Amarah

Chapter 7 •Neighbors•

It was finally Friday and my brother had just dropped me off at home. It had been a pretty boring week (other than what happened with Jean on Monday) and I was so happy it was over. 

Eli and I had turned in our rough sketch on Wednesday and Mrs. Alexis had loved it. Then, we had to draw a more detailed sketch of our project, which we had finished today. Now all that was left was starting the final part of the project. Which we had 2 weeks for. And even though it sounded like plenty of time, it really wasn't because she made it clear that we were to have small side assignments in class. So, it meant that we had to work on a lot of it outside of school time. I had no idea why she would give us more work on top of that. 

After I unlocked the door with my keys and waved to my brother (who had been waiting in the car to make sure I got into the house ok before leaving for work), I stepped inside and started to remove my hijab. It was always one of the first things I did after entering the house. 

I had unwrapped it and was about to remove it completely off my head when I noticed that we had guests sitting in the living room with my mom. And they were all staring at me. 

My eyes widened and I quickly threw off my shoes and ran up the staircase, that was situated (very conveniently might I add) right near the entrance. As soon as I reached the top, I heard my mom yell from downstairs, "Amarah, come down and say Salam! We have guests!" I could detect the sternness in her voice, masked by some kindness so the guests didn't get scared off.

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to come up with an excuse to not go back downstairs. I had almost removed my entire hijab in front of all of them. Talk about embarrassment. And then I remembered, I had to pray Asr. That would give me plenty of time to actually prepare to greet them.

"Coming, Mama, I just have to pray Asr, first!" I yelled back. I was always so awkward when people came over to our house. I just never knew what to say or do. So, coming home to a family of strangers wasn't really the best thing ever.

After praying and making sure my hijab was properly secured on my head, I descended the stairs and plastered a smile onto my face.

"Assalamu Alaikum," I said to them as I walked into the living room and took a seat next to my mother, on the leather couch. The strangers that were sitting on the other couch were a family of three: A mother, a father, and a son. Each of them had dark hair and dark brown eyes, except for the woman's eyes. Her's were light brown. The parents looked to be in their mid-40s, while the son was probably around my age or Iffat's. 

Each of them replied "Walaikum Assalam." 

The woman spoke up and said, "You must be Amarah," she chuckled, while I nodded my head, awkwardly, "We are your new neighbors! I am Yasmin Hussain and this is my husband, Abdullah," She gestured towards the man, who smiled, "and my son, Laith." Laith looked up at the mention of his name and gave a small smile, then returned to his phone. Then, his mom slapped his shoulder and told him to put it away. She shook her head and said, "Kids these days. Always on their phones." 

My mom nodded her head and said, "Yes, it is as if they can not live without them. My kids are always either on their phones, laptops or TV. Me and my husband, Khalid, always have to tell them to get off." 

Mrs. Hussain agreed with my mother and said, "Exactly. When we were kids, we went outside and played with friends. Not stay at home, ruining our eyes with technology." That's when I zoned out. I've heard this conversation way too many times. My mom literally talks about this with every adult. It looked as if Laith had heard it many times as well since he rolled his eyes as soon as his mom started off on a rant. 

After they stopped with their talk about "kids these days being addicted to technology," Mrs. Hussain looked at me and said, "So, Amarah, you are a senior in Eastlake High School?" I nodded my head. "Laith, here, is also going to start 12th grade there starting Monday. Maybe you can help him catch up and show him around."