Void - Finding Islam (EDITING)

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

I was a second away from losing my self-control and turning to look at Adam when suddenly two hands fell on my shoulders, making me jump in my seat.

I heard a chuckle and immediately recognised Tasneem's voice.

"Well, hello there, lovestruck puppy!"

I frowned. She ruffled my hair.

"Hey!" My hands flew upwards to fix my hair.

She chuckled once more and dropped into Adam's seat across the table. She watched me with her chin plopped up on her palm and a mock dreamy look on her face as I smoothed my hair down my scalp.

"What?"

She scoffed. "Don't pretend like I haven't just caught you daydreaming about the love of your life!"

I raised an eyebrow. "I sure was thinking about Omar. I haven't seen him since the morning, you know." I teased.

She rolled her eyes, though the smile never left her face. "Yeah, yeah. Act like the innocent angel you are."

I batted my eyelashes and we both laughed.

She stood up and I did the same and together, we leave the library.

"So, " Tas began, and I kind of sensed what she was going to say and braced myself. Wait for it. Wait for it. "What were you both talking about?"

There it is. This girl knew how to get what she wanted, eventually.

I sighed.

"Oh, come on. Tell me! Were you discussing your future house? Kids? Wedding?" She gasped. "Will I be one of your bridesmaids?"

I adjusted the strap of my bag on my shoulder and looked intently at the ground, watching my feet rise with every movement. "Tas, I swear I'll kill you."

She seemed unruffled by my threat. "Because if you want my honest opinion, you're just too pretty for him, Jen."

I smirked and looked up at her. "I can not emphasise how flattered I am by your complement."

She grinned. "You like him, don't you?" And she bumped her hip into mine. I stumbled to the left, nearly crashing into the wall. I shrieked, then rushed to her side and returned the bump.

We kept doing this all the way to the school's Praying Room while people shot us funny looks that we were too busy to care about.

It's times like these that I spend with people who matter to me that I feel like the world is still okay, that I'm still capable of being happy.

Tasneem drops me at the praying room upstairs -our school was decent enough to have this- and tells me she'll be waiting for me in the car.

I take my time praying Zuhur and just as I'm saying the last tashahhud, my phone rings.

I try to focus on my duaa, but it's really hard to concentrate when Lego House is playing at top volume right inside my jean pocket. I finish my salat and shoot a quick apologetic look to a girl who is reading Quran beside me - or rather trying to.

Sighing, I take out my phone, slide the screen and, not bothering to check the caller's ID, I press it to my ear.

"What?" I hiss at the earpiece.

For a fraction of a second, my heart clenched in my chest in fear it would be one of my parents and braced myself for a scolding.

But then Tasneem's voice speaks in.

"Well, Assalamu'alaikum to you, too, Jenny!"

I sighed audibly this time, half-relieved, half-annoyed that it turned out to be her.

"Wa'alaikum assalam, what do you want? You don't just call people while they're praying, you know." I say, climbing to my feet while unfolding the scarf off my head with my free hand in the same time.

"You took your sweet time, didn't you? Come on, I've been waiting here since forever!" She whined.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming." I wrap the green scarf around my neck and slip into my ballet flats by the door.

"Hurry up." And she hung up.

***

As soon as the automatic glass doors slid open and the three of us stepped into the air-conditioned ground floor of the mall, we were greeted by the loud chattering atmosphere.

I see people of different ages - teenagers, wandering about with friends and laughing, women looking exasperated chasing after their children as they run around carelessly, oblivious of the world and the surprises that are likely to come for them someday, and other couples, strolling around, eating ice-cream or looking at the water fountain in the middle of the mall with a hint of awe.

"How about we fist have something to eat then we think about what to do next?" Tas suggests, already leading the way to the escalator.

My stomach growled at the mention of food. I don't remember having breakfast today. "Yeah, sounds good to me." I agree without a second thought.

Hana chuckles lightly. She was walking close enough to hear my stomach's sudden outburst.

Before we reach the escalator, we stop at the washrooms due to Tasneem's constant need to fix her hijab. As I strolled around, I eyed a close-fitting sleeveless neon yellow dress that barely reaches the knee. I frown. It looks awful.

I turn and notice Hana walking out of a nearby grocery store with nothing in her hands but a bag of Maltesers.

After I prayed Zuhur in school, Tas had practically dragged me with her to the mall. Hana happened to be going too, and so we all decided to come here together.

I recognised Hana as the girl from the local Masjid who had cancer.

She approaches me as she opens the bag of Maltesers and pops one into her mouth. She offers me some but I shake my head. She stands beside me and stares at the neon dress.

After a while of staring, she finally speaks up.

"It's awful."

And I break into a laugh. It comes out too loud and high-pitched that I stop myself immediately as soon as it comes out, covering my mouth with my hand.

Hana turns her head to my direction and stares at me with an amused expression.

"Glad to know someone appreciates my sense of humor."

I manage to swallow down my embarrassing laugh and resolve to a smile.

I haven't laughed like that in a while.

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Author's Note:

I'm so upset with this chapter. I think I should do some serious editing later..

I thought maybe adding some bits of humor here and there would lighten the story a bit ..? I don't know. It kind of feels like this chapter made the story lose it's sense completely! *huffs*

I'm clueless.

Oh, and I'll be posting "Quote of the Chapter" from now on. (I literally just made that up) It starts right now! Take a look at the quote of today's chappie on the side - "You like him, don't you?" -Tas to Jen