A Diamond in Islam | (Published) ✔

{7} Gym Class Horrors

Amira Sarker

Before I left school, Aria stopped me.

"Amira!" she called.

I swung my backpack on my right shoulder and turned around to face her. "Yeah?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to hang out. I have a lot of stuff in mind and you're like the first person I go to for advice," she admitted, sheepishly.

I felt pride at her words, but I didn't want to brag about it and be conceited. It was nice knowing that I could give good advice. I just didn't want to think of myself better than everyone else because I probably wasn't.

"Well, I'll call my mom and tell her I'm going to your house," I said while reaching for my phone in my pocket.

"Cool, I'll be waiting outside my car. Meet me there," she said and then left.

I dialed Mum's number and on the third ring she answered.

"Assalaamualaikum."

"Waalaikumasalaam. Mum, I'm going to Aria's house for a while," I said, already knowing what her reaction would be.

"What? No! It's not right to be going to someone's house on a school night."

I rolled my eyes even though she couldn't see it. Mum was very protective of me. She wasn't quite fond of the idea of me hanging out at a friend's house for too long. I understood why she was all jumpy about the idea. Where she grew up, girls lied to their parents to hang out with boys and a whole lot of "things" happened after that. Anyway, she trusted me, but not other people as easily. She trusted Aria though, but it's her motherly nature to question me.

"We need to talk about some things, so I'm going to meet up with her at her place. If it gets too dark, Aria will take me home."

"What are you girls going to talk about?" she asked, suspiciously.

Even though I understood her reasons, it didn't make it any less annoying to my teenage mind. Oh Allah, grant me patience.

"I don't know. She just wanted to talk and hang out. Don't worry though, Aria is a good girl. You know that," I persuaded.

She sighed. "Alright. Just don't forget to pray."

"Okay. Assalamualaikum."

"Waalaikumussalam," she replied, hanging up.

I slipped my phone back into my pocket. I started to walk towards Aria's car. As I neared Aria's silver vehicle, I saw Damon chatting with his friends outside of his black car. He casually leaned against a car, his arms crossed over his broad chest as he threw his head back and laughed, a deep, sensual rumble that delivered shivers down my spine.

His emerald green eyes lifted up to see mine, locking our gazes. I wasn't sure where we stood with each other on terms of friendship. Regardless, I hesitantly lifted a hand to wave, offering a small smile.

He only nodded in acknowledgement before tuning into his conversation again, instantly smiling at whatever his friend had said. Ouch, I thought with a slight wince, he could have at least waved back. He's acting like we're strangers to each other.

We were strangers though. Sure, he defended me once, but that didn't mean anything. Nothing could melt a frozen heart like Damon's. He decided to close the shutters on being open-minded and hearing me out when it came to religious explanations. He established that we were "friends," however; friendship came in many different forms. Judging from how coldly he dismissed my wave, I wasn't very high on his friend chart, probably just above the thin line of being an acquaintance.