Just Make Du'aa

• f i v e •

Dina

Okay, so here's something you have to know: being engaged doesn't give us permission to hold hands, sweet talk, or any of that stuff non-muslim couples do. The engagement period is simply a time before the marriage where you get to know your future spouse. There shouldn't be any romance at all in this period. In many cultures people skip the engagement, or don't interact unless there the entire family is there. But my culture thinks the engagement is very important, but of course there are very strict boundaries. Since my parents are hours away, they couldn't chaperone us. The Sheikh of course has a Muslim community to run, so he didn't have time. Thankfully, the two of us have very trusting friends. My parents entrusted Amity and Aladdin to always accompany us anywhere we go. One of them was always there, if not both.

Honestly, that way was also much more relaxed, less awkward. And we got to genuinely see each other's real person. After all, you're only your true self when a friend is around. However, there was one friend, or rather, one person, I didn't really think I'd ever see again, let alone with Farouz.

Two months after the engagement party, we were at the University's library. Amity and I were studying or working on homework while Farouz took advantage of our wifi to research stuff regarding a patient. I was deep in the book we were reading for my British Literature class when Farouz' phone went off. The three of us jumped and yelped, earning a stern glare from the librarian. My fiancé, God that sounded good, started furiously apologizing as he searched through the papers for his iPhone. "Hello?" He whispered when he finally found it and picked up, "Man you always choose the most inappropriate times to call!" He smiled awkwardly at my friend and I and mouthed 'Brendan.' I attempted to discreetly watch him as he listened to his friend on the phone. Farouz leaned back on his chair across from me and rubbed the back of his neck as he listened. For some reason my cheeks started to turn red, so I quickly returned to my book. "Are you serious?" he continued to whisper, "dude, get a new car." Brendan raised his voice on the other side of the call, and I heard other voices pitch in. "Alright, okay," Farouz tried suppressing a laugh, but he was really bad at that, and ended up in a fit of laughter, "I'm on my way. Yes, they are." We made eye contact for a fraction of a second. "Sure thing dude, okay, bye."

Farouz hung up then said, "Brendan's car broke down, I'm going to have to go pick them up."

"Again?" Amity exclaimed, earning a few angry words from some stressed students, "didn't it just get fixed?" This time, she whispered.

He nodded, "with the money he spends on that car, he could buy a new one. Top of the line too." Farouz stood up, "well, I gotta go." He picked up his stuff then said, "um, do you guys want to come?"

"Where are they?" I asked.

"Mini-market a couples miles away."

Amity jumped up, "we're coming, we need a few things for the dorm anyway. Come on Dina!"

"Alright," I started picking up my stuff. Farouz sat down and helped me organize all my papers, then handed them to me in a neat stack. "Thank you," I mumbled shyly.

"Of course," he smiled. Then, he cleared his throat and said, "alright, ready?"

Yes, we've been engaged for two months and still haven't gotten past the awkward giddy, polite phase. Mainly because we didn't want to get to comfortable; like I said, an engagement is very risky and we should keep as much distance between us, in every way, as possible. So yeah, I still got nervous from the little things, but at least I knew we were keeping it in the rules of our religion. Alhamdulillah, that made me happy enough.

Farouz parked right next to Brendan's beat up car. The three of us got out and met with not two, but three guys. The third was a tall, lanky blonde with blue eyes. For some odd reason, seeing him triggered a panicky feeling in me. I don't know why, I've never seen the guy before. Regardless, I stayed on the other side of Farouz' car as they all talked and bugged Brendan about his car. Then, the blonde looked up and his eyes met mine. I quickly looked away, my heart beating in a panic. "Hey, do I know you?" he asked a bit loudly.