The Other

20

(Zulaykha)

I woke up at 5am for Fajr prayer. Hana stood at the end of my bed, staring at me.

"Hana!" I yelled, for she had startled me. "Were you watching me sleep?" I asked.

Hana sighed and rolled her eyes. "What else am I supposed to do while my only friend is asleep?" she asked, crossing her arms with a pouty face.

I chuckled. "Hana..." I spoke. "You live in Jannah, the greatest place ever, paradise! You can go anywhere you want and do anything you want, but you choose to watch me sleep all night..."

Hana shrugged her shoulders. I shook my head and got up out of bed to do wudu. As I approached the bathroom, I heard yelling and water running. I sighed. It was Yasin and Yasir.

"Stop it, Yasin!" Yasir yelled.

"You already washed your arms five times, stupid!" Yasin yelled. "It's my turn!"

"I lose track of count!" Yasir yelled.

I rolled my eyes. "Guys, stop!" I said. They were seriously arguing over wudu...

I push them out of the way and wash my hands. Hana also washes her hands even though the water goes right through her body...

Yasin shivers. He had been standing right next to Hana.

"It suddenly got really c-cold." Yasin said.

"Yeah." Yasir agreed. "And being w-wet is just making it worse."

They quickly finished doing wudu and left the bathroom.

"So... Why am I the only one who can see you?" I asked as I dried myself with a towel.

"You're the extra student..." Hana said. "If everyone else can see me, that kind of ruins my whole purpose. I'm supposed to guide the extra student through this calamity. If I show myself to everyone, they'd probably think I'm the reason why this calamity is happening. Alma wants everyone to suffer. She wants the extra student to get blamed."

I sighed. Why is Hana doing this for Alma? Is she trying to do something nice for her?

"Hana..." I spoke. "You're just as bad as Alma..."

And with that, I left the bathroom.