GrandView High

~EIGHT💙~

ILHAM'S POV

After waving goodbye to Teni and Asher, I walked toward the car parked just behind Asher's, a sleek black one—a 2022 Audi Q5. I immediately rolled my eyes. Of course, it was Bilal.

I couldn't help but wonder why he had come instead of Kamil. I had specifically called Kamil to pick me up. So, why was my overly dramatic big brother here instead?

As I approached the car, Bilal rolled down the window, a smug smile already plastered on his face.

The cool evening breeze nipped at my skin as I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Get in, Princess," Bilal called.

I crossed my arms, leaning against the passenger side door. "What are you doing here? I called Kamil."

Bilal raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed. "Yeah, about that. Kamil asked to take my car to come get you. Can you imagine? My car?"

"So?" I asked with a shrug.

"So, I said no," he replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

I rolled my eyes. "Bilal, you're so dramatic. It's not like Kamil would wreck your precious car."

"Do you know how reckless that guy is? I wasn't about to risk it," he said, pulling the door handle open from the inside. "Now, get in before I leave you here."

With a sigh, I slid into the passenger seat and buckled up. "You're such an annoying person, you know that?"

"And you're such an ungrateful little sister," he shot back with a smirk.

"Ungrateful? Please, I didn't even ask you to come. You're the one who insisted on babysitting your car."

"Yeah, because Kamil thought he could just 'borrow' it like it was no big deal," Bilal retorted. "Don't you remember what happened the last time he drove dad's car?"

I burst out laughing. "That was ages ago! And he only just started driving then"

I continued laughing as I thought about the parallel parking incident that happened. Kamil had nearly taken out a streetlight trying to parallel park Bilal's old car last Eid. He basically ruined the back of the car and got us all in trouble because Mum and Dad had asked Bilal to drive and Kamil bugged him so much until he gave in. Bilal became carless till he went back to school. Daddy ended up fixing the car and giving it to Kamil but it didn't last longer than five months before Kamil crashed it into ANOTHER street light and it has just been sitting in the garage at the back of the house.

Bilal shook his head, a grin tugging at the corners of his lips. "You don't get it. The guy has zero respect for cars. None. Last week, he couldn't even back into a driveway without me yelling 'Brake!' three times. No chance".

We drove in comfortable silence for a few minutes before he spoke again. "Anyway, you should be thanking me. I didn't have to come get you, you know. I leave for Seattle tomorrow, and I have a million things to do."

"You're leaving already?" I asked, my mood deflating slightly.

"Yup," he replied, his tone casual. "Back to Washington to finish up my senior year. You're gonna miss me, aren't you?"

I snorted. "Miss you? Please. I'll finally get some peace and quiet."

"Sure, sure," he said, smirking. "You'll be crying by day three, wishing I was around to save you from yourself."

"Save me from what, exactly?" I shot back, narrowing my eyes at him.

"From bad decisions. Like trusting Kamil to pick you up."