Chapter 27

"Shoug.. allah yikhaleech la tebcheen. I can't stand hearing the one I love cry, please 3shani Shoug.." I was shocked once I heard his words, I quickly lifted a finger to find a few tears had escaped. I hadn't even noticed them.

And wait what?!

The one you love?

He loves me?



Before I could question him any further, I heard a door knob turn and my heart was about to explode out of my rib cage. I quickly hung up on S3ood and watched my mother, along with my brothers behind her, walk into the house. They had pained expressions on, they looked pretty tired.

"Shoug? Shisawya ga3da ehnii?" Mom looked at me, confused. Huh? I checked my phone and saw that 2 hours had passed! I didn't even notice the time fly when I was on the phone with S3ood. I quickly changed my phone's profile to All Alerts Off, just in case S3ood tried calling me again.

"Oh, uhm, madre. Maleit men dari," I shrugged and stood up, I hurried upstairs to my room to avoid anymore questions.

I checked bbm and saw multiple messages from S3ood.

S3ood Al-X:
Sh9ar? ;s

S3ood Al-X:
Shoug? .. did I say something wrong? ;(

Shoug Al-X:
La la!! Ome radet el bait m3a M7md w Khalid, so sorry! x_x

S3ood Al-X:
Ohhh, 7mdellah! =)) Khare3teeny. Shoug?

Shoug Al-X:
Halla?

S3ood Al-X:
I miss your voice already.

What should I say? What did this mean for us? All these questions were clouding my mind but my heart was beating fast. I felt a pang of sadness that was surrounding my heart, I didn't even notice it until I was alone in my room. S3ood's voice made me feel safe, he made me feel secure and loved.

I'm going to regret this someday. 

Shoug Al-X:
I miss your voice too S3ood..

My eyes failed me that night, I couldn't stay up any later and I fell asleep, I hadn't told S3ood goodnight but I had a feeling that he knew I fell asleep that night.

The next day, I was disturbed by a loud noise. My eyelids felt stuck together, they wouldn't open. I groaned and tried smacking my phone once I figured that the noise was my alarm.

"Rise and shine Shoug!" I heard Lisa-Anne chipper, she pushed the beige curtains aside and let the blinding rays of sunlight fill up my room. I groaned even louder.

"SHOUG, YOU WANT ME TO CALL MAMA?" Lisa-Anne threatened, I jumped out of bed and went on with my daily morning routine. Lisa-Anne had to use that threat every morning to wake me up and it worked successfully.

I arrived at school and the girls surrounded me, pestering me with the same question.

"Bitiyeen el 7afla?!" Lulu asked.

"Coming to the party?" Dalal hovered in front of me.

"SHOUG! BITIYEEN, 9A7?" Loura yelled out, even though she was only 10 centimeters away.

"HEY, ARE YOU COMING?" I heard Basma yell out too from behind.

"BANAT! CHUB!" I shouted and that silenced them all. I laughed once I saw their shocked expressions, they saw me laugh and their expressions softened.

"What party?" I asked, confused.

"Ma shiftay el broadcast Fajer sent out?" Lulu asked once everyone was quiet.

"I didn't check bbm today morning," I smacked my hand over my forehead, I forgot to check if S3ood had messaged me that morning. I didn't want him to think that I was ignoring him.

"Okay so Fajer is holding a party on Thursday at 7pm, it's mixed. Check the BC lema etrideen el bait 3shan takhtheen el3enwan," Dalal said. Wait, what? Mixed?

"Mixed? As in, boys and girls party?" I asked, confused.

"Eeeh!" Loura answered excitedly.

"Ome ma ra7 tir'9a, et3rfounha!" I was surprised that the girls were all going to the party, I'd never gone to a mixed party before and I'd never even thought of going to one. I saw Fajer approach us once she heard our conversation.

"Shoug! Laaa, LAZIM tiyeen." Fajer clinged to my arm, begging me.

"Fajer, ma agder.. fee 9bayan!" I looked at her, disapprovingly.

"Shd3wa, they won't rape you. My parents will be there too! And the boys there will be from our year, la etkhafeen!" Fajer looked at me weirdly, I was the only one that had strict parents in the group.

"I'll ask my mom 3shanich, but don't get surprised once she says no. Just saying." I rolled my eyes at her, Fajer's parents were half Tunisian and half Kuwaiti, so she had a more free minded family.

The day passed quickly. For the first time, my lessons didn't seem to drag forever since I kept day dreaming about the party. I knew my parents were going to say no, I was worried they'd be angry at me for even asking for such a thing but I'd told Fajer I'd ask for her sake, so then she would see that I wasn't trying to make up excuses to skip out on her party.

In a way, I was also happy that Fajer had created a distraction for my friends, no one asked about why I was so distant over the weekend and I wanted to pretend that nothing was going on for a while longer.

Once I was back at home, I grabbed my blackberry from my bedside table and dialed my mother's mobile number. She was back at the hospital again and so I waited impatiently for her to pick up the phone.

"Aloo?" Mom's voice sounded groggy, I probably woke her up from her nap.

"Yuma, adre bitgouleen la2 bs 3shan rafeejti 7anat 3lay 7ena mu 6abee3eya. 3ade arou7 7aflet Fajer Al-X youm el khamees?" I asked, already knowing her answer.

"Youm el khamees? Ma ra7 etkouneen t3bana? You have school on Thursday." Mom asked in a worried tone.

"Oh, neseit agoulich. It's teacher's conference day on Thursday, so no school that day."

"Ooh, 3ayal ee, rou7ay estansay 7bebty." Mom sounded hopeful that I was going to have some fun after yesterday.

"Bs yuma, fee 9bayan bil 7afla. 9bayan men medrisetna." I told her, there was a stretched out silence during the phone call. I knew that my Mom was thinking about it.

"Ana male sh'3l, rou7ay s2lay M7md etha tigdireen etrou7een." I was shocked, she wanted me to ask M7md?

"Uhm.. okay...?" I was still shocked, she hung up on me after saying goodbye. I was nervous on asking M7md, I knew that he would be even angrier than my own Mom. It's now or never Shoug.

I approached M7md's room and knocked on it till he told me to come in.


"M7md, adre bitgoul la2 bs rafeejti 7anna w lazem..." I was talking so fast, I was blabbing uncontrollably.

