Taken By a Demon

Cliff in the Water

Basma was not the sort of girl to talk a lot and so she didn't. She preferred to stick to a couple of insightful remarks instead of rambling on forever. She had a deep respect for the power of words. In a class that had the randomness that was Diana, the joy that was Nanna and the jokes that were Mikkel, Basma was a steady cliff that stood firm as the waves that crashed against it, unchanging and unbreaking, but without calling attention to herself. She had better things to do.

That's why, when Lea went to pick up books for Shizuka and several students rushed to introduce themselves to her, Basma felt no need to race to be among the first. She would get her chance, Shizuka looked like the type to get overwhelmed and the book she was reading was really interesting. It was a fantasy book and the main character was in the process of saving herself and a caravan from the surrounding forest fire. Much too important to put down.

She could feel her friend Mikkel bouncing his leg in his seat next to her. He obviously wanted to go talk to Shizuka, but must have picked up on Basma's hint of patience. Shizuka was busy talking with Hannah at that point anyway, and she was obsessed enough with anime that she would probably have a bunch of nerdy, but uninformed questions that would take a while. On the other hand, interrupting that might be a blessing?

Basma looked up from her book, using a finger as a temporary bookmark. "You realize you don't need to wait for me, right?" She asked Mikkel.

Mikkel grinned at her, already standing up now that he'd gotten permission. He was tall and on the verge of gangly, but he wore it well. Some people would compliment his face and they wouldn't be wrong. "I don't know what you're talking about, I'm just naturally full of self-restraint and patience."

"Yes, it's impressive how you never run out." Basma found her actual bookmark for the book, a cardstock one from the library advertising some long passed event. Her prettier ones were tied up in other books.

Mikkel was already halfway across the room, too far away to continue their banter.

Basma smiled to herself as she put her book down and started her own walk through the room. A touch to the temple told her that her hijab was as secure as she assumed it to be and another to her forehead that no stray hairs were escaping from her bandana underneath it either. She had assumed so, but rather safe than sorry when making a first impression.

By the time Basma arrived at Shizuka's table, Mikkel had made many bad jokes, several of them puns, loudly enough that Basma hadn't missed a single one of them. Neither had Diana, who was trying to stop herself from howling with laughter, or Shizuka, who was looking at Mikkel like he was, well, a very loud stranger.

"And so you see, the real reason why six is afraid of seven is because of a terrible framing job done by the government," Mikkel concluded sitting on Diana's table and gesturing dramatically with his hands.

"Uhm. Okay?" Shizuka said while Diana cackled in the background.

"Mikkel, you dum-dum," Basma said. Her voice wasn't loud, but it was firm. "You're overwhelming her. Go be loud somewhere else."

"Oh shit, am I?" Mikkel's eyes went from Shizuka to Basma and back to Shizuka again in the span of a second.

"Well..." Shizuka didn't meet his eyes.

"That's a yes," Basma interpreted. "Go talk to Stan about hair products or whatever it is boys talk about."

"Uhm, not all boys?" Mikkel said, jumping down from the table. "Just the coolest ones with the best hair." He didn't dare run a hand through his well styled hair. It was too fragile. Instead, he gestured just around the outside of it. "Anyway, sorry for overwhelming you, Shizuka. I will leave you in super capable hands to let you recover from my me-ness. Talk to you later." He gave a winning smile and a casual wave and then he was off.

"Uh. Bye?" Shizuka slowly put her hand up. She looked very, very full of impressions and like she might be unable to take anything else in.

"Sorry about Mikkel," Basma said as Shizuka's eyes started to focus again. "I promise he can be charming as well."

"No, he was... fine," Shizuka insisted.

"Alright," Basma accepted. She tried to keep her voice kind. She knew her resting face was neutral in a way that could easily be read as annoyed and that Shizuka was being politer than she had to. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Basma. I like books."

Shizuka sat quietly for a long moment, waiting for the follow up. When she realized it wasn't going to come, she became embarrassed. "Uh, books?"

"Mainly reading them," Basma nodded.

Shizuka nodded back, getting used to the less intense rhythm. "They're... good."

"Mmm. Listen, if you ever need a break from Diana or everyone else and how on they are at all times, just let me know, alright? I can make space in my quiet zone for one more person for a little while," Basma offered.

"Need a break?" Shizuka repeated, not understanding completely.

"We all love Diana dearly," Basma started, "but we also completely recognize that she can be a hyperactive disaster sometimes and I do not envy Dylan the honor of having shared a room with her for years. There are times I can barely stand Mikkel and he generally amuses me. There's no shame in needing a break from someone once in a while. Everyone will understand that." Looking over Shizuka's shoulder, she added: "Right, Diana?"

"Yeeeeeah," Diana laughed. "I can be a bit much sometimes. Sorry I didn't catch that Mikkel was getting there."

"Uhm, that's okay, he wasn't being rude, just a bit... excessive," Shizuka said.

"That's a good description," Basma agreed. "But we do have a couple of calm people in class as well."

"And we loud types are very thankful," Diana said. "It's so good to have someone here who can get us back on track when we need to."

"Oh, and Shizuka?" Basma asked.

"Yeah?"

"From one brown girl to another? White people." She said it with a smile – it wasn't all annoyance, some of it was fond amusement – but, well. White people.

This, Shizuka couldn't help but laugh at. "That's, uhm, yeah. Accurate."

Her points made, Basma nodded, smiled and walkedsatisfied back to her seat and her book. No need to drag it out.