Diamonds And Pearls *New & Improved* *CURRENTLY EDITING*

CHAPTER 1(REVISED)-Young Love & Procrastination

CHAPTER ONE-The Love That Bloomed

I slowly opened my eyes and yawned. Peeking at the clock briefly with one eye open, I turned over to go back to sleep. As soon as my eyes fluttered closed once more, that's when it hit me like a bag of bricks. Oh Allah! My sister's wedding is today! I must have been out of my mind to have taken a nap after getting home from school on today of all days. It was five o'clock already. I sat up and threw my covers back, quickly swinging my legs over the side of the bed in a panic. How could I have done something so stupid on such an important day? I ran across the hall to the bathroom, already running my fingers through my coarse hair in an attempt to detangle it. It was of no use of course. I turned on the shower, brushing my teeth while the water began to heat up. A few minutes later, I jumped into the shower and scrubbed like my life depended on it. It was the shortest shower I had ever taken and I wasn't too proud of it. I dried myself quickly and put on a set of blue pajamas.

I made my way back into my room and burst into my closet like a madwoman. I looked at all of my abayas and groaned. I still had yet to pick an outfit for my sister's wedding. Did I mention I'm also not proud of being a habitual procrastinator? I hated myself for doing this every single time. I knew about this wedding months ago and yet I had no outfit and my hair was a mess. I sighed deeply. Well, no use wallowing in self pity. After digging through my clothes for ten minutes, my eye caught sight of an abaya I had never seen before. It was beautiful and matched the color theme of my sister's wedding party perfectly. Almost too perfectly. It had a note attached to the hanger. Of course it was from my freaking amazing mother.

Woke up late didn't you? I told you to stop napping after school.

I bought this a while back.

It's ironed and ready to wear. I've gone out with your father

to finish the final preparations. Make sure you're on time to

help your older sister get ready. I had a late breakfast. Eat some

pancakes, they're on the table.

You're welcome,

-Ummi

P.S. Don't forget your dress for the party.

I pulled the abaya to my chest and laughed in relief. Goodness gracious, I loved that woman so much. Her ability to keep all of our lives in order amazed me. Our mothers are truly a gift we should thank God for every day. They carried us for nine months, went through a tremendous amount of pain to give birth to us, and even when we think we're grown, they still save our behinds. It made me realize exactly why in Islam heaven lies at your mother's feet. There was no repaying all that they did for us and it was moments like today that reminded me of that the most.

I put on the abaya and looked at myself in the mirror. It was a beautiful light blue dress with silver stitching around the sleeves and neckline. The dress flowed down to the floor and was a soft material with an A-line cut. I loved the way it mirrored my style with perfection. My mother knew exactly what she was doing when she picked this one out. I snapped out of my daze and ran to the bathroom mirror with a light blue and silver scarf. Before putting the scarf on, I dampened my hair with a spray bottle, separated my thick coils into eight sections, and cornrowed my hair as quickly as humanly possible (which was not very quickly at all). My shoulders were on fine from the effort of trying to tame my thick coils. Afterward, I wrapped my head scarf with precision so as not to show how lumpy my head was with the bulky braids. My hope was that by the time the wedding party started, my hair would be dry enough for a braid out. As soon as I put my last hijab pin in place, my cell phone rang. I ran back into my room and snatched it off the bed.