Pure At Heart

Pure At Heart (2) New Town

“Love doesn’t come from the people – it comes from Allah (SWT).”  -Yasmin Mogahed

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We were going to land in 30 minutes. Hafsa and I had just finished gobbling on some food and water. It was actually fun to be sitting by hafsa this time. Every now and then, the girls in front of us turned around and gave me and hafsa a smile. I didn’t know what they were trying to do. And I didn’t want to be tricked into something horrible again.

*FlashBack*

“Maryan, can I ask you something?” I said hesitantly, as maryan sat down next to me. “Sure”, she gave me a bright smile.

I smiled back. I didn’t how to be more polite when asking about the counselor. I could tell they were a lot closer than Yusra had defined. I took a deep breathe.

“Are you somehow… related to the guidance counselor?” I finished with a slight smile. Maryan’s face had a sudden expression change. She swallowed her food and looked at me and smiled.

“No”, she said quickly and turned back to her sandwich. “Why?” she asked as she took her last bit of the crust-less sandwich.

“Because I see you talking to him a lot. I was just wondering if you were because no one actually talks to him anymore”, I confessed. She grinned.

“He’s been very nice to me since the day I came here. First, he helped me get over the fear of new people and new school. And second, he never fails to make me laugh with his jokes. He just makes my day better.. that’s all. Nothing more”, she assured me.

“Oh… but don’t get too close to him. About 6 months ago, he kidnapped a girl from this school and…”, I stopped talking. I didn’t want to use such ridiculous words in front of her, even though reading her facial expressions, I could tell she knew what I was about to say.

“What? You think he would disgrade himself like that?” she laughed. “Its not just me Maryan… it’s the whole school. The whole town infact. Everybody knows about his true personality. You could be the next victim. You should back away a little”, I warned her.

“Hamna, you shouldn’t believe everything people say. Someday people can also spread lies about you and would you like that? I don’t think he’s bad in anyway. And if he really did kidnap her, then why hasn’t the principal fired him yet?” her voice was loud and strong.

“Because-“, I began.

“Because they don’t have any evidence right? Right, Hamna?” she said, staring at my face.

I nodded. And it was the truth. No one had the evidence that the Counselor really was a kidnapper and did actually kidnap Cassey. But everybody knew. And believe it or not, it was all true.

“I thought you were different”, she looked at me, picking up her bag and her lunchbox. I saw her walk away until she was inside the school building and could no longer be visible.

I surprisingly started believing all that she said. Maybe she was right.

*FlashBack Over*

“Our plane will be landing in 15 minutes”, the air hostess spoke as quietly as she could. I gave Hafsa a “I told you” looked and she laughed silently. I buckled up my belt again and opened my window. As the plane descended, the sun, which was now about to set, shone on my face.

“Hamna”, my mom whispered from across of us, where she was sitting. She was pointing at my seat belt and I gave her a thumbs up as to tell her that I was already buckled up.