Chapter Seventeen - A Shadow on the Heart
The three girls were sprawled on Leila's bed on a dark Friday evening, talking about family and school when Leila had the bright idea to stalk Leena on Facebook and see how she was doing over her horrible heartbreak with Khalid. Sabrina groaned, clearly not interested to see how desperate Leena was, and flopped her head on a fluffy heart shaped pillow while Emaan and Leila huddled in front of Leila's laptop screen. Facebook popped up and they scrolled through Leena's recent pictures.
"Gosh, she's such an attention seeker." Leila muttered, scrolling through dozens of pictures and selfies.
"Why doesn't she just get over the fact that Khalid doesn't want her?" Emaan said, rolling her eyes. "Speaking of Khalid - he's totally out of it these days, hey?"
Emaan was referring to Khalid's current state. He had been absent on Monday only to show up on Tuesday looking as if the life of him had been sucked out. He didn't laugh. He didn't talk too often and his face was constantly blank. He rarely smiled and when he did, it was hard and fake. Today he had passed by Sabrina and a cold smirk crossed his face as his eyes met hers. But he kept on walking as if he had other things to think about besides his hatred over non-Arabs. Sabrina suspected that he was over-ridden with guilt. After all he had nearly killed a guy - high or not.
Even Khalid had feelings.
"I dunno, he hasn't even updated his Facebook recently." Leila answered, her eyes glued onto her laptop.
"Yeah, cause updating Facebook after nearly killing someone and then announcing that you're about to drop out of a gang is totally normal." Sabrina said, dryly.
"I'm just saying." Leila sighed. "Wow look at this." She cried, tilting her laptop so Sabrina could see a picture of Leena leaning over her bathroom sink and making the most putrid duck face ever. The shot was ever so elegantly titled: 'Please don't judge me; and I wont judge you.oxox'
Sabrina raised her eyebrows and blinked. Her eyes felt as if they were burning from sheer horror and disgust. Leila laughed at her reaction and turned back to her laptop.
"She is so boy-crazy." She snorted.
Something about the way Leila said that statement made Sabrina look up. She wasn't one to backbite - or speak badly of things she did herself.
"Uh...if I remember correctly, you had Omar Al-Gala as you screen saver for, like, at least three years."
"Woah, what now?" Emaan snorted, appalled.
Leila grunted. "Two years!" She said. "And puh-leese. That man has been blessed. Even you cant deny his beauty."
"All I'm saying is that you were boy-crazy once too!" Sabrina pointed out, crossing her arms.
"Okay. Okay." Leila sighed. "But all I'm saying is that there's a reason he was deported from Saudi Arabia for being too handsome."
"That was a rumor, you weirdo!" Sabrina exclaimed, throwing a pillow at Leila.
"A very likely one." Emaan joked, just as there was a knock on the door
Sabrina and Emaan scrambled to make sure they had their hijabs on - in case an uninvited male intruder happened to walk in. It just so happened that the uninvited male intruder was Leila's father. He strolled into the room and after greeting Sabrina and Emaan, turned to his daughter.
"Baita, I just got a call from that man who was hit by a car a few days ago. He wanted to personally thank me and I was thinking you could come along and ask those questions about volunteering at the hospital while I'm there." He glanced at Sabrina and Emaan. "I'm leaving right now, though, so your friends are welcome to come along."
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...
