Project Muslimah [COMPLETED]

Lesson Twenty-Three: Starting Something New

Assalamu Alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakaatuhu, 

Ramadan Mubarak! (LATE, I know)

I hope you're all doing well In Shaa Allah.  :) I wrote this chapter twice and probably even more and kept deleting it because I wasn't quite sure of whether that's what I wanted. But I guess this is it. 

I hope you guys have an amazing Ramadan! In Shaa Allah :)

Assalamu Alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakaatuhu! <3

Amarah

Okay, so first I thought it was bad enough that I lied to my parents about the night I went out for a walk, but now I'm thinking it happened for the best. As weird as it sounded, I wasn't worrying about how I fainted that night and what would have happened if someone other than Shuaib was there when it actually happened. 

Layla was getting off my back because Aimen was starting to give her the same treatment she was giving me. Even though I didn't want her to, she said it just naturally came to her telling me how disappointed she was in me for not standing up for myself. She was right. I didn't stand up for myself. It's like something was stopping me from doing so... 

But the real question was, how on earth did I get back into that coffee shop on a Monday morning when I was clearly supposed to be in class. 

"One ice-coffee please." I said in a sweet and cheerful tone of voice. 

"Oh, you're the girl from last month!" The cashier recognized me. I stared at herm giving her a nervous laugh. 

"Yeah, I left quite a lasting impression, didn't I?" I asked, smiling at her. She laughed. 

"You left us all so worried. Shuaib brought you in with your hands over his shoulder unconscious, and we thought you got shot or something. But thank the lord you went through nothing serious!" The cashier was staring at me with an intense smile. Shuaib? She was wearing hoop earnings and a huge bun with her apron over her uniform. "Are you okay nowadays though?" She asked, giving me a concerned look. She looked African-Canadian and had a lovely darker tone of skin color. 

"Oh yeah! I was just taking up a lot of stress. I'm about to have a new sibling, and there's just a bunch of changes going on in life. Plus the guy I loved got married to another woman. Things of all sorts!" I said, still cheerful. But as I reflected on what I said, I began to slowly frown. 

"Aww, poor you. You know to get your mind off stuff like that, you should have a hobby." She said, as she started making the iced-coffee. "Like you could start reading, writing, teaching, eating, working, or anything!" She said, giving me my drink. 

"I never actually considered that before..." I said. "Wouldn't work just take over my whole life then?" I asked her. 

"Girl, I got tonnes of problems at home. But I have this job, and it gets me through life. Work is never fun, but this place is all I ever look forward to." She said, enthusiastically. "We're hiring now. Maybe you could apply." She said. After I payed, and left saying by to the girl, I managed to pick up an application for work at the coffee shop. Working can't hurt. Even though my tuition money is already set thanks to my mother working many years, my allowance was cut down, and the donations being made to my school decreased. At school, I was no longer popular for being Princess A. I had people surround me for being Amarah. I felt a change. I felt independent. Maybe this job could help me get closer to being even more independent. 

"What?" Aimen asked as soon as we sat down for lunch in the hallway. "You're going to work at the coffee shop? The same one with the guy who helped you out that day?" She asked me.