Trust Falls

A Friend In Need

If you aren't familiar with Islamic or South Asian traditions/rules, it might help to read the A/N at the bottom, to help explain things that happen in this chapter. Enjoy! 

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I stuck a strawberry in my mouth, biting off half. I cringed. Sour.

There was a slight tug on my hair from behind me. I raised a hand to keep my dupatta from sliding off my head and turned around.

He smiled at me. "Hey."

I frowned. "What do you want?"

"Oh? That's no way to treat a guest."

I chewed my strawberry, thinking. "What about unwanted guests? I thought the common thing was to flat out ignore them to keep yourself from drilling their eyes out."

"Uh..no. That's not common, Iqra."

I shrugged. "Oh, that's right. My bad. You just straight up kill 'em."
He drew back. "Why do you hate me so much?"
I sighed, adjusting my dupatta again. "I don't..." The words stuck in my throat. "Fine. I do hate you."

Yousuf leaned forward and placed his hands on the table behind me, trapping me between his arms. I felt the edge of the table at my back. He pursed his lips, eyes pleading with mine. "Why?"

There was a shuffling around the entrance to the kitchen and I pushed him away, turning back to the strawberries I was supposed to be cutting. He stumbled backwards.

"Shh. Someone's coming."

He made a strangled noise just as Fatima walked in with Adam. Fatima looked at him in surprise.

The two exchanged hellos before Yousuf walked away.

"I didn't know he was here."

I shrugged, watching my fingers work. "Meh. I didn't either."

"What'd he say to you?"

"Just hello."

I breathed in, letting the air fill my chest until I could feel it settle in the bottom of my lungs before exhaling. Just hello.

~~~~~

The day passed fairly quickly. I avoided Yousuf's eyes and stayed in my room whenever he came over. Which was often. He lived next door, and Adam and Aqsa liked playing with him. I busied myself with trying to help with arrangements for my brother's upcoming wedding. Keyword: Trying.

I...didn't actually do much.

I screwed up the order for the cake and mom had to go fix it.

I tripped over nothing, taking a table full of pots and pans down with me.

I fell asleep and didn't answer the phone when the company helping with the wedding arrangements called.

Then I slipped, fell, and sprained my ankle.

That's when mom sat me down and told me to rest, because "I needed time to heal." She was telling me to get out of her hair. I sighed, looking down at my swollen foot. Darn shitzle fire truck.

I was sitting in my backyard on the ground. Screw the dangers of a dirt covered butt. I'm so done with this. I suck at everything and this ain't helping. I wiggled my foot. Heal, darn it. I can't do anything right with this...this...

There was a shuffling noise to my left and I quit wiggling my foot to turn and look at it.

Yousuf swung himself over the wooden fence and landed on his feet with a thump. He looked at me.