Zahra

5: Quicksilver

In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful.

O you who believe, fear Allah and always speak the truth. That he may make your conduct whole and sound and forgive your sins... ( Q:33 V:70-71)

"So Zahra tell me, which is your favorite anime?", Hailey asked me the next day during lunch.

I smiled,"It's One piece"

She grinned, "OMG me too! Who's your favorite character?"

"That's easy, it's Zoro", I bit into my pizza, "I love that man"

"Same girl, he's so sexy I could cry, my favorite character is Luffy though", Hailey shifted in her seat, she was clearly enjoying this, "okay who's your favorite villain?"

"Hmm", I thought for a while, "I'd say Caesar"

She wrinkled her nose, "why Caesar?"

"He's hilarious, he really cracked me up in the Whole cake island arc", I explained, "what about you?"

"Mine's Katakuri", she told me.

"I like him too", I remarked, and we spent the next minutes discussing the anime. Adam, Ben and Kamilah watched us silently, disinterest evident on their faces, "I thought we were getting to know Zahra", Kamilah said in a flat tone.

"Aren't we?", Hailey asked her.

"No, you are", Kamilah crossed her arms, "do we look like we watch anime?"

"Sorry", Hailey laughed, "can't blame me for being excited, it's been so long since I discussed it with anyone besides my brother"

"Why did you move to Canada Zee?", Adam asked me diverting the conversation.

I was silent as I contemplated how to reply him, dad's death was a major factor in our moving, and I wasn't ready to bring it up to them, I had only known them for a little over a day, it was too soon.

After dad passed away mom cut herself from almost everything, she didn't leave the house and hardly spoke to anyone. When Aunt Melanie was finally able to get a hold of her she was the one who suggested that we should come to Canada, she said it would be better for mom if she was around her family. Mom had disagreed at first, saying it wouldn't be fair to Zayd and I if we left our home so suddenly, and that we also had family in Egypt. It took a while for Aunt Melanie and their parents to finally convince her, Zayd was all in for it and agreed immediately, but I didn't like the idea at first. Egypt was my home, it was where I grew up so the prospect of moving so abruptly didn't sit well with me. In addition, the thought of being separated from Nadia was terrifying and incredibly upsetting, it took some time for me to come to terms with it. Aunt Melanie found mom an office job in a food company and we flew over two months later.

"Well", I finally spoke, "my mom got a good job offer here", I summarized to him, leaving out the major details, "so we moved"

"What does she do?", Ben asked me.

"She works in some food company", I chuckled lightly and tapped my forehead, "I forgot the name"

Adam laughed, "what about your dad? What does he do?", he asked and I felt myself flinch.

"Oh he's-", I faltered and averted my eyes, hoping my voice didn't come out cracked, "he's a software engineer", I replied, which wasn't a lie. Dad was a software engineer, I just hoped they accepted my response and dropped it.

Instead Adam's face lit up in awe, "are you serious? That's so cool!", he exclaimed, "that's actually what I wanna study in college"

I smiled tightly and nodded, "cool"