Khadijah ✔️

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• Hello everyone. I am extremely sorry for not updating for so long, but school work has been killer these few weeks. I know I complain about it a lot and I'm really sorry about that but, please bear with me. Thank you for sticking around for this long •

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School was pretty intense at this point. Exams were starting sooner than expected, projects, assignments felt like they were suffocating Khadijah.

Yet, with all the chaos going on, she didn't miss the change of behavior in Luke. She thought about asking Louisa about it, but any suspicions about her igniting feelings for her friend's brother was out of the options.

But even without asking Louisa, Khadijah felt like Lou's answers won't help much to connect the dots.

The days went by and Khadijah and Luke haven't uttered one word to each other. Even though they didn't talk, she would catch a glimpse of him looking at her at the cafeteria, in the library, and in Literature class.

It was yet another Tuesday morning, with Art as a starter. Khadijah sat down next to Ava and smiled. "Good morning, Ava."

Ava returned the smile. "Morning sunshine. How are you?" Khadijah modded. "I'm good. What about you?"

"Same here." Was the only reply Ava offered.

The pair stopped talking as soon as Mrs. Tyson walked into the classroom with her trademark smile. "Good morning, everyone. Today, I'll be evaluating your skills of painting a person," she said. "It doesn't have to be someone you actually know, just... someone."

Everyone took out their sketches and started painting. It was quite odd that Khadijah didn't know who she was going to paint. When she asked Ava, she said she was painting her older sister who was overseas.

It seemed to her that you paint best who you have the strongest emotions towards. But at the end of the class, it didn't seem so. Because when Khadijah put down her pencil and took a look at who she painted, she didn't even know who she painted.

She saw resemblance in the woman to people she dealt with on daily bases. Packing her stuff and walked out of the classroom to be engulfed in Louisa's warm hug.

"I didn't get a chance to get a hug today," Louisa said. Khadijah chuckled softly, "I still don't get what's so different about my hugs than any other person."

Louisa shook her head, "no they're not. Yours are just... comforting." Khadijah shrugged. "Anyway, show me what you painted today."

The regular scenario, Khadijah shows Louisa the painting and Louisa smiles. But this time, Lou's eyes went wide and looked at Ava, who has the exact same expression on.

"H-how... how do you know this w-woman?" Louisa asked.

Khadijah looked at Louisa, confused. "I don't. Why? Do you?" Louisa looked up from the painting and straight into her eyes, nodding her head slowly.

"Yes... t-that's... that's my mother."