Our Worlds

Absent

[UNDER HEAVY EDITS FROM HERE AND ONWARDS] 😊Enjoy!

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Yusuf 

If math class had a heartbeat, it flatlined the moment Hajara called in sick.

Her empty seat stared at me like a ghost with better attendance than half the class, and suddenly quadratic equations felt more lifeless than Austin's personality—and trust me, that's saying something.

No smiles. No soft giggles with Hannah when she misunderstood a word problem. Just... silence. The kind of silence where even the calculators feel lonely. Well—except for Jacob, Ibrahim, and Kareem, whose obnoxiously loud banter echoed across the classroom like a malfunctioning intercom system in a space station.

Every once in a while, Mrs. Brown—who might've been a retired military general in a past life—would slam her hands down on someone's smart desk hard enough to reboot their Wi-Fi, even their brains. 

"Soo... that's the reason you're taking math this semester?" Ibrahim asked, cocking an eyebrow so high I could practically hear it creak under the weight of his curiosity.

"What?" I blinked, confused—until it hit me like a rogue geometry textbook flying out of a black hole.

"Wait. WAIT. Did I just say my thoughts out loud?" I slapped my forehead so hard I'm pretty sure my ancestors flinched.

Stupid. Stupid, Yusuf. 

Ibrahim smirked like a villain who just discovered your browser history. "Yup. You did. Loud and clear."

Before I could deflect with dignity, he added, "So... why'd you leave yesterday? I waited and waited."

He casually tapped equations on his glass tablet like he wasn't trying to mine my life for gossip.

"Family matters," I muttered, poking my Surface screen like it owed me money. "Stop lying. You never wait!"

Austin turned to say something. I turned away so fast, I probably looked like I'd seen a demon. Which, in fairness, I had.

If I wasn't there yesterday, God knows what that walking ego in human skin would've done to Hajara. I can't even look at someone who tried to hurt my family. If looks could kill, Austin would've been six feet under before second period.

He tried talking to me all day. I ignored him like a bad group project member.

After school, I jumped into my car to drop Sarah home. Benyamin sat in the passenger seat, tapping on the window like he was playing a bored symphony for squirrels.

"Bye, little cousin," I waved as Sarah hopped out.

She smiled sweetly and waved back—completely ghosting Benyamin like he was invisible. Which was hilarious considering they text more than my thumbs could comprehend.

Just as I shifted gears, she sprinted back like she forgot to drop a dramatic plot twist.

"Umm... guys, my mom's calling you in."

I blinked. "Did she just 'summon' us?"

When she went back inside, I turned to Benyamin, who was still staring at the door like he was in a Jane Austen movie.

"Okay. Spill. What's going on between you two?"

He cleared his throat and straightened up. "Nothing. It's just... awkward. That's what she thinks too. Probably."