The Last Prayer

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

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I laid on my bed staring up at the ceiling. Halima was right beside me, giggling, and talking about her crush.

"He's so tall, and he's smart, too!" She gushed on and on about some boy she met at the library last week. I laughed along and nodded in agreement. Growing up, sleepovers and birthday parties weren't apart of my annual life. However, when I got a little older, my parents eased their grip on me. Ever since my parents began allowing me to have sleepovers, Halima and I had been going back and forth between each other's house. That week was my turn to host the sleepover.

It was the middle of November and we had a three day weekend, so we both decided it was time to relax and take our minds off of our school lives and graduation.

"What did you say his name was again?" I asked midst Halima talking. She rolled her eyes and lightly punched my shoulder.

"Mitchell. His name is Mitchell, remember that." She pointed a finger at me and laughed again. She was obsessed with European men. I mean, who wasn't, until they started reading history books, of course. "He's a freshman in college now, he's majoring in literature and he's planning on studying abroad this summer." She clapped her hands together like a little girl, giddy with eagerness. I raised my brow at her, an amused smile playing across my lips.

"And how exactly do you know all of this?" I asked. She threw her head back and let out an obnoxious guffaw.

"I stalk his Facebook, duh." She rolled her eyes playfully at me. This was as good as it got. My best friend and I talking about our love lives and our problems and everything else in between. I sat up on my bed and continued to stare aimlessly at the ceiling, as if I was admiring the small lumps of Styrofoam under the wall plaster. "So what about you?" I ripped my gaze from the ceiling and turned to Halima, I was quite startled by her sudden question. Halima joined me in my sitting up position and nudged my arm again, raising her eyebrows in a mocking way.

"What about me?" I replied and shook my head. There wasn't anything to tell. She nudged me again, indicating that she knew I was lying. As far as I knew, I wasn't lying.

"Don't you like anyone?" She inquired. I shook my head vigorously for the second time. "Come on, I know you're lying." The playfulness in her voice disappeared and was replaced with a slight concern and disbelief.

"There really isn't anyone that I like. I'm too busy this year to think about guys anymore." My response came out a lot harsher than I had anticipated. I bit back my words after seeing Halima purse her lips and look away. I couldn't tell whether she felt bad for me or she just wanted to initiate a conversation where I did some of the talking. I watched her as she twiddled with her fingers nervously. I had officially made the situation awkward. "I'm tired," I let out a fake yawn and stretched my arms out. "I'm gonna go to bed." I stood up from my seat on my bed and headed toward the bathroom.

"Alfiyah," I turned around at the sound of my name. "It's okay, you'll find someone eventually." She gave me a weak smile of pity. She must have felt bad that I didn't have crush on anyone in particular. I returned the small smile and turned on my heel. I couldn't believe my ears. My best friend was pitying me for something so trivial and superficial. I had better things to do than cry over boys who don't even realize my existence. I wanted so badly to storm back into my room and yell at Halima for being so stupid. Marriage and falling in love isn't the only important thing in a woman's life, an education and a growth mindset is much more important.

I squirted the toothpaste onto my brush and stuffed the brush into mouth while grumbling insults at Halima under my breath. My reflection stared back at me with angry eyes and messy hair. I looked like a mad woman.