The Wishing Flower

Chapter 4

I grabbed a towel and quickly got out of the shower, and dashed into the room to check on the time. It was already 7:24, crap I was going to be late. He was going to pass by my window any minute and I didn't even have a shirt on yet. I rummaged through my drawers and pulled out my favorite light blue tie-dye sweater, and I quickly grabbed my blue dangling earrings to match. These earrings never failed to make me look cute. I painted my lips with cherry red lip gloss, grabbed my bag and ran out of the house.

I stood at the front step nonchalantly keeping an eye out for any familiar faces. I spotted the familiar figure in the distance walking towards my house.

Yes, I was right on time! A huge dummy smile spread across my face, and I quickly pulled out my little mirror from my bag to make sure I looked nice.

"Hey Jaden,'' I tried to say calmly but I couldn't help but smile from ear to ear.

"Hey Sajal. You ready to go?", he asked, smiling back at me. Oh God, the way he says my name makes me feel very blessed that my parents named me Sajal. I intertwine my arm with his, and together we walk to school.

History class was a bore as usual, I sat on my desk like a zombie, counting down the seconds util the bell ranf. 3..2..1.. Brrring. And it's lunch time.The kids grabbed their bags and zoomed out of the class without a moment's hesitation. Poor Mr. Burns, he probably knows how much we despise his lectures, just by the sheer amount of screams of joy and sighs of relief let out once the bell rings.

I walked over to Jayden's class, so we could go to the lunchroom together. I peek through the window of his classroom to get a quick peek at his beauty . Even though we've been dating for two months already, my heart still skips a beat everytime I see him. Jayden is probably one of the most handsome guy in our school, and I'm not saying that just because he is my boyfriend, almost every girl in the whole South High would agree. With his beautiful hazel eyes, and chocolate brown hair, and razor sharp jawline, if looks could kill, we would all be six feet under right now." Gosh, I'm starving", Jayden says as he walks out of his class "What do you want to eat"?

I can feel the burning hot stares of the girls standing behind me, they're probably wishing they were Superman so they could shoot lasers into the back of my head. Whatever, now that I had Jayden by my side they're little snickers and whispers didn't matter to me anymore. "Oh Sajal. I completely forgot to tell you, I got some tickets for a Greenday concert this Saturday. I'm going with some friends and I got an extra ticket, you wanna come?", Jayden asks me excitedly as we walk over to the lunchroom.

I got excited at the thought of going to a concert with Jayden, but then I remembered that me going to concerts was probably not possible.

"That's awesome,'' I say, trying not to sound as excited as Jayden. I knewMy uncle would lose it if he found out I was going to a concert, forget about the fact that I was going with a boy. It was a recipe for disaster. That was like number one on the list of rebellious things a teenager can do, well at least in Pakistani households. Anyways I hated leaving Zee alone at home, so there was really no chance of me going.

Jayden looked at me with those puppy eyes hoping I'd go. I would have to act like I hadn't already made up my mind , "Which friends are you going with?'' I asked Jayden

"You know what, I don't think you've actually ever met them."

"Really? Tell me their names, maybe I have"

"Rachel", Jayden answers

Rachel. A friend, who is a girl. A girl that I have never heard of. Oh no, not on my watch. Maybe I needed to go to this concert after all. Anyways, I'd only be away for a couple hours, nothing's going to happen. Or that's what I needed to convince myself to think.

I made up mind, I wasn't going to let my boyfriend go out with another girl "Okay. I'm going.", I told him.

"Really?", he looked at me shocked, his hazel eyes as wide as his face

"Yep", I said with a smug look on my face. Let's see who this Rachel girl is.

"Oh, I almost forgot one of them."

"Is it a girl?", I asked suspiciously.

"No, he's a guy, his name's Hany. You never met him either"

Maybe, I should have never gone to that concert.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The rest of the week flew by as I counted down the days until Saturday. Finally Friday came and me and Manal decided to skip school and instead raid my closet to find something decent to wear to the concert.

"Manal! Manal!I have nothing to wear", I said clutching my heart and feigning a heart attack.

Manal grabbed my shoulders with both her hands, "Sajal"she said looking into my eyes.

"As your best friend I will promise you that I will make you look drop-dead gorgeous for the concert. Jayden will forget all about Rachel and all he will see is Sajal", she said as she spread her hands apart like I was a movie star.

I looked at her with puppy eyes and a pouty lip, "You better".

I watched as Manal's tiny body disappeared into the mountain of clothes thrown on the ground. Me and Manal became friends in fourth grade because we were the only two brown girls in that class. On top of that our names kind-of rhymed, which obviously prompted the boys in the class to make fun of us. Thus we were dubbed as the "curry cousins", but none of that mattered, because of the bullying we became as close as sisters could get, and have been inseparable ever since.

"Here we go, I knew you had this shirt!'' Manal beamed as she pulled out a black t-shirt from the dilapidated mountain. She held out a black Green day t-shirt with a proud smile on her face.

I looked at her unimpressed, "Manal, I know I had a Greenday t-shirt, but I don't think I'm going to look drop-dead gorgeous in this wrinkly thing".

She held out her index finger and said "Give me one second".

My eyes followed her as she walked to my dresser and pulled a big pair of scissors and promptly cut off the t-shirt sleeves turning it into a muscle tank.

"Manal", I went up to her, grabbing the scissors from her unpredictable hands, "you just ruined a perfectly good t-shirt. You know I don't wear sleeveless tops".

"Okay. I know, but just hear me out for a sec" she said with a hint of desperation in her voice. "This shirt paired with black jeans. Hair up in a messy bun, some gold hoops, and red lipstick . Bam! You're irresistible. Jayden will forget this Rachel girl ever existed".

I imagined myself in the DIY muscle-tank and black jeans and I had to admit I liked what I saw. The more I pictured myself in the bright lipstick and gold hoops, the more I wanted to wear the top my best friend was begging me to wear. A devilish smile crept up on my face. "You know Manal, I'm being a rebel just by going to the concert. So if I wanna be rebellious, I think I should do it to the max", I said with a wild look on my face.

"Woah! Who is this new Sajal and what did she do with my best friend? Well it doesn't matter to me, because I love this new!", Manal squealed and we both jumped on the bed, signing on top of our lungs. Right then the door swung open.

"Bhaji! How are you home before me?", the small voice cried out. It was Zee, her round brown eyes were as big as the moon, surprised to see her sister at home jumping on the bed instead of in class.

"Hey Zee! Your back from school", I climbed down the bed and held her hands. Her hands looked miniature compared to me, "I was feeling kind of sick, so I couldn't go to school, today".

"You don't look sick to me", she said "you're jumping all over the bed with Manal". She was one sharp little girl.

I threw my head back in laughter, "Well, then do you wanna jump with us?", I asked her. Her eyes glistened with excitement, and I pulled her to the bed, and the three of us jumped on the bed and laughed until our stomachs hurt.