"Shoug, haday shway!" M7md laughed at me, "Ana al7een sima3t ene fee 7afla youm el khamees w fee 9bayan, 9a7?" I looked at him and nodded nervously, too scared to speak out.

"Brou7kom?" He asked, M7md was sprawled on his comfy looking bed, his attention on his iPhone and on me at the same time. To this day, I'm still surprised that my own brother could multitask.

"La2, omha w obouha biyig3odoun m3ana w el 9bayan men medrisetna." I repeated Fajer's words.

"Hmm.. okay, bs shar6. Ana bawadeech w Lisa-Anne bitkoun m3ach, okay?" I stared at M7md blanky. Did he just say yes to a mixed party?

"Shfeech et6al3eeny chithe? Ma etrou7een brou7ich!" M7md misunderstood my stare, he thought I wanted to go alone without a chaperone.

"La la mu chithe! .. Bs enta min9ijek? Gilt eeh?" I was still staring at him.

"Eeeh, shd3wa?" He looked confused. I nodded and left his room, still shocked.

I bbm'd the girls and told them that I was going to go to the party. They were all ecstatic.

I've seen pictures in the last few years on Facebook with the school's mixed parties, they always looked like they were having so much fun. I never envied their free minded families, I was used to hearing bad rumors about the parties and things that went on in them.

So I was pretty much scared of attending my first mixed party, I wasn't sure I wanted to but I couldn't lie to Fajer. I was also interested in seeing what actually happened in those parties rather than always hearing gossip about them the day after it.

The week dragged on by slowly, me and S3ood's conversations grew longer and we'd now bbm each other whenever we could (so pretty much 24/7). We never called each other after our first call, the house was always vacant since the family would be at the hospital from the morning till the late night. I couldn't visit since I had school, my mom had made that pretty clear and I didn't want to argue any further.

Although the house was always vacant, I didn't use this as a chance to speak to S3ood on the phone again, I started to feel guilty about calling him. My brother had trusted me and let me go to a mixed party, but what if he found out I was on the phone with his friend's little brother on the phone just a few days ago?

Fajer Al-X:
PING!!
PING!!
PING!!

Fajer Al-X:
Weinich? YALLA! You're late. ;(

It was 7:15pm and I still wasn't done with straightening my hair. I ignored Fajer's pings and tried to straighten my hair faster. I wore a frilly black dress that had sleeves on and it reached down to my knees. I fastened a red belt around my waist since the dress was flowy. I decided to wear a more casual dress, not too baring but not too conservative either. It was something I'd wear to my grandmother's house. I had on winged eyeliner that shaped my almond eyes and a coat of colourless lip gloss on my full lips.

My brother and Lisa-Anne were waiting for me downstairs. I hurried down whilst clutching my caviar Chanel purse.

"Laish ma libestay el a7mar?" My brother looked over my dress.

"Kan eg9eer," I thought he would have praised me for choosing a less baring dress.

"Bs kan a7la.. Weeh, yalla, we're already late anyway. Mu giltay el 7afla yabdy elsa3a 7 bileil?" Me and Lisa-Anne followed M7md to his car, fastening our seat belts once we were inside.

"Eeh, bs 3ade! No one goes to a party early anyway," I was always late so I never had gone to anything early before, but when I showed up, usually most of the people were already there. I always told myself that this was because everyone arrived late like me.

I gave M7md the address and we arrived outside the white painted house. There were multiple cars outside the house and people were still entering the house. I could hear the blaring music outside. M7md walked inside the house with me with Lisa-Anne trailing behind us, looking at the party decorations in wonder. The house's lights were switched off and there were disco lights everywhere. It was blinding my eyes as I walked inside.

I was surprised at how many people showed up. I recognized a lot of the people, they were all from our school and they seemed to dance freely with the other girls. Their bodies weren't too close to theirs, they were dancing to fast paced techno song that was blaring out of the speakers.

I couldn't find any of the girls, M7md was looking around the lavish house, taking in it's huge dance floor in the middle of it. I noticed a lot of the people's eyes were on me and M7md. Lisa-Anne was right behind us but it was obvious she was with me. I suddenly felt embarrassed that I'd had to show up with two chaperones.

"Weeh 9ej yahalo," M7md smirked at my fellow students, he continued: "Yalla ana barou7, digay 3lay etha tabeen shay, okay? La et6awleen, w deeray balich 3la nefsich." And then, he was gone.

Me and Lisa-Anne stood awkwardly next to each other, I couldn't find any of the girls from where I was standing. I decided to explore the house, I slipped into the bathrooms and greeted a few girls I knew from my classes. I discovered a living room inside the house, Ahmed, a Kuwaiti guy I knew, was sitting on one of the beige couches with at least four girls sitting next to him. He looked really happy.

I laughed at him, he was harmless and he was a joker in class. I escaped the living room and found my way back to the dance floor.

"Shoug! Dance with us!" I heard Jenny call out behind me, I couldn't figure out how I didn't notice her before. She was wearing a skirt that barely covered her thighs and her glittery top was too tight. She was with James and a couple of other non-Kuwaiti girls that wore the same baring outfits. I smiled at her and pointed to the bathroom to indicate that I had to use it. She waved before I turned to the other direction.

I bbm'ed the girls and Lulu had told me that they were all on their way together. I figured that Lulu had picked all the girls up in the same car and so, this took a lot of time.

I decided to go back to where Jenny was and I tried to dance but I awkwardly failed. I couldn't dance properly in front of these guys, it felt weird. Jenny was moving her body all over the place, not caring who saw her. The music was causing my eardrums to want to explode, it was too loud and the songs were horrible. The guys kept changing the songs from techno, rap then back to techno again.

In the other corner, there were guys trying to take pictures of themselves with the other girls. I noticed that they mostly just took pictures. Now I knew that a party wasn't always so fun behind a good Facebook picture. I bbm'd Fajer countless times but she never replied, she was probably somewhere else, hosting her party.

"Shoug! Over here! Come join the picture!" Greg called out, smiling at me. My gut told me no, I didn't want my picture everywhere on Facebook. I smiled politely at him and pointed to the bathroom again, it seemed to be the best excuse to get out of an awkward situation.

I checked bbm and saw S3ood's messages. I told him I was going to a party in Bayan but I never mentioned that it was mixed.

S3ood Al-X:
Bayan? Bayan block #, house #?!

