Dawud.

Chapter 21: Jannah and Malik

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Dawud's P.O.V

I shut my locker (see picture above) and turned around. For the first time in three weeks, Jannah wasn't standing across the hall, walking past me. I looked around worriedly. Were girls terrorizing her? Was she sick? Akhlaaq looked around too. This was strange.

"Where is she today?" He asked me.

I thought of all the places she could be right now. It was a Monday and that meant that she was taking the bus instead of the train to school since our university isn't too far from her father's house. This meant that she should be here by now. I sighed. "I don't know, man." I told Akhlaaq.

"I've got to go to my Human Resource Management class, bro. Salam."

"Salam." I said, walking in the opposite direction of my class.

Truth is, I've been going crazy. It's taken time but I now know that I feel strongly about Jannah. I love the way she laughs. I love the way she always mentions Allah when we speak. I'm in love with the emotion she pours into everything. I'm in love with the way she speaks highly of everyone. I'm in love with the way she respects her elders. I'm in love with her shy smile. She clouded my thoughts and took over. It's caused me to start fasting to weaken my desires. It took everything in me not to walk up to her and pull her into a hug.

I looked into her class window. She wasn't there. I walked up and down the hallway. She wasn't there. I took the elevator to the second floor. She wasn't there. I rushed back to the first floor and found her in the lobby. I sighed in relief and leaned against the wall to my right, catching my breath.

"Assalamu'Alaykum, Jannah." A voice said. I stood up straight and tilted my head to see who it was. Malik? Malik the smooth player from high school? What was he doing talking to Jannah? And why was she smiling like that?

"Wa'Alaykum As Salam, Malik. Here's my Dad's number. He told me that I needed to give it to you." She said shyly. I watched painfully as she greeted him with the same tone of voice she used to greet me with. He took the paper from her hands carefully. He was sure not to touch her and that was a smart move. If he did, I don't know what I would do.

"Thanks. So, I'll come by your house with my Dad after Jummah prayer. We could get to know each other a bit more Insha'Allah, of course." He smiled with a charm I didn't have. He was swift and flirtatious which riled me up. I hated how he looked at her like she was a piece of meat. There was no modesty in his tone or his gaze.

Before I knew it, I was walking in their direction. I stood a meter away from the both of them with an angry look on my face. "Jannah, what's going on?" I asked her. There was no way she was getting to know this guy for marriage.

Jannah looked at me with surprise. "Dawud? What do you want?" She asked me. I couldn't tell whether she was angry with me or not. Her eyes wouldn't tell me anything. I turned my attention towards Malik, ignoring Jannah's question.

"You're going to her house? For what?" I asked him angrily. I towered over him in height, making sure to know I was sizing him up. The blood pumped rapidly in my body. I could feel the jealous heat spread over my chest like a wildfire. I had to mentally remind myself that I was fasting.

Malik chuckled. "Will you relax, bro? She's not married to you so stop getting all jealous protective." He spat. "I'm going to her house to get to know her.. for marriage." He said with a smirk.

I huffed and stepped forward. Jannah looked at me and shook her head disapprovingly before I could do anything. "What? He can't provoke me without consequences." I told her angrily.

"This is all too familiar, don't you think? Stop, Dawud." She told me sternly.

I stayed silent as he smiled at her before walking away. I looked at Jannah who crossed her arms and sighed. She tightened the grip she had on her agenda. I waited for her to say something. I was desperate. I needed to hear her say something to me. I was the guy she wanted to marry, wasn't I?

"It's unfair. It's unfair because he just made you jealous and you can't say or do anything about it. He's put all these insecurities in your head and you couldn't say one word. All because I said so." She said softly. I frowned, ignoring the pain in my stomach. I had put Jannah in this position weeks ago. I did this to her. I've just gotten a taste of my own medicine and let me tell you, it's disgusting. It's painful and sickening. "Except I'm not going to hurt you even more by feeding into those insecurities. Subhan'Allah... I'm not that cruel." She shook her head, causing a tear to fall down her rosy cheek. She was referring to my comment about her age being too young. I felt so guilty. "You've still got a chance. Fight for it." She said before walking past me. I closed my eyes and listened to her footsteps.

Tip, tap. Tip, tap. Tip, tap. Tip, tap. Tip, tap. Tip, tap. Tip, tap. Tip, tap. Tip, tap. Tip, tap. Tip, tap...

And with that, she was gone.

I immediately pulled out my cell phone and called Sultan. He answered on the third ring. "Hello?" He said.

"Assalamu'Alaykum Sultan, it's me." I said shyly.

"Wa Alaykum As Salam Dawud, I haven't heard from you in a long time! How are you?" He greeted me with a warm voice.

I shook my head. If he knew the pain I had put Jannah through..

"Alhamdullilah. I've been getting by.." I said quietly. "Uhm, Sultan? I'd like to get Jannah to meet my parents." I said quickly. I couldn't believe the words came out of my mouth.

He hesitated. "Dawud, Jannah's actually meeting someone this weekend and-"

"I know. I can't sit still." I admitted. Sultan chuckled.

"I understand how you feel, my son." He said lovingly. "I was your age once. Every feeling is heightened and the girl you love is the center of everything, am I right?"

I smiled shyly. "Yeah, I guess you are."

"Let's have this discussion on Saturday. I don't really know what happened between the two of you so I'll have to see how Jannah feels about you after she meets the boy's family. Okay?"

I pressed my lips in a firm line and nodded. "Okay, Sultan." I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. If Allah, Glorious, and Exalted be He, has decreed that Jannah and I are meant for each other, nothing will change that.

No one will change that.

Chapter Twenty-Two ->