Blue ✓

♠ seventeen ♠

Suhayl walked out of the exam hall and heaved out a sigh. Ilyas followed behind him and together they exited the school and stood just outside the entrance.

Both looked at each other, before high-fiving with a big whoop.

"Yas! No more exams!" Ilyas crowed.

Suhayl laughed next to him. They had just sat their final A-Level exam. The exams had started about half way into Ramadhan. Thankfully, the day of Eid, they didn't have any exams. He remembered a couple years prior, his final GCSE exam had fallen on the day of Eid. It completely ruined his Ramadhan and Eid spirit.

He stretched out his arms towards the sky and turned to look at Ilyas, starting walk alongside him. "Wanna come over?"

Ilyas looked like he was about to say, before making a face. "Can't. Going airport."

Suhayl blinked. "Airport?"

"Yeah," Ilyas rolled his eyes. "My brother is coming back today. So, have to go with dad to pick him up." He grumbled. Then he noticed Suhayl staring at him.

"What?" He asked.

Suhayl gaped at him. "You have a brother?!"

"Oh..." Ilyas scratched at his cheeks. "Hehe, did I not tell you?"

"No. What the heck? Older brother? You never mentioned having any siblings."

Ilyas made a face. "Eh. We don't really get along. And," he paused. "He's my half-brother."

"Ah."

"So, anyway. He's like five years elder than me. Went away to study in Madinah University after GCSEs, and finished this year." Ilyas stopped, a realisation dawning in his mind. Slowly, he turned back to look at Suhayl.

Sure enough, his friend was looking at him with stars in his eyes.

"Madinah University?!"

"U-uh yeah." Shoot, he'd completely forgotten what a nerd this boy was about all the Islamic universities, especially in Saudi and Egypt.

"What was he studying?"

"Finance? I think..." Ilyas mumbled. "I never really asked to be honest."

"That's so cool!" Suhayl gushed.

Ilyas looked back at him dubiously. "Really?"

To be fair, his definition of 'cool' and Suhayl's definition of 'cool' were miles apart from each other. That was one of the things which drew him towards the other boy in the first day of their secondary school. Far from being interested in things that other boys their age – including Ilyas – were interested in, Suhayl's interests lay in soaking up all he could about Islamic knowledge. He started a new book every other day, had a CD full of Qir'at from different sheikh, had subscribed to all the blogs and sites that have even an ounce of Islamic knowledge and articles.

There wasn't a conversation in which Ilyas didn't learn something new from him.

"Of course!"

"If you say so." Ilyas replied back, pausing at the corner where their path home differed. "Listen, I'll come by in the weekend maybe? With him back, mum and dad are no doubt going to be hosting a few da'wats and going to da'wats at relatives as well."

Suhayl smiled back. "Eh. No worries. I'll see you around. Gonna head back home to get some well-deserved sleep."

"Assalamu Alaikum."

"Wa alaikumus salam."

♕

The trip to the airport and back was mindlessly boring. Ilyas watched as his father and brother exchanged greetings before loading all his luggage into the boot. He sat quietly in the back seat wondering why he even had to come along if they were just going to ignore him.