All Of Me - (Islamic fiction, Z.M. Sequel)

Chapter 36

  Hearing a knock on the apartment's front door, I steered in my sleep letting Waliyha or Aaroosa get it. It was too early for me to get out of my cozy bed.

  The knocking continue for a second round giving me a light headache. I fought the huge urge inside of me to just ignore it or yell at Waliyha to get it as I got out of bed annoyed.

  Grabbing my long sleeved cardigan and a cotton hijab with only half my eyes open, I dragged my legs across the floor as the knocking continued, "Coming." I yelled giving myself a headache.

  The apartment was empty. Only an unwashed cup of water on the kitchen island, other than that the place was spotless which reminded me that the girls were in Bradford for a week now.

  Sighing, I lazily put on my cardigan over my pajamas covering my sleeveless top perfectly. I wrapped the hijab in a messy manner to open the door.

  "I've been knocking for 15 minutes, Maggie." My mom said entering the apartment like she comes here every day. I hadn't seen her in a week and this is my greeting.

  "You didn't tell me you were coming this early mom." I yawned still a bit sleepy, taking off my scarf folding it neatly and placing it on the chair near the door then doing the same for my cardigan.

  "It's not that early. It's only 10AM. You were always an early riser." My mom said making her way inside my apartment, no doubt checking on its state. If Waliyha and Aaroosa thought I was a neat freak, they needed to see my mother in action.

  "Yeah well, it's the weekend." I followed her inside. My bed voice still evident.

  She was right though, I always woke up early even on the weekend but yesterday Zayn and I stayed out till midnight. His friend Danny came by and we all decided to go for a drive through London. It was so much fun. I never laughed that hard in my life.

  "Where is Nadia? Wasn't she supposed to come with you?" I tried changing the subject before my mother guilt's me even more.

  "She ditched me the second we arrived to London. Said she is meeting a friend." My mother's voice had a hint of bitterness in it. She was mad but I was too curious to try and butter talk her.

  "A friend? Who?" I didn't know Nadia knew anyone in London apart from me.

  "How would I know? You girls exclude me from your lives completely. Like I didn't even give birth to you."  She snapped at me making me feel guilty again. Why does she always do that?

  "I don't exclude you from my live. I just don't have much to share. Nothing really happens apart from school and whatnot." I say shrugging. It was the truth as well, apart from the whole video thing that I don't feel like sharing with my mother, my live is pretty boring.

  "Nothing has to happen for you to call me, Maggie. I want to know the small stuff. What subject you like, what project you are dreading, which friends you are closer to. You and I used to be much closer when you were younger. What happened?" My heart sunk a little in my chest hearing my mother's sad voice. She passed the 'making me guilty' phase and got me in the 'What happened between us' phase.

  The last time my mother and I were 'close' was in the 8th grade I believe. Before I started acting out and being rebellious. To be fair, I had been meaning to be fix my relationship with both my parents ever since I came back and I thought I actually did by always going home for the weekend.

  I didn't know she expected more.

  "I don't know mom. I'm sorry that I don't include you in things, I just never really thought you cared about those details." I gave her a small smile which she returned with a wider one.