Forever After?

Just Met Them

i woke up to the sound of my sister screaming for cupcakes. Yeah, 4-year-olds are mad annoying.

I checked the time on my phone, 11:40AM.

I had 5 hours to myself before i had to meet Heather at Unicorn Park.

After eating breakfast, we went over to my uncle's house to "hang out." My uncle's house is probably the most boring place to go to. They have like 4 babies and i just have to hear them cry and smell their poop. But i mean, it's not like i have a choice or anything. My uncle called my mom this morning telling her to bring us over.

I wore my favorite red and white flower maxi dress.

"SHELIA!" Maleen (my 2-year-old cousin) screamed.

"Shelina," i fixed for the 60th time.

"SHELIA!" she ran and hugged my legs.

I looked down at her and smiled.

~~~~~~~~

After 3 hours of forcing myself to play with Maleen, I told my uncle about the project and asked him for a ride. And of course he said yes.

I sat at a bench near the swings waiting for Heather. I just realized how stupid I am. I never asked for her number.

A woman wearing a lavender headscarf and blue abiya (Islamic dress) came and sat next to me.

"Assalamualaikum," she said.

I smiled. "Walaikumassalam."

"You are so beautiful! MashaAllah (God has Willed)," she said.

"JazakAllah Khair, (May God reward you)" I replied.

"What school do you go to?" she asked.

"Starblue Academy."

"Oh really? My son goes there!"

"Wow, that's so cool," I chuckled. We really do live in a small world.

I spotted Heather walking towards me with her backpack and a laptop. Wow. She was really prepared. I looked inside my bag. A pencil and a folder with 2 pieces of looseleaf paper. Wonderful.

"Hey Shelina!" she said rushing over to me.

"Is this your friend?" the woman asked.

I nod. See, this is what annoys me about old people. They're just so... so nosy kinda, like they have nothing better to do than observe your life.

I got up, said good-bye to her and walked towards another bench with Heather.

"So, was that your mom?" Heather asked.

"No, no, I literally just met her. Like 5 seconds ago," I said. This made Heather laugh.

We read a few chapters of Romeo and Juliet and then we started working on the draft on my looseleaf. Heather told me she would type the final copy onto her laptop and print it when she gets home.

We said our good-byes and then the same woman came up to me, this time with a girl who looked like she was in college.

"Sorry to bother you habibti (my love)" she said as she came up to me.

"No its fine," I smiled.

"i wanted to know if you're interested in taking some Islamic classes, they're held on Fridays after school. I will be teaching InshaAllah (If God Wills)," she handed me a flier. "You can call me Sister Zahra.

"Okay sister Zahra, inshaAllah, I will try my best to come," I smiled.

She introduced me to the girl who was her daughter and was studying in the Medical Field at some Institute. Her name was Aminah.

"Wow, that's so cool, I always wanted to be a doctor!" I said.

"Yeah, but it's mad work," said Aminah. She had beautiful green eyes and had a really pale complexion. If it weren't for the hijab, you'd think she was German or something.

Someone honked and I realized it was my uncle. "well I gotta go."

They waved good-bye.

Something about them looked so familiar. But I just couldn't figure out what it was.