Worth It

Chapter Twenty Two

"Do not let their words sadden you" Quran 72:75 Surat Yunus

Chapter Twenty-two

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A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I saved the assignment due for tomorrow. Two years doing this exact same routine and the happiness never falters when I exit out of the word document I had been working on for weeks. I could remember my freshman year as if it was yesterday. Standing in front of the magnanimous red brick building, my stomach clenched reminding me of how I couldn't eat all morning. The aura of intimidation and welcome the white pillars gave off made me forget how to walk. I was dressed my best, as were the dozen other freshmen that were calming down their crying parents. I managed to go into that building ready to tackle any challenges that came in my way resulting in me being one of the best in my class. I maintained the role of being an honour student for two years straight, loved by my classmates and professors. I thanked Allah for everything knowing that truly, he had an amazing plan for all of us.

I walked towards the bathroom thinking about the Prison Break marathon that is awaiting me making me erupt in excitement. My stomach went into a bunch as I thought of seeing Michael Scofield's face for the whole night even if it's just through my laptop screen. I did my wudu and prayed Isha. Once I prayed, I decided to FaceTime Amirah as I waited for my popcorn to be ready.

"PRISON BREAK MARATHON BABY"

I yelled through the phone as Amirah with a spoon of Nutella in her mouth attacked my screen. Her eyes dilated with enthusiasm, dropping the spoon.

"OMG OMG WAIT DON'T START TILL I HAVE MINE SET UP"

I shook my head smirking as she disappeared from the screen. I heard her run to her TV then saw her drag her laptop towards the bed facing it. Seeing the red logo of netflix show up I squealed with anticipation hearing the familiar ding of scrolling. She landed on Prison Break just as my microwave reached 00.01 seconds and I opened it before it could ring feeling like a hero.

Through these two years of separation we have been closer than ever. We have learned when to call each other in regards to the time difference and it has been our routine. Living in Massachusetts was a completely different state to where my aunt lives meaning I barely got to see her. The rest of the gang have been studying in many colleges all around the state. We met up every few holidays when we could and we were still as tight. Even though we were now completely different people. We still sit at a KFC in whatever state we were meeting up, ordering chips and ice cream and act like we were back in California in freshman year of high school and laugh.

I spent that night watching half of the first season of Prison Break. My eyes betrayed me around Fajr time so I prayed and slept.

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For my job interview it took me a whole day to prepare myself. I prayed in every sujood for weeks for it to go well and even so, my voice was still shaking when the interview began.

I wiped my sweaty palms on my professional dark trousers as I heard the interviewer ask,

"Why do you think you would be a good asset to the company?"

As soon as I heard the familiar question which I stayed hours learning off, I answered from both professional advantage and social responsibility. She seemed to be satisfied with my input so far.

"Great, now tell me what one of your weaknesses are."

I didn't expect this question. I remembered clearly that it was among the questions list, but I skipped it in hopes of it not coming up.

"Well ...em.. I"

This is not an easy question, because the weakness that I will tell her will be the deal breaker which will prevent her from hiring me. I didn't let myself think about the answer which portrayed my weakness; not thinking for more than a few seconds before answering in fear of not seeming prepared.