Shoug Al-X:
Eeh.. shdarak? ;s

S3ood Al-X:
 SHOUG. GET OUT OF THAT PARTY NOW! :@


I couldn't reply to that message just yet since I heard loud disturbing male voices behind me, I turned around to see who was causing the big racket. I saw older guys joining the party, they looked unfamiliar. College guys. College guys at a high school party?

I noticed one person that was with the large group of college guys.


Jassim.


And then, I noticed a girl's arm around his.


I couldn't believe my eyes once I saw who the girl was, that was holding onto him so tightly..

Chapter 26

*LOL I got a lot of DMs from people wanting the chapter now, so here it is. =)) I hope you enjoy it! :D xx



-



"What is it?" Reem asked impatiently, standing up and walking over to us while she had a hand over her baby bump, as if she was shielding the baby from hearing any bad news about his/her future grandfather. My father's eyes were closed, he looked asleep but from experience, I knew he was just trying to shut out the world.

"The results say.., well hemdella." Her Arabic would have made me laugh if I wasn't so nervous, she continued;"Your husband/father, has come in the perfect time to get checked up. The scope procedure we did on him showed that there's an infection in his stomach, his lungs are affected by the smoking but it's nothing serious right now. However... if he continues on smoking, for his age, his breathing will get worse. For the infection, it hasn't infected greatly so no need for a surgery, we can assign him pills to take regularly. The infection can come back pretty fast if he stops taking his pills or stops eating again, so once it does, you have to come back as soon as you get those stomach pains again. We found some infection in his liver too, we'll assign other pills for that. I hope he recovers well but Mr Al-X, I advise you to stop smoking or else your lungs will worsen even more."

I heard my mother sigh in relief, I bet all she heard was "Hemdellah" and "No surgery needed". Reem and I still looked worried. I knew my father's been smoking for more than ten years and I've seen him cough like crazy all the time, I've begged him to stop smoking but all he used to do was push me off in a playful way and change the subject. I looked back at my father and his eyes were still closed, probably avoiding the doctor's advice on quitting on smoking.

"Miss Al-X, can I speak to you outside for a bit?" The doctor looked at me then back at my mother, indicating that she didn't want to say whatever she needed to say in front of me. I was fuming, I had a right to know what other things were wrong with my father too! My mom took Reem with her since she was her translator as I stayed in the room alone with my father.

"Yuba? Nayim?" I was starting to believe that he actually was asleep, I took a step forward and stared at his eyelids. I was trying to see if there was any movement of his pupils under his eyelids, I saw a few movements and knew that he was awake. I laughed quietly.

"Yuba, tara ma tigder etchathib 3lay." I stated. My dad's eyelids swiftly slid up and his chocolate eyes met mine, he smiled faintly behind the kamam. He reached for my hand and with his other hand, he pushed the kamam off so he could place my hand over his lips, kissing it softly.

"Men al7een bakhish your cigarettes," I gave him my most stubborn and strongest expression. He snickered weakly before ending up in coughs. My mother walked in right at that minute with Reem, she was holding Reem's hand and I could see that my mother's knuckles had turned white, indicating that she was holding onto Reem's hand as tight as she could. Something was wrong.

"Shoug, yalla mama, rou7ay el bait. Warach medrisa bacher." Mom smiled at me, it looked like a forceful smile.

"Laish arid el bait? Khale9t my homeworks, w shgalet el doctora?" I challenged her to answer me, my eyes stared into hers, I waited her to speak up but Reem did instead.

"Shoug, khala9 sim3ay kalam omy. Mu wakta al7een, riday el bait." Reem's voice was stern. If my Dad wasn't laying on his hospital bed right next to mine, I would have argued further with Reem.

"Ffffh, okay!" I huffed out, I turned back around to give Dad a kiss on his cheek before walking out of the hospital room. I wasn't going to wait for Lisa-Anne and Hussain in that room, not when they wanted to kick me out so bad. And at that moment, I suddenly felt like I wasn't even a part of the family. This saddened me to the core.  

What did I do? I'm not that young child anymore, I can handle bad news!

 I called up Lisa-Anne so she could pick me up, I hung out downstairs around the cafe in front of the pharmacy store. I pulled my blackberry out and stared at the number of bbm chats I had yet to open.  

Shoug, you have to stop avoiding encounters with people. They'll start thinking you're ignoring them for a different reason. People won't be there for you forever, you can't lose them now..


I always had my conscience in the back of my head and for the first time, I'm about to listen to it. I typed in my blackberry password and unlocked my phone, I scrolled down over the hordes of messages I've received.

Loura:*:
SHOUG. WEINICH?!:@

Lulu Al-X:
Shoug, hows your dad? I hope he's okay, allah yeshfeeh. :/ <3

Fajer Al-X:
Shoug, laish el dnd for 2 days?:( I miss you!

Basoumaaa<3:
Shoug, I need help w/History. Aloo???

Hanan Al-X:
Hiiiiii;p , you there?

S3oud Al-X:
Shoug? Weinich..? Waleht 3leich..

Deemah Al-X:
Hey Shoug:D how are you?;*

Nada Al-X:
Hello, was there any Literature homework? :)

Narjis Al-X:
Sis? You okay? Seme3t 3an obouy.. I'm gonna try to travel to Kuwait bs my college mu ra'9een ya36ouni a 3 day absence authorization! Hope ur ok. :* Pay attention 2 ur finals!!

 Mariam Al-X:
SHOUUUUUG, khane6la3. :D

Shaikha Al-X:
Heey, laish radeitay men el zwara bsr3a?:(


I kept reading the messages from outside the chats again and again (I didn't want them to see that I've read their messages and ignored it), my head was swirling with thoughts about my Dad. I couldn't handle faking a good conversation now and I'm not in the mood to talk about this. Whenever I'm in a bad situation, I try to shut out the world and I try to forget about it, by talking about it, I'll have to face pitying faces and answer dreadful questions all the time. How are you supposed to forget about something when people keep reminding you of it?

I switched to Twitter and read a new DM from a girl I haven't really talked to before. I didn't bother clicking on Jassim's DM, I still wasn't ready to talk.

Maha: Hey, I love your picture! Can I ask you what camera you used? :D

Shoug: Ahlaan, Nikon D5100. & Thank you. ;*

After a few minutes, she replied.

