Chapter Two - Back to the Past
The day crawled by slowly as Sabrina moved from class to class. She felt numb and invisible. She tried hard to focus but no matter how hard she tried, the memory of those cold blue eyes haunted her. She couldn't even believe this was happening. By the end of the day she absurdly wondered if maybe it was all a dream.
Yes, that's it. She thought. I'll be waking up now.
But she didn't wake up and that made her feel even worse.
Finally the last bell of the day rang and she stumbled out into the hallway. Students pushed past her as she absentmindedly made her way to her locker, eager of only one thing: to get home and far away from here.
"Hey!" Leila greeted, seeming to pop up out of nowhere.
She smiled cheekily as Sabrina stared into her locker. The hallway was noisy, full of students who were rushing to get home. Sabrina ached to join them.
"I'm so happy you're in my chemistry class. This means I wont fail!" Leila joked, pausing for Sabrina to laugh or offer up a snarky comment.
Sabrina, however, hardly noticed her best friend's attempt to cheer her up.
"Sabrina...are you alright?" Leila asked quietly, gently touching her shoulder.
Sabrina looked up into Leila's soft grey eyes. Her forehead was lined with worry. Sabrina forced a smile and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine." she said.
"No." Leila stated, growing even more worried. "You're not. So, naturally, I'm going to take you out for a nice cold smoothie!" She exclaimed, her face brightening as if smoothies were the only logical solution to the world's problems.
Sabrina appreciated her friends effort in cheering her up but the last thing she wanted was a smoothie.
"Nah. Maybe some other time." She refused, politely, feeling a stab of regret as she watched Leila's newly excited face drop.
She bid her sulking friend goodbye and exited the school as fast as she could, following the stream of students who were practically sprinting outside. On the way to the bus stop she wondered why life was purposely making her miserable.
* * *
That night she thought about Khalid. She was sitting at her desk, pondering over her math homework - which she thought was cruel of her math teacher to give her on the first day of school. She sighed unable to focus on the numbers and graphs which seemed to float before her eyes. She put down her pencil and pushed back her chair. Khalid's evil glare was burned in her mind.
He used to be so nice, she thought sadly. He used to be so innocent.
But that was before, when they were in Elementary and had no traces of cruelty or hatred. They were just two friends who didn't even know about racial differences. He didn't mind her light brown skin anymore than she minded his Arabic roots. They were just two, young, playful friends who enjoyed each others company. Unbiased. Uncorrupted.
It was Junior High that changed everything. It was the kids who were taught not to mingle with kids other than their kind. It was the opinion that Indian people were curry eaters and Arab haters. But Khalid and Sabrina continued their friendship; continued hanging out after school, waiting for Sabrina's mom to pick her up. It was the fact that they were different.
Sabrina thought Khalid didn't care. She enjoyed watching his eyes dance when he talked. She enjoyed his funny remarks and conversations. She loved watching his face light up when he laughed. Khalid made her world a better place. But she was wrong when she thought he didn't care. She started to notice how he began avoiding her during her school. She started to notice that he was changing; that they were both teenagers now. One day he told her that he did drugs and made her promise not to tell anyone else. She kept quiet for his sake.
YOU ARE READING
The Best Of Us
Teen Fiction"Why didn't you tell me he went here?" Sabrina managed to croak out. Her throat was dry and there was a loud drumming sound in her ears which she realized was her heart. "Oh..uh...well..." Leila stuttered and then trailed off. She smiled sheepishly...
