Malika Bashir had a darkened view of the world. Ibrahim Ahmad refused to see anything but the light.
Soon, a friend from the past appears at Ibrahim's doorstep and a mysterious set of letters are left in his bedroom. Old conflicts are raised and ne...
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... "Rock bottom teaches you lessons mountaintops never will."
No, it doesn't. I don't know what those poets are smoking when they write crap like this. Rock bottom sucks, take it from someone who lives here.
...
The next day at school, as Malika's eyes met Dahlia's they both froze in place, not knowing what to do.
Were they still allowed to hate each other, or were they now sort of... friends?
They were in the primary hallway dotted by classrooms on both sides, right in the middle of the busy student body making their way to lessons. Dahlia offered her half a smile, simultaneously Malika waved at her halfheartedly. A rush of students flooded in, blocking their view of each other, saving both from the burden of starting the interaction.
Malika ended up in the Ahmad household after facing Imran the day before. She was beyond upset. Dahlia didn't seem to know what to do, so she ended up inviting Malika to her house. She didn't refuse since the last thing she wanted was to be alone.
Malika ended up spending almost half of her day in the Ahmad household. They were definitely overwhelming and had no respect for privacy, as Dahlia had warned her. The sisters took turns to barge into her room, once in a while Malika would hear Ibrahim's cry in the hallway calling Lily Ahmad a tyrant, as she continued to threaten him to release his baby pictures online.
Dahlia repeatedly apologized for the noise, but truth be told, Malika didn't mind at all.
As Malika started the tedious cycle of attending lessons, she overheard the news that Ibrahim had been thrown out of the football team. This kind of disciplinary action was unheard of except for cases of severe rule violation.
Malika knew this was definitely Imran's doing. He had enough influence in the team to be able to pull something like this off.
As she was washing her hands in the ladies' room she heard a few girls whisper. "...heard it from Safiya last night. Huh, seems like Ibrahim Ahmad's not the saint he pretends to be."
Malika was seething in anger from the unfairness of it all. She had a horrible feeling in her stomach. Guilt wasn't something she felt often but she couldn't help but feel responsible for him. It wasn't bad enough that she had her own reputation ruined, she had dragged him along the mud as well.
Malika spent the rest of her day sulking. It was around lunch time when she crossed paths with her friends.
Majority of the students were on their way to the cafeteria for lunch. Dahlia halted on track as she noticed Malika moving with the crowd, maintaining a fairly healthy distance with the rest of the student body.
Dahlia reached out to her as she came closer. "Why don't you join us today?" she asked hesitantly
Malika relented, discomfort lurching in her stomach.
