Test

Chapter 29 -

"I won't quit" I heard him say as I hopped in my car and left.

.....

I headed to school the next day and looked for Tom and Molly because I haven't forgotten what happened few days ago, I have to figure out what they are hiding.

I saw Simon with his sister, "Hi" He said but I ignored him, "Molly, we need to talk, dont run away this time", "What's going on?" Simon asked, "follow me" Molly walked and I followed until we were in the roof, "What are you hiding" I asked curiously, "It's not only her" Tom appeared, "I'll get to you later because you are hiding somethimg either", "We both are hiding the same thing ... our Islam" I froze after hearing Molly's words, "My real name is Ibrahim, from an Arab mother from Lebanon and an American converted father" Tom explained, "Why are you hiding then ?"I got confused, "It's not easy here, not easy to be a Muslim living here, you've been here for few months and you're already suffering a lot, we keep it hidden so we can still live naturally without getting hate or abused, my father's family stopped talking to us since they've found out, we don't need anymore haters, my father might get kicked out of his job if the boss knew, some people are fine with Muslims but many are not and are racist. You can't believe how hard it is to sneak out every friday and drive for 3 hours to reach a masjid and pray the Jum'a prayer", "The solution is not to hide, it's to fight back, you're not the only Muslims here, many are, and we should not hide, we should walk with our heads held high because we are right, hiding means being ashamed of Islam" I said, "It's not as easy as you think" He said, "What about you Molly?" , "I became Muslim a year ago when I caught him praying in the art room, I asked him about what he was doing and he told me everything about Islam, and day by day, I read and searched more about it then I became Muslim, and when you caught me and Tom in the dark room, we weren't alone, we were praying with a group of hidden Muslims, we keep the lights of so the room doesn't look suspicious.  I stopped wearing shorts and tight things since then, sometimes I cover my hair with a hat, If my parents find out they might kill me" I was glad that one of my best friends turned out to be Muslim. My face lightened, what if ... "Is Simon Muslim too?" He must be ! He's so nice and he HAS TO BE !, "No, he isn't, and he won't be. My brother is that kind of people who likes to have fun and enjoy without limits or red lines, he's not even much into Christianity" My heart ached a bit, but there's always some hope ... "Listen to me, both of you, If you fight and work hard to get respect, you'll get it, I'm not saying it's easy, I'm suffering a bit, but here I am, standing and fighting, but me alone won't work, Islam won't rule if we hide it and be afraid of the look of hate and disgust in others eyes. No matter how hard it gets, as long as our hearts are clear and filled with Eiman, Allah will help us " When I was done, my face was red,  "What are you doing here?" Our hearts stopped but we realized it was Simon, "I'll see you later" I said then left, "You said you'll say Hi from a distance between 3-4 feet" He said, "Then HI, come on Molly, I guess we have a class to go to" I took her hand and walked to our lockers, "What is it between you and Simon?" She asked, "He likes me" Molly giggled, "And why are you surprised ? It was obvious from the day you came to my house and he saved you when you with Peter and Tom did the prank", "No it wasn't, I thought he was just friendly" Molly laughed, "So innocent" She wiped an invisible tear then I saw Damon walking with his girlfriend hand in hand, "Morning " He said, "Goodmorning" I smiled at Ray, Since when does he have a girlfriend? He was too busy flirting and trying to impress me ? He's a guy with no time to waste, "Excuse us, me and my girlfriend should head to our classes", "You're excused " I said, "You may call me idiot, but this was Damon trying to make you jealous" Molly chuckled, "Oh please ! It's not always about me", "Whatever, what are we going to do with Miley and Connor?" She asked, "Something bad, just let me get my thoughts together".

