Not My Boyfriend

1. Seeing You Again

Mulki never expected to see her first love again in a different country. She had left her heart behind in America. Packed her bags, and moved across the ocean and continent, so she could start over. Erasing him from her heart. Because it is a waste to have unrequited love. It seemed like the perfect plan. Starting over was the closest way to restart time. How long can you carry a secret love until it becomes too heavy? It was better to put love aside when it is not mutual. Why else would she spend months convincing her family to move?

Yet, in the middle of the Welcome Party in Somalia, there was the boy that always made her heart pound for two years. This was a disaster to 15 year old, Mulki. A cruel twist of fate to bring them together. To let her see the one that was not meant to be. Did he become even more handsome than before or was it that he dressed up for the party?

Mulki clenched her dress fabric in her clenched fist as she stared at him unable to move. How was she going to move on when she couldn't even look away from him?

Her best friend Faisa glanced at her. "Why is it that no matter where you go, that you always see Somali people that you know? I thought that the world was a bigger place."

"The world is not big enough, so I should have went to another planet." Mulki said as she stared at him.

"How long are you going to have a crush on Hassan? It has been two years. I am tired of hearing of it. Mulki, you swore that if I helped you convince your parents to move that you would move on. I even convinced my parents, so you would not be alone."

Mulki sighed. "Faisa, how was I supposed to know that he was moving too?"

Faisa glared at her. "That is the real question. Did you trick me? Did you know that he was moving here? Did you use me?"

"I swear Faisa," Mulki said frantically. "I did not know that he was moving, or I never would have asked you to help me."

Faisa narrowed her eyes. "If you did use me than I will never forgive you."

"I swear that I did not lie. You are my best friend. I could never lie to you."

"Fine." Faisa glared at her. "Maybe this is fate. But you had better promise me that you will give up this little crush you have. He is not interested in you, or he would have told you by now. I am going to go dance. I better not see you still staring at Hassan like an idiot when I get back."

"It was not a crush. It was love." Mulki insisted.

Her best friend laughed, "Whatever you say. Get over this useless love. Next time be careful who you love, or be smart like me and keep your heart to yourself. Don't waste your heart, because you only get one. Now, I am going to go have fun."

For a few moments, Mulki stared at Hassan. She knew that she would stop looking, but she did not. She was an idiot.

Oh- no- Hassan was looking in her direction. What should she do? Mulki ducked, she could not let him see her. She had to hide. Mulki turned around fast and to her horror she stumbled in her pink heels into the arms of teenage boy that she had never seen before.

The teenage boy steadied her, and his warm bronze eyes met hers.

There was something about him that made her feel reassured. He looked so confident that Mulki felt her confidence returning. How did he reassure her without saying a word?

He seemed nice.

"If you wanted to dance all you had to do was ask." He teased her. "My name's Mohamed."

"My name is Mulki. Thank you for catching me." Immediately, she tried to pull away from him.

But he held her waist tight and whispered in her ear. "Mulki, you should wait for a second."

She was about to get angry, but then as if the world wanted to conspire against her, the crowd closed around them. She was stuck.

Embarrassingly, Mulki fell against him, but he held her up. "Excuse me, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. These Welcome Parties for the Diaspora kids always are crazy. They always have these before the first day of school, on the holidays, and on the last day. I should not have bothered to come. I could care less about the latest new kids from overseas. It is not like they are celebrities. I wish they would not come here." He said.

Mulki almost said that she was one of those kids, but she did not think that it would go over very well. He seemed like he hated diaspora kids. But she had to agree. 'I wish that I had never come to this party."

He pulled her closer, "Me either. First of all, it is overcrowded in here. The school gym is big, but I swear most of these people do not go to our school."

"How do you know that I am not a partycrasher?"

"It only takes seven seconds to know someone. You look too naive to ever pull of something like that. You probably never did anything wrong. You have innocent written all over your face."

She pouted. "I am not naive."

"Sure you are not. Where is your boyfriend? Shouldn't he be protecting you from guys like me?"

Mulki laughed. "I do not have a boyfriend. You can't know anyone in seven seconds."

"Yes, sometimes I know someone in five seconds." Mohamed raised his eyebrow.

"It is impossible to know anyone in seven seconds, because no one is the same."

Mohamed smirked, "If you say so."

The crowd finally released them. Mulki stepped back from him. "It was nice to meet you."

Mohamed. Weren't they going to be at the same school? Maybe she would see him in school?

"Bye Mohamed," Mulki pulled up the bottom of her long pink dress and walked away. She needed to go before Hassan saw her. Mulki saw the door and picked up the pace.

Until, Mulki felt a tap on her arm, she turned around.

A girl glared at her. "You are Mulki, right?"

Mulki nodded. "Yes." What did she want? She was not sure where this was going.

Why did this girl seem so angry with her? She had never seen her before in her life.

"My name is Samira. You do not know me. You seem like you are new, so I will be generous with you. I am assuming that you would prefer not to have any problems?" The beautiful girl smiled a smile as cold as ice.

Mulki chewed her lower lip. "I am not sure what you mean." What problems?

Was she threatening her? For what reason?

Samira intertwined her elbow with Mulki. "Let's go talk in a less crowded place."

Mulki was tempted to push the girl away, but she did not want to cause a scene.

Samira walked her into the restroom then she locked the door. "Now, where were we? I know all about you, Mulki. I did not expect that I would ever see you, but we are. Then even I wanted to dismiss those suspicions about you, until I overheard you talking to your friend."

"You were ease-dropping on me?" Mulki asked. "Look, I don't know what you heard, that made you so angry, but you must have misunderstood."

Samira's false smile did not reach her eyes. "I understand perfectly. I hope that we can be good friends. Now that you know me."

Mulki did not like this girl.

Mulki was unsure on how to respond. Then Samira unlocked the door and left.

What was that all about? Mulki waited for a few moments before she opened the door. She took two steps until she felt another tap on her shoulder.

"Mulki!"

Her heart dropped. It was Hassan.