Maha: Mashallah, 3ajeeb. :D I'm trying to find a good camera, for beginners, ey wa7d akheth? Canon 500D, Nikon D5100 wla Nikon D7000?

We started chatting about photography, it put my mind at ease, having to talk about something else than my Dad. Lisa-Anne arrived in time and I followed her into the car. I kept staring at the my charm bracelet S3oud had given me, I brushed my fingertips over the tiny heart.

"...and a little heart to give you a little piece of me, now I'll be with you all along the way."

I had memorized the whole note in my head, it was hard not to. I kept repeating those words over and over again on my way home. Once we arrived back at home, I walked in the house and the house had looked enormous to me, ready to eat my puny body up.

"Shoug, no one is home. Your two brother go to hospital," Lisa-Anne told me, she went into the kitchen to talk to the other maids, Jeena and Ellen.

The staircase in front of me looked like the steps to hell, I looked up at the chandelier hanging on top of me, watching the crystals and pieces of glass surround it, it didn't look so beautiful anymore. It looked like sharp needles of ice, ready to stab me once I looked away.

There was a circular seating thing in the middle of the staircase that was made out of marble, I sat right on top of it and pulled out my blackberry. I decided to take action, now. I sent replies to everyone, replying to their questions, acting as chipper as I could be, adding as much smilies and everything. I replied to the homework questions, promised Basma I'd help her with History on Sunday, replied to the how are you's and assured Shaikha that I was okay. All was left was Lulu now, She understood my situation, she was strong and she had the capability of watching her father's weakness, she still showed up to school with a smile. So why couldn't I do the same?

Shoug Al-X:
Lulu, eeh 7mdellah he looks better. Thanks for asking!;*

I stared at S3ood's message. Should I tell him? I wasn't in the mood to get into the subject. Screw it.

Shoug Al-X:
I'm so sorry S3ood, obouy bil mistashfa w moody kan khayis..

 He replied quickly.

S3ood Al-X:
:/ .. Ma 3areft! Shoug, is he okay? :(

Shoug Al-X:
La t7aty, he's ok. I don't wanna talk about it. I'm okay now :D so how are you?

S3ood Al-X:
Call me, 9********

Shoug Al-X:
Ha? La2! Ma agder..

S3ood Al-X:
Laish? Omech mawjoda? Asif.

Shoug Al-X:
La2 brou7y..

S3ood Al-X:
I won't bite you, bs basma3 9outich. I need to be sure that you really are okay. I promise I won't be long.

I sighed out loud, I dialed his number and I heard the 6oo6 6oo6 6oo6. My heart began to race, I've never really spoken to a guy on the phone before. What was I supposed to say? Oh my-

"Aloooo," I heard S3ood call into the phone, interrupting my thoughts.

"Al-oo..?" I croaked out.

"Shfeech?" S3ood chuckled through the phone once he heard my shy voice, his laugh melted away my nerves.

"Ma feene shay," I giggled, feeling a bit giddy.

"I missed that laugh, so you're doing okay? Akeed?" I could hear the smile in his voice fade as he started to become worried. I couldn't lie through the phone, I could master lying through texting but when it came to confrontations, it was harder. Especially when it was with S3ood.

"No.. I'm kind of not," I sighed.

"I knew you were lying on bbm. Shoug, I'm your friend too y'know. You can tell me anything.." S3ood sounded so genuine, everything started to spill out of my mouth. I told him how I found out about my Dad, how my family had kept it away from me and have been keeping more things away. I expressed all of my worries and concerns, he kept quiet and listened to every word. My voice kept getting quieter as I went deep into the conversation, my emotions taking over me.

"Shoug.. allah yikhaleech la tebcheen. I can't stand hearing the one I love cry, please 3shani Shoug.." I was shocked once I heard his words, I quickly lifted a finger to find a few tears had escaped. I hadn't even noticed them.


And wait what?!

The one you love?

He loves me?

Chapter 25

I admired a girl's outfit from far away. I watched her long skirt flow dramatically as she walked with her H&M plastic bag in her hand. As I was sliding my eyes back and fourth between people, observing them. A pair of  brown eyes had caught my attention, those eyes found mine and stared back into my nearly black eyes.


I nearly gasped out loud once I knew who the owner of those brown eyes was.


It was Ali.


I quickly turned my head away.

"Oh no," I stuffed my face into my hands and groaned. A pair of hands tried to pull my hands away from my face,

"Shoug, shfeech?!" They were Lulu's hands, her hands were still sticky from the cheese but I didn't mind. I looked back at where Ali was standing and he wasn't there anymore. Yes! He left!

"Ma feene shay al7een," I smiled at her in relief, she looked at me with a confused expression. I heard a male cough behind me. I ignored it but he kept coughing, you know the type of coughing where your friend in line up in school is faking, just so she can get your attention without actually speaking? That kind of fake coughing.

I turned around to shoot the guy an annoyed expression, I gaped once I found that Ali was now sitting right behind me. His back was close against mine and he looked into my eyes, daring me to look away. I had to turn back around, I couldn't have a staring contest with a guy in the middle of Avenues! -.-

I saw Lulu's OMG expression, she had spotted Ali behind me. Lisa-Anne was too busy nibbling on her burger to notice Ali, the guy she had nearly killed with a shoe. My chair was pushed forward, I didn't move but I knew that Ali had extended his foot backwards to move my chair around. He was trying to annoy me. It was working.

I ignored him but I could feel the back of his shoe up against the steel of the chair, threatening to push the chair sideways to make me fall over. I felt the nudge of his foot, he was getting ready to push my chair forward again. I wasn't about to let him get away with it easily, once his foot pushed harder against the chair, I lifted the chair up with my legs and his foot slid under the chair. I pushed the chair back down so the steel leg of the chair landed right on top of his foot.

"AYYYYY!" Ali sat up in a hurry to get his foot out of my chair, it was stuck. While he stood up super fast, his drink had slipped and dived into his lap, the cold 7up had made his shorts wet. It looked like he peed himself, I tried as hard as I could to hold back my laughter.

"Umbey!" I stood up and faked a sincere worried expression. I gave him a look that said; "What was your foot doing under my chair anyway?" This turned a few heads and I noticed his cheeks flush in embarrassment. It had looked like a guy failing at flirting with a girl. Success! 

