Khadijah ✔️

• 12 •

Thank you so much onlysecretscount  for the amazing cover!

• God I hate being sick. At least I get to stay home. What do you guys do when you're having a sick day? I could really use some tips. •

~~~

At that time of year, the bulletin board was filled with extracurricular activities. Luke stared at the signup sheets with uncertainty can be seen across his features.

"Didn't decide yet? Dude, join the baseball team, or basketball, or any team," Greg said.

Luke turned to him, "you know me better than that, Gregory. I'm an artist not an athlete. Besides, I prefer tennis and squash than all these other sports," Luke replied. "Which they don't have."

"Come on, Luke, you love basketball. I've seen you in the field. You've got skills." Luke nodded. He didn't know how long Greg was planning to go along. "And I am aware of that, but I just don't want to."

Greg sighed, giving up. "Fine. Signup for whatever you want. But I'm telling you, you belong on the court."

Luke sort of understood why Greg was determined to get him on the field. He got them to the state competitions in almost all the sports from Freshmen year up to Junior year.

But he would've as well appreciated some freedom of choosing his after school activity. He heard laughter from not so far away down the hall.

He investigated from where the sound was coming from. Turns out, it was Louisa, her friends, and Khadijah. As happy he was that she was fitting in, he was a bit surprised.

"Hey Luke. Whatcha doing?" Louisa asked him as they approached. He looked at Khadijah and then back at his sister. "Nothing really. Just checking out the extracurricular activities."

"Oh! You should check out poetry. You're great at that," Louisa said. Khadijah looked up and at him. "You.. you write poetry?" He nodded slightly. She smiled a bit and took out a pen.

She approached the board, making Luke a bit anxious. He soon after realized that he was supposed to move out of the way. She signed her name under a sheet of them.

"Art club? I didn't know you can draw," Ava said.

"Not a lot of people know about it. Just the art teacher, my parents, and now you guys." Khadijah said. "But I'll make sure that you see a piece."

"That would be great. I would love to see them," Luke said. It was hard to miss the mischievous smile Louisa gave her brother.

"I should really get going guys. See you at lunch." And Khadijah left without another word.

Ava and Mia excused themselves as well, leaving the two siblings together. "What?" He asked her. Louisa shrugged. "Nothing. In fact, I should be asking you that. What is going on with you?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing," he answered a little too quickly. Louisa furrowed her eyebrows and moved closer to him. "Hm. Alright, but are you sure it's not about, I don't know, Khadijah?"

"What? No. I promise Lou, nothing is going on. If there was, I would've told you," he said. "I got to go." He kissed her forehead and left her standing there.

Luke was never good at lying. He always gets caught. Even if he was able to get away with it, he was never able to lie to himself. And this time, he knew that he was lying.