noticed though was that he never talked
to me in real life. he was super nice over text, but a complete jerk when i'd try to say hi in the hallways. soon i had had enough, and i asked him why he did it."

"oooh it's about to get real."

"riley told me that his friends had dared him to talk to me that one time, and that he knew his reputation would be ruined if they found he associated with 'people like me' - a muslim. i was so frustrated by that, so i gave him the silent treatment for the rest of the week. he had tried texting but i ignored it, cuz my anger clouded my judgement. then one day, he pulled me aside after sixth period and asked what he had done wrong. even though the teacher was still in the room i completely fell apart. he told me he was sorry, and i had thought that we'd be okay, that now since he's cognizant of his mistakes, he'll try to better himself."

"and did he?"

"i wouldn't know. apparently someone saw him trying to comfort me, and they were spreading a rumor that he was dating me, which is stupid because with my religion and my parents i don't even date in the first place. my other friends told me that in order to keep his image intact, he denied the fact that he ever knew me, and basically broke all contact."

"yikes. it was that bad?"

"not so much anymore. i was torn up about it at first, but now i'm in a better place. i'm taking care of myself, and i've cut him out of my thoughts completely."

"thanks yas."

"don't mention it. i haven't been out much lately, so this was good for me."

"you're the best. see you in apush on monday."

"see you! also while you're at it, control your friends."

"what the hell did i do?"

"you were being you. now come on, i wanna eat."

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a/n: apologies that i'm months late, but high school's a bitch, and so is writer's block. happy xmas eve and every other holiday in between. enjoy this long overdue chapter (and this not so long author's note)! more stuff to come -a