Lisa-Anne's head shot up quickly and found Ali's, her expression turned livid once she noticed him. She was about to stand up and shout at him, I saw her veins pop out of her neck, daring to inch out of her skin. Ali stormed off and pulled his friend a long with him, who was probably ordering before Ali had grabbed him by the sleeve of his shirt.

Lulu started laughing, holding back her stomach. Lulu could never hold back a laugh, even when it was in a very embarrassing situation, a smile would always creep onto her lips, betraying the strong act she put on whenever we were in public.

"Please don't tell me you just did that on purpose!" Lulu kept laughing, the other people returned to their meals, not paying any more attention to us.

"Okay then, I won't tell you." I teased. Lulu gasped at me once she realized that I had embarrassed Ali in public on purpose.

"You have balls!" Lulu high five-d me across the table, Lisa-Anne was already stuffing her mouth back into her burger. Lisa-Anne loves burgers as much as she loved octopus and shrimp noodles. (*true fact. ;p)

"Bs isn't it kind of weird we see him everywhere? I think he's stalking you..." Lulu continued.

"You're right... but how? He's not on my bbm list anymore and he isn't on my twitter either." I tried to find a solution to this but my brain wouldn't budge.

"Umbey, digeega!!" Lulu had cleansed her hands with the wet hand wipe the Shake Shack worker had given us a few minutes ago before pulling out her blackberry, her fingers easily swiped along the buttons of her phone.

"NO WAY. How did I not notice this before?!" Lulu smacked her forehead multiple times.

"Lulu, shfeech?!" I looked at her, shocked at her sudden action.

"Shoofay!" Lulu pushed her blackberry forward till it was in front of my face. I saw Lulu's list of 200 followers and one of her followers were Ali.

"He's following the rest of the girls too!" Lulu gaped. It suddenly made so much sense, whenever me and the girls went out, they'd tweet about it and put my username too.  Like; "360 w/@Shoug**** &..etc."My friends were tweetaholics, they would most likely tweet where we went in the mall too. It must have been easy for Ali to follow me that way.

"Bsr3a, block him w goulay 7ag el banat!" I panicked, he could have been following the other girls too. Who knows? Lulu typed as fast as she could and sent out the warnings to the girls. They replied just as fast and each one of them were shocked to find Ali was amidst their other followers. They weren't the types to check each new follower, most of them had public accounts.

"Lulu, you're a genius!" We high five-d again and giggled. After the incident with Ali, embarrassing him in front of everyone, my mood got a lot better. Lulu sure knew how to cheer a girl up.

We walked around the mall after finishing lunch. Lulu and I went into a sunglasses store and tried on funny looking shades. I picked the biggest pair and put it on, it made me look like a bee. The shades had a huge shape and it covered half of my face. Lulu started to giggle uncontrollably but stopped abruptly once the Asian salesman approached us. He had a cheap looking tucked in shirt on, with a coffee stain right over his purple tie. He had a bald patch over his head and oily looking skin, his face was stern and not even close to playful.

"That is a Chanel piece, it's a limited edition. The price is 220 KD." The salesman stated, Lulu had gaped at him and quickly put the sunglasses in her hand back on the shelf, carefully adjusting it onto the wall. I kept my face expressionless.

"Oh, 220 KD? Is there a sale or something?" I shot my eyebrows up, acting like 220 KD was far too cheap.

"No Ma'am, it's still new. There is swarovski crystals added, that is why the price is very high," His name ID had the name "Hyn Myn".

"Crystals? Eugh!" I put the sunglasses back into its slot, not bothering to be careful about it. I pulled Lulu closed to whisper into her ear, but loud enough so the salesman could hear every word.

"Makes sense why it's so cheap, Lulu lets go to Van Cleef & Arpels instead, the one in Sal7eya. I told you we shouldn't shop in Avenues for markat," I rolled my eyes at her and pulled on Lulu's arm, forcing her to walk next to me. Lulu still had a surprised look on her face.

Once we were out of the store, I let my expressionless face dissolve and I started to giggle.

"Oh my god.. did you see his face?! You should be an actress! Even I bought it..." Lulu still looked shocked for a few more seconds before she started to laugh with me.

I didn't receive a text or call from Reem about any update about my Dad so we decided to go into other stores, the highly expensive ones that didn't have a famous or very trendy name. This was a game I liked to play a lot, with any of my friends. I loved watching their shocked expressions.

"Oh yes, these boots are on sale. They're last season but they're totally worth it! Only 100KD each." The Lebanese woman stretched her fuchsia lipsticked lips and smiled forcefully at us. Her eyelids were covered with bright blue eyeshadow and her black shirt was too tight on her.

"Wait, last season you say? Eugh! Misheina Lulu?" By this time, Lulu had memorized her role perfectly. It was:

Go into a high end shop.
Look at the most expensive dresses.
Keep saying "Ahh" and "Ooh" whenever salesmen spoke to her, trying to woo her into buying the product.
Wait until I said "Eugh! Misheina?"
Make an excuse why she wouldn't buy that product. (For example: "Naah.. I have the same dress but from Chanel and it cost me double, far more better than that one. Thanks anyway.")
Follow me out of the store with an unsatisfied look.

Lulu and I would always come out of the shop, walk till we were out of sight and let all of our bottled laughter pour out. Lisa-Anne was used to my crazy behavior after 20 years serving in my house, but I remembered the first time I tried messing around in an expensive shop like it was yesterday.

I was with Fajer in 360 mall and we didn't have much to do after watching an early film. I decided to walk into Cartier on a week day with Fajer, at that time, there weren't any workers there who knew my parent's faces or mine. This hadn't blown my cover. I walked into the cream rugged store, inhaling the beautiful smell of their latest perfume. I love the colour red and Cartier's signature colour was red. I had digested the beautiful decor of the store before staring at the gold, rose-gold and silver jewellery protected in the glass boxes.

"Hello, can I help you?" An Indian woman smiled sweetly at me, she looked down at my Cartier bracelet and took a liking to me. I was 170cm, tall for a 15 year old girl and my long hair had always given me an older age than 15. I also tended to not speak like a child, as many had said about me. So to her, I looked probably around 20 (at the latest).

"Can I see that one?" I pointed to beautiful rose-gold ring with Cartier's signature brand symbol, there were sparkling diamonds in each little circle, enhancing the ring.

