Holding onto Charcoal

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

The following two weeks fell into a simple pattern; wake up, study, homework, run, sleep. Yes, I ran every single day. I read Quran and prayed all the prayers on time-even Fajr. You'd be surprised by how much can happen out of school if you put your mind to it. I took Mama's words to heart, and made sure Connors was feeling so bad about the day he saw my face. I would make him pay-even if it meant studying hard and keeping fit. Staying sane. Whatever. I will make him pay.

The weeks ended and it was back to school, much quicker than I thought. I was glad to be back, but I discovered exciting things happened while I was away.

Remember, "exciting" does not mean good.

The Muslim ban was actually going to start today. The day I went to school again. I mean, thank you? You're really pushing it this time, Mr. President. The chatters naturally erupted when I walked into school. I don't know if it was because of the ban, or if it was the aftermath of the Connors incident. Probably both. Noticeably, the crazy trend flaring up about me was going to take longer than I expected to die down.

Mrs. Roberts gathered the whole school to talk about the ban, saying we should all stand up with our fellow Muslim friends. Really all that was left to do was for her scream "ABDULLAH" through the microphone, just in case someone missed it. But they didn't. As soon as she was done, everyone automatically looked at me. Unfortunately, I was talking to Mason at that moment, so I looked kind of bad in front of the principal.

But I was beginning to realize that Mrs. Roberts was all bark and no bite. She did not stand up for me the way I thought she would when Connors did what he did. She had put him above me, probably too worried about the school's reputation. Even she failed me. But I couldn't think about that now.

Mason was filling me up on the details I'd been missing. "They're doing a protest tomorrow, here. Right up Mrs. Roberts' office. Turns out nobody likes Connors."

"Big surprise."

"But it's not just that. They're doing it for Ayah too."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. It's gonna be against all Muslim oppression. Some jerks like Darya exist, but most people want this to change. The Muslim ban's triggering all that. Just last night Elmer texted me to say he's coming."

"But who started this all out?"

Mason smiled. "It's weird, because nobody knows. Someone started a group on Facebook anonymously, telling us all when the gathering's gonna be. Some people are saying it's Mr. Timothy, since he's been talking about it in English too. I told you he was making us read All American Boys, right? 'Cause this is sort of like a playout of it. But I don't think it's Mr. Timothy. I think it's one of the students."

"It is one of the students, "Corey said, finally joining the conversation. He was staring at me. "And Abdo should know which student it is."

Mason gasped. "You set it up?"

"No, you idiot. Why would I set it up without telling you?"

"Right. Makes sense. But who are you talking about?"

"Yeah, who are you talking about?" I asked.

Corey shrugged. "Random guess. The guy must've done it anonymously for a reason."

"I don't get a thing of what you're saying," I said.

But it was time for classes.

***

I got into English class and heard the usual chatters of the big group in the middle. I ignored it and sat in my seat, that is, until I found someone already there.