The Hijabi (Completed)

10.

The next day, after I was finished with fajr prayer. I waited for Ommi to be ready to drive me to school. But I could see that might take awhile, since it looked like she was having a bad hijab day. They don't just happen with hair you know, Bad hijab days are usually worse, since a motion that should be so easy and common for us to do on a regular basis becomes unnecessarily hard. 

So, since I have extra time, I usually read the Quaran. The words calm me, Half the time I don't even know what they say in English. Just the thought that I am reading Allah's word and that is a good thing. I open up a chapter about the An-Nisa (The women) and it reads 

Text from the quaran!

O mankind, Fear your lord, who created you from one soul and created its mate and dispersed through both of them many men and women" 

"Jamilia, are you ready?" My mom asks in quick Arabic, making it obvious that it is her natural tongue. 

"Yes, Ommi" I respond grabbing my schoolbag and heading out the door.

We rush to her car, and I have to fix my hijab in the car because I accidentally messed up in the hustle and bustle of trying to get to the car.

As we approach the school, I remember that I have to help Amal and make sure he gets to his classes alright. I remember his bright green eyes staring at me, and my thoughts of how attractive he was. 

Stop thinking like that, Jamilia, I remind myself. You need to be a good Muslim if you want any chance of getting into paradise and with thoughts like those, there's a very slim chance of that happening 

Ommi interrupts my silent scolding of myself and tells me in her special way, only I have ever seen her do, to get my rear end out of the car, I tell her  "wa ʿalaykum al-salām" and leave to go find Amal in the hallways. 

I see Amal almost instantly, with his bright t-shirt with a skull on it, He also has eyeliner on. An interesting look for him, considering the fact that he was almost wearing a fancy suit, yesterday. His bright green eyes almost pop out of his face and I think he is wearing color contacts. I have never seen a green that bright, and it really doesn't look natural on him. But it does look good, don't get me wrong.

He sees me after a minute of looking and says "Hi, I found your friend who only speaks Arabic, and I told her that if I say you, I would tell her."

I give my best confused look "You speak Arabic?" I ask, in Arabic of course. 

"Yeah, Obviously. I am half-Pakistani" he replies to me in the fastest Arabic I have ever heard.

"You really don't look half- Pakistani and you don't have an accent like I do, how do you hide it so well?"

"English is my first language, and I know that I look like my Mere"

"Your What?

"Mere, It is essentially means Ommi, except its french. Since I am half French and half Pakistani, I have two culture mixes in my household."

"Oh, that makes a lot more sense, I was wondering how in the world you got green eyes but now that makes a lot more sense." 

We stare at each other awkwardly for a few minutes, and I just stare into his eyes, and then I look at him all the way. He has a really nice face. I think he is what Maria calls 'hot'.

I think he notices my staring at his eyes and he makes the joke " Aren't you supposed to avert your eyes, young lady?"

I respond without even thinking in Arabic "Aren't you supposed to as well, young man?" (Don't actually know if its a joke)  He gives me a hard stare, then looks down suddenly.

"Oh crap, we have five minutes to class, Jamilia!" he says grabbing my hand and looking at his watch, my time has passed quickly. Much too quickly I think.

Stop thinking like that, I scold myself for the second time of the day. Man, I got to make Dua. I need Allah's guidance to handle boys, because I cannot do it by myself.

I make to class with one minute to spare, which means that was the quickest I had ever made it down that hall. I guess lack of time makes you hurry.

"Miss. Jabar, You are almost late, Are you okay?" Mr. Resse asks probably thinking that I was harassed in the halls again.

"Yes, I am fine Mr. Resse, I was just talking to someone and time passed by quicker than I thought it would, no biggie."

Except it was a major biggie.

The rest of the day passed off without a major hitch. 

After school, I decided to go hang out with Amal 'till my Ommi came, because Amal asked for a ride to his house since his bus was late. Like usual.

Amal cracked a joke and I laughed so hard that I started crying. Amal was so worried when I started crying, that he ran inside to grab tissues for me. 

I was falling for him. Hard.

The only awkward part was introducing him to Ommi, who thought he was my boyfriend and kept saying in Arabic "No boys, Jamilia, you're too young." Which made Amal crack up, because Ommi didn't think he spoke any Arabic.

"Ommi, He speaks Arabic"

"He does?" Ommi asked in Arabic 

"Yes, I sure do." Amal responded and Ommi's face lit up with excitement. 

"Amal, Are you Iraqi?"

"No, Mam I am Pakistani." He replied with a cool swagger that showed his pride of his country.

"Fully?" Ommi asked

"No, Half."

"Oh" Ommi said trying to keep the conversation alive, "Well, Are you Muslim? because I don't want Jamilia talking to any Non-Muslim boys"

"Ommi!" I said annoyed at her.

"Jamilia, you know what the quaran says. You're not supposed to marry people who aren't Muslim, and you could end up marrying this boy."

"Marriage? I am too young, Ommi, In America you have to be 16 with parents consent."

"Americans are so weird" Ommi responded as Amal burst at laughter at our conversation.

"Mrs. Jabar, my house is right here if you turn to the left."

"Ok, Amal, I'll go have Jamilia walk you up and wa ʿalaykum al-salām." Ommi says  as I hop out of the car. As we approach his front walk, I feel him reaching towards my hand and grabbing it. It feels weird, but in a good kind of way.

"Jamilia" He says, tension rising strangely in his voice. "May I kiss you?"

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Cliffhanger! Ha! and It didn't take me a couple of days like I thought It would, more like 1 and a half.