"Ah, perfect. This is from our Love collection. I think this is your size." The saleswoman carefully placed the ring over the tray that had a soft material on top of it to protect the ring from getting scratched. She slid the ring onto my finger, I looked at the gorgeous ring in wonder. I knew that one day, this was going to be my engagement ring. Fajer had already known I was just in Cartier to waste time, however, Lisa-Anne didn't.

"How much is this?" I asked confidently. She had given me an expensive price and I kept my expressionless face intact. I didn't dare show any widening of the eyes or a little parting of my lips to indicate a shocked expression, showing that I couldn't afford this ring on my own.

"After discount?" I bargained.

"After discount Ma'am," She looked surprised, she wasn't going to get away with charging the full price.

"Mhhhm, I don't know." I tilted my head a few times, looking at the ring in different angles. Lisa-Anne had hurried over after she heard the price.

"Shoug! NO!! Your mama and baba will kill you! You crazy?!" Lisa-Anne exclaimed, looking bewildered that a ring could be priced that high.

"Lisa-Anne, calm down." I whispered between my gritted teeth, she was blowing my cover. The saleswoman looked at my nanny and then back at me, I could see the wheels turn in her head. She finally saw me as a young teenager than an adult. She looked like she wanted to force the ring off of my finger.

"I was actually looking for the diamond filled ring, the new one I saw in London in the summer?" I lied, I saw that expensive ring on the Cartier site.

"Oh, sorry Ma'am. We haven't received that ring yet." The saleswoman looked more relaxed.

"Awh.. It's too simple for my taste," I looked at the ring again, it was breathtaking but I had to make up an excuse. The saleswoman looked shocked at my statement, I smiled apologetically at her and slid the ring off, placing it right back onto the tray.

"WHAT? ANOTHER RING?!" Lisa-Anne had overheard me, her voice was too loud; "It iz your funeral!"

I smiled again at the weirded out saleswoman before motioning Fajer to follow me to the direction of the door of the store. We left as fast as we could, I explained the situation to Lisa-Anne and she dramatically swiped a hand over her forehead and breathed out in relief.

"Shoug?" Lulu waved her hand in front of my face, causing the memory of that day with Fajer and Lisa-Anne fade away.

"Oh, tena7t!" I laughed.

"I noticed," Lulu laughed, we were already in the parking area waiting for my driver to show up. I checked my blackberry again but I didn't get a call from Reem. I checked my texts and my eyes bulged out once I saw Reem's name.

Siso Reem;* : Shougg! Tabeen tiyeen, t3alay. Obouy ga3ed. Royal hosp, rm.1004, level 10.

Akheeran!! 

Hussain finally showed up, I was so impatient onto seeing my Dad that I asked Lulu if it was okay that Hussain dropped me off to the hospital first and then he would drop her back home. She encouraged me to do so and I hugged her tight, thanking her. My heart was grinding up against my rib cage, trying to tear through my chest. I felt like my heart beats were screaming through my skin, I was so nervous onto finally seeing my Dad. I had anticipated this moment for hours, long dreadful hours.

Our SUV drove into the road that connected the main road with the entrance road that guided you over to the hospital. Hussain stretched out his foot and stepped onto the break, parking in front of the Royal Hospital entrance. Lulu gave me a long hug before I exited the car, I blew a kiss at Lisa-Anne so her worried face would turn into a smile instead.

I hurried inside and walked past the reception desk, I slid into the elevator and waited.

Ding!

Level 1.

Ding!

Level 2.

Ding!

Level 3.

I wanted to punch the elevator's robot female voice. I tapped my foot impatiently as I watched the numbers change on the little elevator screen.

Ding!

Level 10.

The doors swiped open and I walked so fast that I nearly slipped on the glossy marble floor. I could hear my Mom call out "Shway shway!" in my head. There were colourful flowers outside one of the rooms and big pink balloons that said "It's a girl!"

I suddenly wondered if my parents had gotten those kinds of balloons when I was born.

Umbey, Shoug. Your Dad's in the hospital and you're thinking about balloons?! 

Room 1001, room 1002, room 1003.. I counted the rooms in my head when suddenly, I found myself standing in front of room 1004. There weren't any balloons or any sort of indication that this patient was spending the night here for a happy occasion. The door was plain white and it looked as depressed as I felt right at that moment.

I took a huge breath and pushed the door open. The decor of the room was as simple as the door, but it looked lush and elegant. The floor was plain glossy white, the wallpaper had a simple pattern but the portraits hung on it were beautiful drawings that I wished I could draw one day. I found Reem laying down on a grey couch, her baby bump showing through her clothes. Her eyes were closed and she looked tired. I couldn't find M7md or Khalid, they either didn't know yet or probably visited him already and had left a while ago.

As I took a few more steps, I found my mother sitting on the chair next to my father's bed. I took my time, I didn't want to look at my father yet. I was too scared to face him, I couldn't break down in front of him. My mom had her eyes closed as well, I was guessing that both my sister and mother had stayed up all night. I tried to be as quiet as possible so I wouldn't interrupt Reem's and Mom's time of rest.

I finally shifted my eyes towards my father, he was covered in a white soft-looking blanket, there were multiple wires connected to him. One was in his nose, in his wrist and a "kamam" (a plastic thing that supplies you with oxygen for breathing problems) attached to his face. I could see his chest moving upwards and backwards, him taking long lungful breaths. His eyes met mine, there were hues of yellow in them and faint red little lines that had been connected into his pupil. His face looked frail and weak, I was frightened with touching his cheek. I was afraid I'd hurt him with a simple poke.

"Yuba?" I weakly called out, my voice was cracking. I felt a lump rise in my throat, I pushed it down. I'm not going to cry!  Dad pushed the "kamam" aside so he could speak, I rushed to his side and put it back onto his mouth.


"La la yuba, khalek! Ha.. you're looking better.." I lied, I tried not to stare at the plastic bag on top of him, containing different kinds of medicines inside that was absorbed by my father's body. He pointed a finger towards a table that was hanging over him, there was a water bottle on top of it. I quickly obeyed and twisted the cap off of the bottle. He pushed his kamam aside and I pressed the head of the water bottle against his lips, tilting it so water could slide into his mouth and make its way down his throat, hydrating his thin body.

He took small sips before pushing the bottle away. I looked away as I felt the tears starting to cloud my vision. Whilst my father was trying to put the kamam back on, I swiped the back of my hand over my eyes, pushing the tears away. I caught Reem looking at me, with a sad look on her face. I turned away quickly, I planted a soft kiss over the top of my father's head.