I went to the bathroom after 3 classes and there I found Miley bullying a younger girl, "You fat girl should loose some wight, your pants are about to expload" Miley said, "Says the white hippo " I commented and the girls laughed, "Look who's here, the covered pig" She said, "You better not start this because I'm good in giving insults" I warned, "That's why I'm gonna use my arms " Miley caught the hem of my shirt, "I'm even better in using hands" I did a karate move and within seconds, Miley was pinned to the wall with my arm on her neck, "I can hurt you if I want, I can finish you with 1 move, but I didn't come here to fight, I came to learn. No need to be friends but just please get out of my way, because if you cross the red line I might become un-able to control myself" I took a step back and pulled my hands away from her, "Truce?" I extended my hand to shake hers, "Not after everything you have done to me" She said, "Yeah, alright,  go ahead and act like a victim while you're the one who made the crime. If I see you bullying anybody again, I wont just look away" I washed my face then got out while she was cursing me under her breath.

I sat on a table with my friends and started eating and laughing, "WHERE IS SHE?" Everybody heard Conor shouting, "The girl who insulted my girlfriend, "Guess he's looking for me" I said to my friends, "Stay down" Hangar said, "He's really angry" Helen put her bag over my head to cover me, I chuckled, "Come on ! I'm not the one that hides" I said then stood up, "What do you want from her" Simon bumped into Conor, "Stay away Simon, it's non of your business" I said and walked to them, "Oh, I see the love birds aint good" Connor commented, "Oh, please shut up" I said, "Don't deny it, we all saw the romantic hug yesterday" Connor smirked, "And I thought you had a brain ! If a guy is nice you call it love. What do you want?" I sighed, "Your heart out of your body" He took a step closer but he was pulled away by Tom, "Grow up, you're not going to hit a girl" Tom said, "We can beat the hell out of you" Damon told Connor, "Is that a fight ? I want to join" Peter came and stood beside Tom and Damon, "This is going to turn into a huge fight" Diana said, "He wants to fight, let him go, I'll deal with him" I said, "Listen to me Conor, it's a thing between girls, don't get into it, I didn't come to fight but I'll defend myself", "Show me what you got" He clenched his fists, I stood still until he was about to punch me, I caught his fist then jumped over him, Alhamdulillah I always wear pants under skirts then put both of his hands behind his back, I used my leg to trip him and he fell on his back, "LEENA AND CONOR ! TO MY OFFICE" And that was the wake up call, the principal. "Astaghferollah" I sighed and followed him to hos office with Connor limping behind me, "WHAT'S GOING ON NOW ? WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO TO YOU TOO? THIS IS THE SECOND TIME I CATCH YOU FIGHT ING", "You always come late and never find out what actually happened" Conor said, "Enough ! Don't need any explanation, you two, detention for a month after school, if I see another fight, you're out of this school, OUT" He shouted and I Conor got out first, "Wait a second Leena", "Yes?"I frowned, "I'm not fine at all with what I've seen, BUT, I'm impressed with your abilities, and more impressed because you are courage enough to face Conor 'the beast of this school' so, I'm offering you a free membership to join our karate team, we're preparing the team for the national competition, and I believe that you'll be our winning card" WHAT ! "Are you serious ?" I asked with my eyes wide open, "100%, and dont go to detention, my favourite student shouldn't pay for defending herself, but keep it a secret for now, don't want them to know that I'm going easy with you" He smiled, "THANK YOU" I walked out with a huge smile on my face,  but it faded when I remembered that I had a math test and I was late for the class, I apologised for being late then I answered all the math questions easily.

"Just please let's get back the way we were, just friends like before, I don't want anything more, I swear I wont cross the lines and will control my emotions, just give me one chance" Simon said but I ignored him and got into my car  and headed to my work, Simon followed me in his car, I reached the mall and got into the place I work in, "Just listen to me !" He said then my phone started ringing, I took it out and answered, "What do you want Damon?", "You should get home", "Why ? What happened ?" I his voice was hiding worry, "Just come quickly, it's serious" He said, "I'm working now", "This is more important, you should come and hear what I have to say", "You better not be kidding me, because if you were, I'll make you pay me instead of the money that my boss will take away", "JUST COME QUICKLY" I hung up the phone and hopped in my car.