Raihana | Sequel to Negina

The Truth Hurts

Chapter 13

-Raihana Malik-

Raihana Khalid Malik- it doesn't sound right anymore. Now I am Raihana Anwar Javid.

I am not officially a Javid, yet. Malik. That's my name, and that's the name I will die with. I have been a Malik all my life and that won't change weather I marry Anwar or not.

When we come home that night after the engagement, Saiid tells me that I am now allowed to meet Anwar whenever we please, under the matters of being appropriate. As if that mattered to me. All I want is sleep. And that's exactly what I do.

The next day, I take a long bath with a little too many bubbles. For the first time, my mom doesn't scold me for blasting my music at seven in the morning. Once I'm done, I walk down the stairs and I hear my parents talking in hushed voices.

"What is this note supposed to mean?" I hear my mom ask. "Is he trying to take away Arezo?"

What note?

"Negina, I promise you by my life that I will not let Arsen do anything to our daughter." My dad says persuasively.

Who's Arsen?

I hear my mom sigh in return. "Homeschool her. Surround her with bodyguards. Just don't let him hurt her." By now, she's pleading.

I don't understand what's going on, what is my mom pleading for? Who is Arsen? Is Arezo in danger? All these questions jumble up in my mind while Leo drives me and Amin to school. My mom didn't let Arezo go to school, and I really want to know why.

"Leo," I ask, "do you know why Arezo didn't come to school today?"

"I'm not supposed to tell anyone, but I know that there's some twisted background story with Arezo's real dad." He says while changing his driving lane.

Now it all makes sense to me. Arsen is Arezo's real father. My mom was freaking out this morning because he wants something from my parents. But what on earth would the Mafia king need from my family?

School goes by, in fact very slowly. Especially calculus. Leo stood by my desk all day, and refused to sit down under any circumstances. Talk about being embarrassed.

Today is Saiid's hockey game, last game of the season, and hopefully they will win. Their old coach, basically left them stranded within a few weeks of their game . From Saiid's stories their new coach seems much more of a hard worker because he was in the NHL of Canada for a year or so.

To be honest, The Bears aren't the best players as a team. They count individual points and hope to achieve the win, when they should be working as a team to win their games.

"Raihana, your still wearing my jersey, right?" Saiid asks as he pulls his jersey out of the duffel bag.  I nod my head, "sure, the game starts at five right?"

"Yup, I gotta get going. I'm already late for preview practice." He hands me the jersey and runs out of the door.

Realizing that I'm late as well, I hurry upstairs to dress. The jersey is a red, white, and blue color with their team logo on the front and "Malik" on the back in block letters. I put on the jersey with black skinny jeans and their official scarf around my neck and beanie to cover my hair. I finish my outfit by tying up my black VANS and spraying some perfume.