I heard the door open and a female doctor had entered, she was wearing a white coat and had her hair put back into a neat ponytail. She looked American.

"Hey, how are we going today? I got the results back." Her American accent was intact, my mom quickly pulled herself up, patting her ruffled dara3a and looked at the doctor eagerly.

"What? Please say it's good news," I heard the traces of an Arabian accent in my mom's English, she sounded worried but hopeful.

"Well.." The doctor flipped over the pages, reading over the results.

"What is it?" Reem asked impatiently, standing up and walking over to us while she had a hand over her baby bump, as if she was shielding the baby from hearing any bad news about his/her future grandfather. My father's eyes were closed, he looked asleep but from experience, I knew he was just trying to shut out the world.

"The results say..

Chapter 24

* This chapter is dedicated to @Maha677, probably the sweetest person alive. ;*
I hope you enjoy this post, I tried making it long like chapter 22. :D

-






I crouched down to the floor and stretched my arm under the orange couch, my hand found something hidden under it. I grabbed it and pulled it out. I gasped in wonder and excitement once I saw what it was.

The delicate silver charm bracelet was carefully wrapped in a red cloth, I pulled it up to my cheek to feel the soft silky material against my cheek before dangling the bracelet in front of me to look closely at the charms. There were 5 little charms, one was a little silver paintbrush attached to the bracelet, a little red microphone, a tiny heart, a football charm and a delicate S letter. It was beautiful, it took my breath away. I fastened it around my wrist and watched it hug around my wrist, fitting perfectly.

I couldn't stop smiling, a little folded note fell out of the silk cloth and I impatiently flipped it open with my fingers. I could see S3ood's messy handwriting, it was adorable. It said:

I wanted you to be able to bring your art and your music everywhere with you. Handing you an actual paint set would be too heavy to carry around, so I thought I'd set every charm for you. One for your art, one for your voice, one for your love for football, an S for your beautiful name and a little heart to give you a little piece of me, now I'll be with you all along the way. Not just through bbm. ;* - S3ood.

I aw'd out loud, I folded the little note carefully and slipped it into my pocket, keeping it safe. My purse wasn't with me and I didn't want anyone to read his words, I felt like it was personally just for me. I didn't want to share him with anyone.

"Shoug? Shfeech ga3da chithe brou7ich?" I nearly fell back onto the floor once I heard the deep voice, it scared the sh*t out of me! Khalid looked at me weirdly and tried not to laugh.

"Khara3tech?" Khalid laughed it off but I could hear the suspicion in his voice.

"Bismellah! Kent ga3da agra blogs, et3rfny a7b agra when it's quiet," I quickly switched to the safari browser on my blackberry and thank goodness, I had a blog open already. He took a step forward to peek at my phone, he seemed satisfied when he saw the blocks of letters. He wasn't a reader so he never bothered to check what I was actually reading.

"Ooh ok, wein rafeejtich?" Khalid looked around the vacant diwanya.

"Ra7at etshouf el Real Madrid match," I rolled my eyes and he grinned, he was a Madrid guy all the way.

"Shiftaay el match gabel chem youm? Barca lost, I don't get why you support a losing team," Khalid turned around to leave, not letting me argue or disagree with his statement. 6aaf. -.-

I looked back at my bracelet, shaking my arm a bit so the charms dangled around, click clacking against each other. I smiled again. I pulled out my blackberry and clicked on bbm, I looked for S3ood's name and my face lit up once I found it.

Zwara/Shoug Al-X:
Omg. Omg. Omg. S3OOD!

Out/S3ood Al-X:
Haa, did you like it?;p

Zwara/Shoug Al-X:
No I didn't like it!

Out/S3ood Al-X:
Laaish ;/ .. did you want Cartier w hal siwalif? It is real silver..

I giggled at his message, having him in my life was even more than enough. I wasn't the type that would want to be showered with gifts just so I could be happy with someone.

Zwara/Shoug Al-X:
I didn't like it because I LOVED it! And don't ever bring me something expensive like that, a9lan the bracelet looks expensive enough! You didn't have to get me anything.. :/ It's not even my birthday..

Out/S3ood Al-X:
It feels like my own birthday everyday ever since I met you. I wanted you to have something that reminded you of me. Shoug, you're worth even more than just a bracelet. One day I'll show you how much you're worth in my eyes, when I can finally call you mine.

I hugged my knees to my body and read his message multiple times. What did he mean by "When I can finally call you mine"? Was he planning something that I didn't know about? I honestly didn't know, I had to stop worrying about every word he said or else I'm going to over-think this and ruin everything.

Zwara/Shoug Al-X:
Aw S3ood.. it's enough that I have you in my life. Thank you again, for the wonderful gift. I love love LOVE it. I'll never take it off, ever! <3

I never expected that a stranger I bumped into a few weeks ago would turn into a very important person in my life. There were multiple surprises for me, bad ones and good ones. 7mdellah. 
I didn't regret anything that had happened with Nour or Ali, they were worth the trouble.  Usually during the time that something bad happens, you hate it. But after a while, you start to look back and notice that you've learned a lot of lessons from that bad experience.

 I knew that there was more to come, my life wasn't over yet but suddenly, I felt ready. Ready for anything else that was daring to crush me, I'm not going to allow it to ruin me or leave a scratch.

And in that moment, I suddenly realized that I was stronger by myself. I didn't need to be dependent on someone else to feel strong, I just needed myself.

"Shoug, I was looking for you everywhere!" I heard Lisa-Anne complain.

"Lisa-Anne?" My eyes brows furrowed in confusion, what was she doing here?

"Shoug, pleaaze come now! Sir is very zick, you have to come now!!"

Wait, what?! Be strong, don't break down Shoug. Not when you just realized how strong you could be!

I rushed out of the diwanya and followed Lisa-Anne to our SUV. I texted Loura and had told her that I went to check on my father, she texted back wishing me luck and had said Nasser would keep her company. 

Why was I so blind? I remembered seeing my Mom's worn out face, there were hues of yellow and her cheeks looked pale. I bought the fact that she was just tired but I should have known there was something she was keeping from me! I could feel the tears form in my eyes, I pushed my worrying thoughts away. He's fine, ma feeh shay. Enshallah ma feeh shay.. I kept praying in my heart to God that he was okay, that it was something minor. If it was something big, my Mom wouldn't have kept it away from me if it was something serious, right?

