Ece's Secret (Fazilet Hanim ve Kizlari Fanfiction)

Chapter Two

Ece went straight to her room to ball her eyes out. She had been preparing for that audition for three weeks, practicing her lines every single days. How could she freeze up? It was hard to even land an audition. It could have been her big break. She would have played the sister of the main character of an upcoming drama. Maybe the pressure got to her. She wanted the role so badly. On her bed, the girl hugged her knees to her chest, tears not stopping for a second. 

Fazilet barged into the room and sat on Hazan's bed opposite Ece. "Look, Ece. It's not the end of world. Think of this as a learning experience. Maybe acting was too much to start with. We need to work on your confidence in speaking first. How about we focus on modeling jobs first? Huh?" Ece's sobs quietted as she looked up at her mother. Ece nodded in agreement. "Okay. We'll talk more later sweetie." Fazilet walked out leaving Ece to her own thoughts. 

Ece dreamt of being an actress but maybe her mother was right. I was too much for her right now. She wasn't ready for that kind of role yet. She needed to take baby steps. Ece was comfortable in front of a camera but speaking and acting was something completely different. Ece decided she would continue looking for modeling jobs while practicing acting on the side until she could build up the confidence to belt out a whole monologue in front of any casting director. 

Ece heard the door close. Her mother must have gone out to get something from the market. Ece took this opportunity to call the person she needed most in this moment, Yasin. Yasin was her boyfriend. They had known each other for years living in the same neighbourhood and going to the same schools. But it wasn't until last year that she noticed the handsome young man he was growing into. Ece wondered when exactly her feelings for Yasin changed.

It was around the begining of 11th grade. The school basketball team had a home game and Ece decided to attend with some of her friends. During the match there was one boy that kept getting shots in. It was  Yasin. It was funny almost. A few days earlier he seemed like the annoying neighbourhood brother she never wanted, always running around, being a pain. But today, today he seemed like a man, glistening sweat, full of confidence and focused on winning. She chatted with him after the game and along with a couple of his teammates and some her friends they went down to the Bosphorus to grab some snacks and enjoy the cool breeze before heading back home. After that night they kept talking at school every single day. It was after 4 months Yasin finally mustered up the courage to ask Ece to be his girlfriend. She said yes. 

Ece wasn't particularly religious but the area they lived in was quiet conservative and full of peering eyes. They knew they had to date in secret otherwise the whole neighbourhood would never let her forget how much of a whore she was for daring to go on innocent dates with a man before marriage. Istanbul was a strange city. Just a couple of kilometers from their neighbourhood you would see couples  being openly affectionate with each other and even unwed couples who lived together. Yet in her side of town a daughter would get slapped across the face for even talking to a boy she wasn't related to. Luckily her mother wasn't that strict. Perhaps it was because she was a single mother, perhaps she didn't want her daughters to have a strict upbringing like she did. But Fazilet Hanim let her daughters dress how they wanted and didn't chastise them for having male friends. But she was a woman of the neighbourhood after all. Boyfriends were out of the question. Her mother was in the mindset of no dating until they were of marriageable age and at 17 Ece did not fit the bill. 

The two of them went on secret dates. Ece would make up excuses of meeting upwith  friends then sneak off with Yasin to watch a movie. They had their friends Murat and Aysen that they would go on double dates with to arouse less suspicion. Ece was head over heels in love with Yasin and she knew he felt the same way. The phone started to ring. 

"My love, how was the audition?" Yasin answered. 

"Uffff,  Yasin. I completely blew it. I froze. I knew the lines but the words wouldn't come out." Ece vented with a heavy sign.