Keeping It Halal

Chapter Two

"My name is Muhammad Zulhilmi, but you can call me Zul," he introduced himself to me convivially with his winsome smile. He waited for my answer, but I did not say anything. "So, what's your name?" he continued.

"Farah Arina," I muttered.

He nodded slowly and asked, "So, shall I call you Arina?". I nodded in agreement. I then checked my watch and saw that it was three minutes to 6, so I quickly got up and hurried home. Zul probably knew that I had to be back by 6, as he may had overheard the conversation I had between my mother, so he got up, too.

As I walked about 1/3 of the distance between the beach and my house, I heard footsteps that were getting louder and louder behind me.

"Where are you going my dear?" a slightly drunken voice spoke.

I bristled. I did not know what to do. Even after all the martial arts lessons I had gone through did not make me move. I turned around and saw a man, limping, looking drunk. I tried to run away but he took my arm and started to drag me off with full force, as I tried to pull myself towards the opposite direction the man was going to.

"Oof!" the man cried and fell onto the ground, unconscious.

My sleeve was then pulled by someone, which I then noticed that it was Zul. He started running towards the direction of my house, still tugging onto my sleeve. I followed his pace until we finally reached my house. He released his tug and went into the house. But I was still standing on the porch, speechless on what had just happened.

"Oh Allah! Farah Arina! I'm glad that you're safe!" squealed my mother as she quickened her pace towards me and hugged me tightly.

"Alhamdulillah.. thanks to Zul," I said, grinning.

Apparently my mother knew that I was out of breath, so she released me and led me into the house. I was then greeted by Amer, my aunt and father. They said the same thing as my mother did, followed by thanking Zul.

After we had all settled down, we got ready for the Maghrib prayer. I got ready first, so I decided to lay the prayer mats in the living room, as we were going to pray together. But my mouth went opened when I noticed that Zul was going to be the 'imam'. The deviant feeling got me shivers down my spine.

But as he started the prayer, I got much more calmer. The style he read the verses of the holy Quran made me feel like I was in Makkah. His recitation was purely beautiful. After we finished the prayer, Zul had to go back home, so Amer voluntarily offered to go with him.

As they were heading out, I caught a winsome smile that was flashed at me by Zul. I did not know how to react so I ended up nodding and smiling at him, in return.

*A/N Chapter 3 will probably be up by next week as I'm currently busy. Sorry for making you wait! Thank you for reading my first ever book! :)