Choosing The Right Path

27)♡Friends?♡

👯 A A M I R A H 👯

Everybody was still recuperating from Mr. Ali's death, school and changes to their lives. Rubina was one of them.

She had grown quieter with the few passing days and gravity sure pulled her down to earth.

Raeesa and I were lazing around in my room, thinking of something productive to do when all of a sudden, my best friend got a call.

"Assalamu 'Alaikum. I'm fine. How are you? Yes I am. Okay. I'll be right over. Wa'alaikum Assalam."

"Who was that?" I peered inquisitively at Raeesa's phone. Where was she going to go?

"It was Mom. My parents got back from Japan and want me back home. They asked if I was still staying at your house. Like, where else was I supposed to go? If they didn't leave me all the time, I wouldn't have to constantly stay at your place. I'm sorry about coming and going whenever it's convenient for me, Aamirah. I really am."

I gave Raeesa a hug and told her not to worry. My best friend was always welcome in my home and she knew it.

"I'll help you pack. I guess I'll see you sometime during the holiday then?"

"Sure will. For now, my parents want to pretend that their daughter exists and is acknowleged."

Feeling helpless, I emptied the part of my wardrobe that Raeesa filled with a few of her clothing articles and carefully neatened them before carefully placing them inside her bag. As much as Raeesa constantly made a fuss of strongly disliking her parents, I knew that she loved them and couldn't wait to get back home.

"I can't wait to come back home. This is my home. Give it a few days and I'll be back here. I have no intention of staying there for longer than a week."

Or not?

》》》

With my best friend gone and cousin sulking, I decided to keep to myself. It was a hot night and the porch was cool; the perfect place to be. I let my head hang between my hands and the boredom get to me. I was about to leave to go inside when I was graced with the presence of a bad boy.

"Hey."

"Hi..."

"Are you okay? You're never out here alone..." Azlan seemed genuinely concerned but I denied my sadness and settled for a lighter conversation.

"I'm fine. How have you been?"

"Busy. I've been busy," Azlan was staring happily into the distance.

I wanted to know what he had been busy with.

"With?"

"Well I was supposed to ask you earlier and I forgot. Now that you gave my memory a little rejog, I'm going to ask you..." Azlan sucked in his breath. I waited for him to speak. "Basically, I have this friend..."

Oh no.

"His name..."

His... Ok good.

"... Is Zak. We're good friends. He's a lot older. About 35. But we're good friends. It's a long story but we made a deal and his end of the deal was to learn about Islam."

Mashallah.

"Could you help us, Aamirah?" Azlan's pleading eyes matched my surprised ones and I nodded quickly. It would be an honour to pass on what little knowledge I had about Islam to others.

"Great. Well, Rubina's instagram has now turned into a typical hijabi kinda thing. It's great how she's getting along, right?"

"Yeah..."

Rubina broke up with her boyfriend who was into narcotics, among other things which did not exactly entail halal qualities and I was happy for her. In fact, this boy was simply a wash over

✴ A Z L A N ✴

"You're not so bad, you know?"

With eyes the size of saucers, I turned to Aamirah. "You really mean that?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, you did nearly kill me, but then you also saved my life. And Raeesa's life... I miss her. Anyway... You played at being the bad boy but you also follow your religion, even if you do it secretly."

Silence.

"You're not so bad... Either? I guess? You're a good person, really."

"Thank you..."

"Friends?" I stuck out my hand.

Aamirah looked down at it. Doubt was evident on her face but she pulled a smile forward and gave me a firm hand shake. "Friends."

👯✴👯✴👯✴👯✴👯✴👯✴👯

Finally, right? I know, I've been waiting too. 😜

I'm sorry for such a short chapter. I've been awake since 3am. Couldn't sleep so I decided to get my creative juices flowing and now I'm positively drained. 😩

Few more chapters to go. I hope this book is a success in sha Allah. ❤

Hope you're enjoying it so far. 😊💖

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Take care 🌹

That rhymed lol ☝😂.