The Muslim Cinderella?

Chapter 13

(A/N: Assalam alaykom guy how are you doing and I trust you're well! So a new chappy! Ibknow many of you have been waiting long for this and I seer I did my best in writing this so feedback please!! And jazakallah soooo much for all the nice stuff such as comments, votes and follows! It really means much to me! And why I'm late? Well I'm having many exams and a big essay and then I got some writer block :( but thanks to Allah I managed to come over that and wrote this fully chap! Now have fun and Salam :) )

> Never forget Allah, even if you sinned. Cuz forgetting him is like forgetting to breath<



Tasneem's POV

He kissed me.

Nadeem cried with her head in my lap. I was crying myself too. Partially because of her, and partially because of the guilt I felt.

I shouldn't have left the party without her.

"He-he asked about your name- he w-wanted to do the same thing with y-you" Nadeem said between sobs as she sat up and wiped her swollen eyes.

I froze and stared at her. That was exactly what I was fearing, to hear her say that. To hear that it was right, that I was out on thin ice too.

"But I lied, I lied to him-I told him you were a cousin on vacation.. And he believed it- I'm so sorry for dragging you into this, Tasneem. But I couldn't let myself do that, so I lied to him. And I need you to know that whatever I did, how jealous I might got sometimes, I still love you, you're my soulmate, Tasneem"

I found myself relaxing and I let out a long breath along with a sigh. He didn't know. Oh thank god! Thank god! I raised my hands to the sky and thanked Allah for protecting me.

Then I hugged Nadeem tightly.

"Thank you... Thank you" I murmured

I felt her sob again. Oh Allah help me and give me the power to help her!

"Everything's going to be okay, I'll help you"

"Really? Aren't you mad at me?" She whispered into my shoulder

"No, not anymore"

Adam's POV

I frowned and stood up along with Karim. What was happening?

"Tasnim no! Don't!" I heard the girl which I thought were Layla almost scream at Tasneem.

We watched as Tasneem ran in full speed to the door and down the metal stairs. Her footsteps clattered as her shoes came in contact with the metal stairs. Her footsteps quickly faded away.

Karim shrugged at me when I gave him a questioning look. Layla took her bag and hurried towards the door too.

"Hey!" Karim shouted and she stopped but she didn't turn around

"What's happening?!" I shouted then and we walked up to her

"It's just... Uh I can't tell you"

"Why was Tasneem running?" Karim asked

Layla turned to is and I quickly lowered my gaze, something I got better with since I became muslim.

Before she could answer with any word, we heard shouting and laughing. I moved to the edge of the roof and looked sown without being seen. Tyler, who was known as the popular guy at school, was standing in front of a group of girls and guys and he was laughing and describing something by gesturing with his hands and the loud group laughed. I frowned as my eyes caught two figures running. I focused closer as I noticed it was Tasneem, running after another girl who had the same dressing code as Tasneem, maxi skirt, modest clothing. My heart jumped up, just as it always did when I saw a modest girl and thought 'maybe it was my Cinderella'.

I watched them as they ran out of sight. The unknown girl ran unsteady and her clothes flipped in the air. The same did Tasneem. I sighed and turned back to Layla and Karim but to my surprise, none of them were there.

"What?" I whispered in frustration and ran down the stairs me too. I had my eyes open as I looked here and there, tried to find Karim's roughly brushed black hair.

When I got out and felt the warm breeze of summer, I got flashbacks from the time with Cinderella, but I shook my head and got mad at myself. This wasn't the exactly right time to imagine and remember and wonder. I had to find Karim. And Layla. And maybe Tasneem too. And that unknown girl. Gah.

When I walked past the group of the laughing half dressed girls and the popular guys, I heard laughing and 'masquerade' and 'what a dumb mozlim' which made me stop and frown. Suddenly someone grabbed my arm and I turned around, in hope to see Karim's face and then slap him. But I jumped back and janked my arm away as I saw it was a brunette girl with a lot of makeup looking at me with probably fake lashes.

"What do you want?" I said coldly. I've learned that I shouldn't touch girls who weren't 'halal' for me, which meant I wasn't allowed to touch them or shake their hands or so. And the ones I could touch were sister(which I sadly didn't have) aunties, my mom and my future wife.

The girl laughed loudly and covered her mouth as she tried to stop laughing. I turned away just as she shouted to me to stop.

I sighed and turned back to her.

"Oh My God did you hear? A mozlim freak was on a party and she was so dumb and thought Tyler loved her or something and then he played around with her and some people say she kissed him I don't know...did you know? Mozlims pretend to be good but...oh my god hahahah I don't know what to say really" she said as she laughed again as if she said the funniest thing in the world.

My jaw fell open. It all made sense. Masquerade, Tyler, Tasneem running and, my Cinderella. Oh no.

No.

"Look, firstly its Muslim not Mozlim and secondly you want to insult them then you're insulting me,and I do not tolerate that did you hear? Go back to your group of idiots"I spat at her and walked away. I didn't know what I was feeling. A mixture of emotions was on full race inside me.

"So you're Muslim too?!" I heard the girl ask me but I just went on walking away.

I walked to the empty side of the schoolyard and sat down and tried to calm myself down. I should be happy that I found her. That I finally found my Cinderella, but I was so sad that she didn't turn out as I thought , now if the things that the girl said were true.

