Masquerader

Chapter 7

                    At night, Zoe came to Cenne's house, Cenne's mother was going somewhere. She asked the girls if they wanted to come. They said they'll stay at home but her father asked them to go with her. So they did. Cenne's mother went to a building, Zoe and Cenne were on the ground floor. They didn't really have anything to do and Cheio's house was just a street away. They went there. They were standing in front of his house when they saw Cheio sit down in front of the window. Cenne went all pink at that time. She was wearing a black button-down shirt with blue jeans and brown Tommy Tailor sneakers. Zoe said, "We're ringing his bell and running away." Cenne said, "No way." She said, " Yeah, that's what gonna happen in a minute. stay alert." Cenne was a little scared, she was begging her to come back as she was going up the stairs. She had her shoes in her hands and rang the bell and came back running down and they moved towards the left and came back to the front. It was fun. Not as bad as Cenne had thought. Until two boys came to them and asked them, " Do you guys know who rang the bell?' Zoe and Cenne were still laughing. They said, " You guys rang the bell?" Cenne wasn't looking at them but said, " I don't know at least I didn't do anything I can tell you this much." Behind them, cheio came. The boys told them, " These girls did it." When he saw the girls he said, " Oh no no. It'd probably be someone else. not these." They said, " No, it was them." He replied, " No, that's a misunderstanding." He walked ahead and the girls came with him. Cenne was in the mid with Cheio on his left and Zoe on her right. They talked. Cenne told him that the boys sitting in the street are really shitty and they had been catcalling them. He said, "Okay, I'll take care of it." But Cenne asked him not to do anything. He went the other way and the girls went into the same building as before. After a while, he came there. Cenne was sitting and Zoe was standing. He asked them, " What are you guys doing here?" Cenne told him, " My mum's on the second floor. We're waiting for her." His expressions were worth watching. He was so surprised to know that and was like, " No jokes, please?" She said, "I'm not joking." He said, " Oh then I'm outta here.' and he went somewhere else. The girls were laughing so hard. They could not forget his face. They were still and after some time, Jack came. He was texting on his phone and said to them, "Somebody asked for company?" The girls replied, "Umm.. No." He said, " Cheio said to me that you guys were alone getting bored." They said, "No we're cool." So he went back. When they got back home, they called Mary. They couldn't stop laughing. She was on the bus. They told her what happened.

                 The next day Cenne went to a small city at her Uncle's house with her family to spend Eid. They stayed there for two weeks. On Eid day, she got up at eight in the morning which was somewhat late but nobody seemed to care. She got dressed. She wore the dress her mother had brought her. She loved it so much. She straightened her hair, did her makeup, and met her uncle and dad, and Lua as they came back offering eid prayer. She got her eidi and took lots of pictures with her mother. Her uncle had a servant boy who lives right next to them. His brother put up a stall of Cenne's favorite snack so her uncle asked that boy to bring her all that she wants. The whole family ate lots of that. When Cenne got back home, she was still grounded so Zoe used to come to her house and they would hang out in the front yard. Zoe told her that she was once walking with Jack at the end of the street and Maple and Jacey saw them. So she started meeting him at the back of her house. Zoe asked Cenne to come with her as Jack had said to her that he would bring Cheio but Cenne refused.

                    Cenne had stopped studying so her father helped her in the study. He would give her a specific chapter to learn then he would take a test of it after coming from the office and if she had any difficulty in understanding it, he guided her. When it was her first test, she was well prepared but still nervous. Her father asked her to go outside for a while in the park and get fresh air as she has been studying all day. When she got to the park she met an old classmate. Jack was also there. After a while, she saw Zoe and went to her. They talked and then went home.

                     For bakra Eid, Cenne was again at her Uncle's place. She got really sick and would be in the last room where she just lay down all day, lifelessly. She had a severe type of headaches and temperature. She had diarrhea and the washroom was on the far end of the big bungalow of his uncle. On eid day, she was in bed till noon. She had the phone with her and she was really bored and tired. She texted Cheio. He asked her what dress she wore. She told him that she's really sick. He asked her to get dressed and take a picture for him. She after many resistive messages did agree. She pressed her dress and went to take a shower. She didn't have any energy and just showering tired her so much that she changed her mind about getting dressed nicely. She wore her comfy yet weird clothes and sat in the yard.
She would spend hours at night lying in the yard under the stary sky thinking about Cheio. The black sky with shiny stars and the brightest moon, Cenne was lost in it but at the same time what she was thinking was that maybe Cheio would also be looking at the sky right now. She was missing him so much even though she knew perfectly well he won't be looking up.
Cenne was still in contact with Cheio but not with Jack. She never got in contact with him again but Cheio, she could not resist him. It was a weird attraction that Cenne had towards him but she didn't know what was that attraction. She would always feel butterflies whenever she saw him.