Unbreak Me

★ CHAPTER TWO ★

PRESENT DAY

LEIA
My armpits were sweating like crazy. The sun had chosen that exact day to give the most heat and with the clothes I was wearing, I was sure going to pass out.

I bit my lip as I stared at the red-bricked building in front of me. Leroy High hadn't changed one bit—except this time, instead of junior building, I was going to the senior one.

Our school system was hard to describe to a foreigner. Since the British had—sadly—ruled over Pakistan, we were forced to follow their education system.

Except for, here's the shock, we were somehow also following the American system.

See? I said it was complicated.

Leroy High was located in a posh area near the airport and it was the biggest campus in all of Pakistan. It was also the most expensive.

How I was paying for it all on my own, was a story for another time. Right now, I had a killer entry to make.

It was going to suck so bad.

Turning the ignition off, I slammed my head on the steering wheel of my mini and groaned.

Half an hour of sitting in the same position, and I still didn't have the courage to face everyone. Real life was much different from books.

You have fears and you can't just live with the 'I don't care what people think' attitude. Because at the end of the day, you sometimes did care.

At the very least, you cared on the first day.

Especially when you'd been the gossip of town for years and you did not fit anywhere in the societal standards. At least, not anymore.

I took one last deep breath and forced myself to turn off the Qur'an playing on my phone. It was one hell of a phone too.

Don't judge.

Cautiously, I opened the car door and then stepped out. Already people in the parking lot were staring. Oh Gosh.

Deep breaths, Leia. Deep breaths.

I slammed the door shut but the car was so old, the door refused to shut. I gritted my teeth, feeling embarrassed flames all over my ears and cheeks.

It was a good thing nobody could see either of those things. They could just see my eyes and . . . well, I wasn't crying. Yet.

"Excuse me?" Somebody called from behind.

My head flew back, seeing the security guard look at me like I was a terrorist. Don't ask how I knew. It was just the way his narrowed eyes took in my ankle-length blue robe, my hijab and of course, the veil covering my entire face save for my eyes.

"Yeah?" I tried to keep the annoyance out of my voice.

He was probably just trying to ensure I wasn't a threat to the school. That was a good thing. Especially after the various attacks at schools over the years in Pakistan.

My gut tightened, anyway. I hated scrutiny. I had done nothing to be looked over at like I was going to put a bullet through his head.

People had made their own definition of terrorism. And according to them, terrorists were people who followed their religion—men who wore white thawbs, had a sunnah beard and women who were covered from head to toe.

I wished I could fix their brains but so far, I'd been unsuccessful.

"Are you a student here?" He asked in Urdu, our local language.