So that unknown girl was my Cinderella. And what a luck I had when they ran, they were running with their backs at me so I never saw her face. Will I ever do? I was so confused and just so frustrated. If my Cinderella did go at the same school as me, why didn't I recognize her before?

And why, just why did she went to that masquerade?

I sighed and stood up. I looked up to the sky and prayed to god. I didn't know what to say or what to pray, but I just did and said whatever that came across my mind. I felt a lot better. I turned around in the same moment as I spotted Karim walking towards me with sweat dropping from his forehead. He wiped it off with his sleeve and ran the last bit to me. I slppped his face.

"Ouch! Man what was that for?!" he complained

"For running away just like that? Where exactly were you?"

"Wallahi man, girls run faster than guys nowadays! I followed that girl and within seconds when I looked up she was gone. Then I went to the roof to find you but you weren't there."

I sighed an rubbed my eyes.

"By the way did you hear-" he began and I immediately know what he was going to tell

"Shut up"

"What?" He frowned

"Just shut up, okay?" I said annoyed

"Fine Mr.Attitude" Karim said and shut his mouth, but I knew it wasn't going to last.

"So you know?" I wanted to laugh but I didn't feel to. Didn't I say I knew it wouldn't last?

I just nodded at him.

"Unbelievable wallahi, how do those girls think?"

I shrugged.

"What's her name?"

I shrugged once again. I had no idea. To be honest, I never thought I'd find my Cinderella this way, I thought it'd be something with me walking down a rainbow and then suddenly flowers pop up and it smells good and out of nowhere she would be bending down smelling the roses and she laughs and when I laugh along with her she turns around and I'd see her face and then we'd live happily ever after-

Scratch,scratch and scratch.

What a fairy tale.

Karim's POV

I chewed on my lip as we sat down on the soft grass. I felt so sad for Adam, that he had to go through this. When he first told me about his 'Cinderella', I thought he was joking. But when I saw the way he was talking about her, how modest she was, how respectful and how pious, that she didn't even look at him, I knew he was going to do anything to find her.

But what we heard didn't sound so pious at all. I wondered what was going on in his mind by now. We both knew that he should be happy and that we should try to find her, which I think was the girl Tasneem was running after. I wondered if he ever will see her again or even know her name, I mean, it was obvious she was touched and hurt, that's why she ran away.

I sighed and jawned, I barely had some sleep yesterday at the hospital. All I was thinking about was what would happen to me if mom passed away. I wondered where I'd live and if my bigger brother even would welcome me into his house.

I didn't want mom to die.

"So what are you going to do?" I asked carefully and tried to stop thinking about mom.

"I don't know Karim, I don't know. Look I'm happy I found her and so, I really am. But I don't know why-I mean I have no idea what's making me stand back. When I saw her and talked to her, she seemed like the most pious girl in the world. But what will a girl do me if she kissed another guy?"

I nodded. All he said was making sense. We guys may play around sometimes, taking chances to flirt here and there. I'm not saying every single guys do, because Adam and I don't and I thank Allah so much that he gave me a proper mind to think with.

But no matter how much guys play around and joke and flirt, throw you some compliments here and there, they still want a pious woman in the end.

"So?"

"Just let it be, god knows what'll happen and all his plans are better than all our dreams Karim. Never forget that. I just hope something's wrong and that she isn't like that at all"

I started to chew on my lips again and stood up. I reached my hand out to Adam to take it and he also got up. I patted his shoulder in a friendly way and we slowly walked back into school again.


Unknown POV

"I told you I don't know her! I was just in the way!" I raised my voice at the annoying cops and the ambulance men.

"You sure you have no idea who she is?"

"Oh lord, I said no! I'm done here, bye!" I answered once again and walked away.

But I do remember her, or no, I mean she reminds me of someone I knew before. The look on her face, when she looked up at me from my lap... It was so touching. That girl definitively didn't feel good.

But she was dead gorgeous.

Will she be okay? I hoped I'd remember who she actually is. And that I'd see her once again, just once.

****

Tasneem's POV

I sighed as I finished my prayer and went to brush my teeth. When I got back to Nadeem's room it was dark and she was sitting on her bed.

Her brown hair was let down and her eyes were swollen. Mine was too.

I had texted mom and told her I'd sleep over at Nadeem's. Simply because she needed me and staying with her was the least thing I could do to shut my guiltiness. But I never told mom why, neither did I tell her what happened.

I smiled at Nadeem as I sat beside her on the bed. After a lot of crying and 'sorry's we walked back home and I told her about the photo I saw and she told me about how everyone would know by now. I just calmed her down. She had to be patient and return back to Allah who she forgot.

We also made a plan for how to erase the photo from that girl's phone and we would tell Layla tomorrow.

"It will be okay Nadeem, I'm with you okay? And inshallah Allah will be with us too" she hugged me silently as she slowly drifted back to sleep. I sighed and lay down. I was so tired and exhaust. It had been a rough day.

I made dua'a to Allah to help me and give strength as I slowly fell asleep and I swear it was as if everything were back to normal again, sleeping over at Nadeem's and not having any worry in the world.

But it was a lot more than that.

I slowly felt how my eyelids got heavy and the last image I saw was Adam's caring face when he bounded my foot at the mosque that night.