The Two of Us

Chapter 31 - So Be It

Chapter Thirty One - So Be It

Sabrina was quite surprised to see Khalid at school. He'd been notably absent for the majority of the week and while she didn't ponder on this fact for long, she was beginning to wonder if he was alright. Though, the sight of him shuffling down the hallway, face down and tongue not shoved down Hiba's throat, brought her a rush of relief that she tried not to acknowledge. 

The week had passed by incredibly slow. She found herself being nervous over the smallest of situations and endlessly looking about her as if she was searching for something. Or someone. She'd tried to busy herself by focusing on her friends, particularly Emaan's growing crush on Jamaal. According to the grey eyed girl, the dinner party over the weekend had went well. There was a disappointing lack of any hand brushing but she reported that there had been a few shared glances. Sabrina giggled at this while Leila made kissy faces at the blushing Arab girl.

Even still, at the end of the day her mind would always wander back to Khalid.

She wouldn't allow herself to dwell on the thought of Khalid for too long. For all she knew, he'd been patching up his relationship with Hiba over the last few days and probably planning to settle down and have a few babies with her. She twitched at the thought and turned away, heading to her first class of the morning. On the way up a staircase, she came across Leila and Emaan ruthlessly fighting over something.

Sabrina stepped in between them and sighed. "Are you guys fighting over...hummus?"

Leila and Emaan paused their futile efforts to snatch the small tub of hummus from the other girl to blink at Sabrina. 

"Uh...yes?" Leila sniffed.

"It belongs to me, though." Emaan declared.

"Yeah, but you're not sharing and that's not fair!" Leila whined.

Sabrina rolled her eyes and bit her lip before watching her two friends resume their struggle. As they bickered down the hallway, Sabrina's mind drifted over to Khalid's quiet reappearance at school. What was with him, avoiding eye contact and looking as if he'd rather sink into the earth? She wondered where Hiba was, and why she wasn't with Khalid. 

"Sabrinaaaaa!" Leila's voice broke her out of her thoughts and blinked to see Leila waving a hand in front of her face. "Do you want some?"

Leila held out the hummus, while munching on pita bread. She victoriously glanced over at a pissed off Emaan and Sabrina assumed she had managed to win over the prized delicacy. Sabrina, however didn't have time for food at the moment.

"Leila, Khalid is back." She told her best friend, who immediately stopped chewing and stared at her.

Sabrina looked back down and considered the hummus. "Also, yes, I would."

* * *

At lunch, Sabrina was once again, looking around as if she expected Khalid to pop out and smile at her and flash his teeth. Leila and Emaan had immediately located Hiba that afternoon and reported that she seemed to be her usual, bitter self. Sabrina wondered for the millionth time if Khalid and Hiba really had gotten together. She didn't know why she wanted to know so badly, but she desperately hoped they hadn't.

Because the universe would never be in her favor, Khalid and Jamaal had opted to go out for lunch that day. This she learned from a friend of a friend, as Khalid's life was still endlessly discussed as fervently as tabloid gossip. For once, it proved beneficial, though not in favour of Sabrina's feelings. She just wanted to see him.