The Last Prayer

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

~

When the day of the wedding came, everyone was bustling around mindlessly. It was quite pitiful to watch them scurry around like mice. The ceremony was in a few hours, and we were exactly 45 minutes off schedule. Yasmina ran around half dressed yelling orders, my mother ran after her attempting to usher her into one place so that her hair and makeup could be completed. Even Salma was acting hysterical.

It was complete chaos. Amidst all of the hysteria, I sat in an isolated corner and doing my own makeup, occasionally looking up from my hand held mirror to watch everything crash and burn.

I let out a sigh of exasperation. Now I knew exactly what I didn't want happening at my wedding.

As I blended my eyeshadow with a steady hand, I thought about what my brother, the groom was doing. Was he chasing after his groomsmen and barking orders like his soon-you-be-wife? Or was he calmly making his way to the ceremonial hall my parents rented? I shrugged my shoulders and continued to apply my makeup until one of Yasmina's bridesmaids began yelling at me to get dressed.

I obeyed my orders and exited the crowded and stuffy room and headed to the closest and unoccupied restroom. The dress was a bit ill fitting. Tight around the waist and the bust. I hadn't realized that I gained weight since the last dress fitting. The dress was a warm grey, with a high rounded collar and long, glittering sleeves. Gems littered the top half of the dress, the light catching against them as I spun around in front of the mirror.

I never forgot that moment, when I was done fighting with the dress and had wrapped my matching headscarf in a turban style. I looked beautiful. I felt gorgeous.

I stepped out of the bathroom after admiring my reflection for several minutes, only to find a shit-ton of my girls frantically waiting outside the door. Sidestepping out of their way as I watched them all push and shove each other out of the way.

Barbaric, I muttered under my breath. I reentered the once crowded and stuffy room, it was quiet and peaceful now that most of the girls had left. All that was left was the few bridesmaids that were very close to Yasmina, Mom, and last but not least, Salma.

I stood in the doorway with my arms folded. "The wedding starts in-" I took a quick glance at the watch on my wrist. "25 minutes, you guys need to hurry up." I raised an eyebrow as Mom shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"It's better to be fashionably late to your wedding, rather than be early and look like a total wreck." It was like she was completely unbothered by the fact that there was less than 25 minutes until her son would be marrying the girl that sat beside her. It was mind blowing to think that the wedding was already taking place and that there was only a few weeks of the school year left. In exactly twenty-four days, I would be a high school graduate and would be making my way toward university.

Whilst shaking my head in disapproval, I continued out of the room and toward the front door. The sun was high in the sky, bright and burning. My hand shielding my eyes as I threw my gaze across the empty and peaceful neighborhood. It was beautiful, perfect time of day to get married. I let out a long and shaky breath as I stepped back from the door and closed the door behind me, making my way back to where the hopeless women sat.

~

By the time we left the house, there was a mere ten minutes left until the ceremony officially began. We ended up late but no one really noticed, since Dad and Rami had entertained and kept the guests busy while we made our way through mundane traffic.

The ceremonial hall that was rented was completely changed. The empty and boring room became something out of a story book. Streamers were strung from the ceiling, flowers and center pieces crowded the place. Lights and colors flashed everywhere, making me dizzy with each glance.

"It's beautiful." I breathed to Yasmina as we walked to the end of the hall and joined Rami and Dad at the bridal seats in the front of the room.

"I know, it's perfect." She replied in a low, excited whisper.

To my dismay, the wedding was mixed. The sweltering pressure of eyes followed me as I walked. The cheering and hoots brought no comfort, only a small flame of fear.

We all sat according to our importance to the bride and groom, I sat two bridesmaids down from Yasmina. I was third most important to her, and Salma was second. A wiry girl with bouncy curls sat right beside Yasmina- her best friend.

Music played, people danced and ate, well, everyone but us. I'm not sure what culture made it a trend for the bride and groom to just sit and watch their guests have fun, but whatever culture it was, I hated it immediately. My legs were growing numb and stiff, if I didn't get up soon, by the time I would I'd most definitely fall over. I excused myself from the seats and began walking toward the restrooms.

Navigating my way through the bodies and warmth radiating from them was aggravating and tiring. When I got to the bathroom, I let out a breath of relief and slid against the door. The pins and needles tingling up and down my legs disappeared. I picked myself off of the bathroom floor and walked over to the sink area. I wiped the horrific pink lipstick off of my lips with the back of my hand and replaced it with a thin coat of Vaseline.

After touching up my makeup, I left the bathroom and began making my way through the crowd once more. As I was walking, I realized that I probably couldn't stand another minute up on the seats. I changed my route and found an empty table and plopped down in a seat. An untouched glass of water sat in front of me. I reached for the glass, laced my fingers around the thin stem and brought the drink up to my lips. As I was hungrily drinking the water, an unrecognizable figure sat in the seat before me. Because of the dim lighting and the random flashes of neon colored lights, my vision had become impaired.

It took me a while to make out the disheveled black hair and the tall muscular build. When I put two and two together, I almost choked on my water, the glass in my hand teetering dangerously against my rigid fingers.

"Yasir?" I spurted through a mouthful of water. He was the last person I imagined to find here. I had almost forgotten about him and what happened in the previous weeks.

"In the flesh." He replied loudly over the blaring music. I could barely make out the small smirk playing across his lips.

"What a coincidence to see you here, of all places."

"Not really a coincidence, I spotted you walking from the bathroom and decided to join you at whatever table you say at." Thankfully, he couldn't see the blood rush to my cheeks. "I didn't recognize anyone here, but when I saw you I was relieved." I nodded and places my glass down.

"I don't want to seem rude but, why exactly are you here?" I asked, my heart thumping against my chest.

"My family is friends with the bride's family, my parents were the only ones invited, but they insisted on my sister and I to come." I nodded again, my mind was buzzing with conversation starters.

"Are you excited for graduation?" Questions began popping at random into my mind.

"I guess, I feel mostly indifferent about it." He replied coolly.

And that's when it happened. When all of my shyness and fear was swallowed by confidence. Like the tide washing over the shore, I was brined with a new feeling. Words began spilling out of my mouth effortlessly, like blood rushing from an artery.

~

I hope you all enjoyed the ending of this chapter!!! I had some serious writers block while writing this chapter, it was horrible. Anyway, I hope you all are having a wonderful summer this year! When does school begin for you guys? I start school on the first of September :-((((. Pray for me plz :'''(
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-Sumi