The Last Prayer

Chapter One

Chapter One
~

Love is a deadly thing, it drives even the most sane people to madness. But, it is also a beautiful and necessary thing that teaches a person the capabilities of the human heart. Whether it's when you're fourteen, twenty, or even sixty four, you will find someone that you want to spend the rest of your life with. I found that person when I was eighteen years old, during my senior year of high school.

Part of the beginning of my life was spent in a small suburban town, later on, I moved to the large, bustling city where I would meet my soulmate. I lived with my parents and my two older siblings, Rami and Salma. Being the youngest wasn't the "walk in the park" luxury that everyone has deemed it to be, it was the exact opposite for me. I was constantly ignored and only seen as my sister's shadow. It's true that I wasn't as social as my older siblings, but after meeting him, my confidence was somehow boosted.

What made things even worse for me was that both Rami and Salma looked similar. They both had smooth caramel skin, charcoal black eyes and wavy hair. Our complexions were similar, however my face donned light brown eyes, a slightly longer nose, fuller lips, an angular jaw and curly, frizzy hair. Despite my differences with my close family, he still loved me.

Now, enough about me, the story of how I died and was reborn will continue from this point.

~

It was the first day of my senior year of high school. I walked into the history class and found my seat, not bothering to introduce myself to the teacher or anyone else. I had been to this school for four years, there wasn't any reason for me to introduce myself once more. As I sat in my seat anticipating the bell to indicate the start of class, I cracked open a book and began to drown into the words. Minutes passed, but I didn't notice. The bell had rung, I didn't notice that either. Someone had sat next to me. I was so emerged into the book that I hardly noticed when the person  beside me tapped me on the shoulder. Irritated, I looked up from the page and stared into a pair of eyes. The eyes were like intriguing pools of black tar, I felt absorbed and mystified.

"That must be a really good book," the person connected to the eyes spoke. I was surprised to hear their voice, which was just as hypnotizing as their eyes. "You should probably listen to what the teacher is saying though." The boy whispered and pointed to the front of the room. I slowly nodded and closed my book, not daring to look away from the beautiful eyes. I continued to stare until the boy raised an eyebrow with amusement. My cheeks burned with embarrassment and I tore my gaze away from his. Each breath became short and rapid, my palms were sweaty, I couldn't focus on what the teacher was saying.

At the end of the class I watched the boy next to me through the corner of my eye put his belongings away as I did the same.  Taking in all of his features at once. He was obviously Asian, his pale, almost yellow skin, black hair and and monolid eyes indicated so. I usually never introduced myself to people first, especially to a boy, but this time I did.

"By the way, my name is Fiyah." I smiled shyly and stuck out my hand. He slung his backpack across his shoulders and took my hand in his. His hands were cold.

"That's an interesting name." He replied.

"It's short for Alfiyah." I said much too quickly.

"Alfiyah, Alfiyah," The boy said. Tasting the words.  "Pretty" the way he said my name sounded almost musical, it rolled off of his tongue in beautiful manner. "I'm Yasir, Yasir Lee." I was taken aback by his reaponse. My smile widened when I concluded that he possibly shared the same faith as me.

"Are you... A Muslim?" I asked and cocked my head to the side. Yasir chuckled and nodded. Rarely did I meet Muslim boys at school that were kind, they were all womanizers and arrogant. But he was different, and I've always liked different.

"What's your next class?" He asked as we exited the classroom together.

"Science with Mr. Gregory." I responded, my heart was racing while we talked. "What about you?"

"The same thing." I looked up at him and he smiled warmly. My stomach did a summersault.

We walked the rest of the way in silence, occasionally greeting other students or commenting on random things. As we got closer to our next class, I looked up at Yasir. He was really tall, at least six feet. I then noticed something leaking from his nose. Blood.

"Hey, uh, you're nose is bleeding." I pointed out, my voice pitchy with disgust. The sight of blood began to make me nauseous and my head started spinning. Yasir looked down at me with confusion, and quickly wiped the blood away from his nose.

"It's nothing." He said coldly and began walking faster than our current pace. He stuffed his hands inside of his pockets and continued to the classroom without me. I felt a pang of sadness, but then I realized that it didn't matter, he wasn't even my friend. Bipolar twat.

I saw Yasir many times during the day. In the hallways, in class, at lunch. But each time I saw him, I payed him no attention, and he would pay me no attention either. By the end of the day, I had completely forgotten about Yasir, he didn't matter to me then. Little did I know how much I would care later on.

~

All alone, with a thick book in my hands, I sat on a bench outside whilst slowly eating a bag of chips.

"Can I have some?" I was startled by the sudden voice. Last time I checked, none of my friends had the same lunch period as me. Nonetheless, my close friend, Halima stood before me with a grin stretching from ear to ear.

"Halima!" I jumped up and embraced my sister-like friend. We had been friends ever since first grade. When we first met, we had hated each other, but soon that hate became a bond that ran deep within our veins. "I didn't know you had this lunch." We pulled away from the hug and she sat beside me on the bench.

"I just switched classes so now I have lunch with my bestie!" Halima replied before throwing her arms around me again. "But seriously, give me some chips." Her smiling face turned serious in a matter of seconds as she reached her hand out. Even though she wasn't smiling, her chocolate brown eyes had a tinge of amusement in them. That was what I loved about Halima, she could become serious and composed so quickly. I poured a few chips into her extended hand and continued to read my book. She took out her book as well and began reading. Halima's presence was enough to make me feel like I wasn't alone. Even when we stay together in silence, it didn't seem lonely. Halima was tall, unlike me. She stood at least five feet and nine inches, while I was only five feet and four inches. Her limp, jet black hair was pulled into a bun underneath her head scarf, I could tell by the bump in the back of her head.

And so we sat there, reading our books, telling each other about our books and holding regular banter. Whilst having conversations with Halima and reading my book, my mind would wander towards Yasir. His bloody nose. His sudden coldness. What was his problem? I shook the thoughts of him out of my mind, he didn't matter, I had other things to worry about.

~

Well that's chapter one for you. I've introduced the main characters, and I would love to have everyone's opinions on each one. What do you think will happen? Why was Yasir acting that way? Find out in the future chapters!

-Sumi