Behind Her Walls

Chapter 2

The walk to my next class couldn't be any more difficult. Buraak, in his gorgeous accent, kept asking me questions. I answered some but ignored others.

"Why do you speak Turkish?" He asked as he waited for me to unlock my locker. We were already late to our second period, theatre. And it didn't matter since Brown had given us a pass.

I open my locker with an exasperated sigh, "it's my third language. I learned because my father travels there all the time, I come along every summer." Buraak's expression seemed unfazed, but his eyes told another story. His straight face glew as his eyes slowly filled with astonishment.

"Where are you originally from?" He let his shoulder rest on the neighboring locker. His intense gaze softening as it filled with curiosity. I grabbed my binder, letting his question linger in the quiet air. "You look Arabian, maybe Syrian? Palestinian beauty colors you too..." He trailed off into thought as he spoke mostly to himself.

I held back my smile, how did he know. "You said Palestine, not Israel," I remarked, my voice laced with appreciation. He glanced back at me, eyes abandoning the classroom we just passed by.

"Well that's the name of the country, isn't it?" A small smiled played his lips, and for a split second, we just stared into each other's eyes. Smiles playing both of our lips in a mutual sense of appreciation.

And then I realized.

I looked forward, my face straightening up. My eyes masked from any sense of appreciation. He sighed, whispering something to himself that I couldn't catch. However, I can hear the frustration in his voice.

***

Mrs. Smith greeted the stranger as soon as we walked into the theatre. All the students stopped what they're doing and looked up at the stage, where Buraak and I stood. They created a whispering audience, rumors already being made about him.

"Mrs. Smith, this is Buraak," I said his name in the Turkish way. Accented to perfection. "He's a new student from Turkey, thankfully, he can speak English perfectly." I looked over my shoulder at Buraak, he gave me a questioning look as if to ask me why I added that detail. I just stared into his eyes, and just like that, he seemed to understand.

"However, I'm still not completely comfortable with speaking English. If you will," he looked into the drama teacher with pleading eyes. Eyes that can make the queen herself fall in love. "Keep Ameera close to me, she does know how to speak Turkish after all." He shot her a knowing smile as he winked at me.

Mrs. Smith instantly agreed, "yeah, of course. Ameera, you're partners with Buraak for the current assignment. Catch him up and explain what you planned to act out, I'm sure you're more than capable of doing so." I held back the urge to scream in annoyance, I don't want to lose her respect. Nor do I want to rage in front of my classmates.

I took in a deep breath and looked into the audience, my eyes landing on Samuel. He's my original partner, "Samuel and I were working on the performance together. I don't think it's fair for him," I said softly trying to hide the annoyance in my voice.

Mrs. Smith looked at Samuel and smiled, "Samuel can work with Ella since she doesn't have a partner yet." Samuel looked over at Ella, his green eyes slowly examining her exposed body. Ella was a try- hard, always looking for the boys' attention.

Ella wore a small tan crop top that showed off her pierced belly button, along with tiny black shorts. Shorts that highlighted her pale skin, a quality she pays hundreds of dollars to change. That girl lived in a tanning bed.

Samuel seemed uninterested in her, he pulled back his messy dark hair and looked over at me. Samuel, unlike Buraak, had dark black hair and a weaker jawline. He wore lighter clothes, not dark and he didn't have pink lips like the Turkish god that stood beside me.