I grabbed Lisa-Anne's arm in the car, looking her in the eyes before speaking; "What happened? Tell me everything and don't lie!"

I saw Lisa-Anne hesitate, she was keeping something away from me. I clinged to her arm, my eyes begging her to speak.

"Madam left the houze early to take Sir to hozpital then she go to your Grandma houze. She tell me not to tell you becuz she say you have school and she didn't want everyone to know." Lisa-Anne's eyes were full of sadness.

"Lisa, is he okay?" I pleaded for an answer, she shrugged and frowned. She didn't know. I dialed my mother's mobile and she wouldn't pick up. I dialed my sister Reem's mobile and she'd answered.

"Aloo?" Reem whispered through the phone.

"Reem! Wein obouy?!" I practically yelled through the phone.

"Shoug, obuy nayem bl Royal Hospital. Ana al7een m3ah, la et7ateen, 7mdellah ma feeh shay.." Reem's voice stayed low and quiet.

"Laish ma giltooly?" A tear had escaped, I quickly pushed the tear away with the back of my hand.

"Shoug, khala9. Ma feeh shay, et3arfeena kela yidakhen. 7a6eenla drip w el results 7ag el checkup aren't back yet bs la etkhafein, akeed ma feeh shay." I felt like Reem was trying to convince herself rather than trying to convince me.

"Bayee ashoufa," I stated, I didn't ask for a permission.

"Shoug, la2! Ma nabee a7ad yi3arf w brou7a mit2akhr. Obouy nayim, laish bit3athbeen rou7ich chithe? Riday el bait w namay, bacher enshallah tigdireen etshoufeena etha khale9tay your homeworks." Reem switched to Mom mode, it annoyed me like hell. Why is it that they could all see my father except me? I didn't argue, I knew she was going through a tougher situation, she was carrying a baby and having to keep something like this away from me. She was probably as depressed as I was. I agreed to stay home and visit Dad tomorrow.

That was a sleepless night, I couldn't get even a minute's of sleep. My head was swirling with endless streams of thoughts, I always worried a lot and I got that from my Mom. I always thought about the worst things that could happen to my Dad, which was a very bad thing to do since it just deepened my depressed state. I put "DND" on my status and didn't answer any of the DMs, tweets or bbms I received from S3ood, Jassim or my friends.

The next day, I had to sit through an hour of French tuition with Madame LaPointe.

"No Shoug, naw! It iz like deez, TELEPHONERAAAAIIII. Extend on the RRRRR, like ARRRRR. Deez iz past tense, you have to use pazt tenze for your exam!" Madame LaPointe made crazy hand gestures, showing how long the Rs extended.

"Je TELEPHONERRAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII," I imitated her.

"FANTASTIQUE! D'accord, next we will talk about dee futurrr Freench verbz." She clapped her hands giddily and continued on with her stretched out words. Usually I'd laugh at her crazy personality but today, I wasn't feeling it.

I left my blackberry switched off and didn't check if anyone had bbm'd me, I switched it on once Madame LaPointe click clacked her heels and left our house.

24 bbm chats, 10 tweet mentions/DMs and 2 texts. I didn't bother on clicking on any of them, I dialed Reem's phone since I knew she was already at the hospital.

"Aloo," Reem was whispering again.

"Nayem obouy?" I sighed, that meant I couldn't come.

"Eeh 7bebti, Shoug mu lazem tiyeen. Lema yigoum adig 3leech, 6il3ay m3a refejatich ow shay. Omee m3ay, she said it's okay for you to go out." Reem tried to sound as chipper as possible, Mom probably had told Reem to say that to keep my mind off of my Dad. It wasn't working. I couldn't argue with her, my Mom's words were final and she was as stubborn as me.

"Okay okay, bs la tensein etdigeen 3lay lema yigoum!" I reminded her, she promised she would call and so she ended the conversation. I hung up and looked around the study room, clueless.

What was I going to do now?

I called up Lulu and explained to her the situation. She offered that we would go to Avenues for lunch, I accepted and went upstairs to change. I didn't bother dressing up this time, I was already wearing a loose shirt and a pair of denim leggings, I pulled on a blazer on top of the outfit and pulled my long brown hair into a high bun. Lulu didn't take long, I greeted her and I didn't make an effort to smile much. I didn't always have to put on an act in front of Lulu, she understood what I was going through. Her father had been ill too and she didn't push me into talking a lot of the time.

"How are you holding up?" Lulu asked me worriedly once we were in the SUV with Lisa-Anne and my driver Hussain.

"So far, okay. I didn't break down into tears today, that's a good thing, right?" I looked up at her, I was afraid I was being heartless but she nodded, smiling.

We ended up having lunch in Shake Shack. Avenues was crowded, as usual. We managed to snag a table for me, Lulu and Lisa-Anne. We each ordered our own burgers and I gloomily sipped my Coke. I pushed my plate further down the table, I lost my appetite. Lulu was stuffing her face into her cheesy burger, covering her lips with mayo and cheese. I laughed at her and she gave me a smile, exposing her cheese covered teeth. This made me laugh even harder.

"What?! I'm hungry!" Lulu laughed a long, she swiped the cheese off of her lips with a napkin. While Lulu and Lisa-Anne were absorbed into their burgers, I looked at the people passing us. Shake Shack was placed in the middle of Avenues, it was an open restaurant so people who were shopping or just walking by could watch us eat. It was pretty awkward but as long as you were sitting down, you had the excuse to stare at people who passed you by.

I admired a girl's outfit from far away. I watched her long skirt flow dramatically as she walked with her H&M plastic bag in her hand. As I was sliding my eyes back and fourth between people, observing them. A pair of  brown eyes had caught my attention, those eyes found mine and stared back into my nearly black eyes.


I nearly gasped outloud once I knew who the owner of those brown eyes was.


It was Ali.

Chapter 23

*Follow my twitter for updates or for any questions that you have: @_Kuwaitblog
&& I allowed anonymous comments, for those who have asked me to change my comment settings. x

Team Jassim or Team S3ood?;p  DM me your answer. Hope you guys enjoy it! x

-


Out/S3ood Al-X: 
 Shoug!!! Who hurt you like that?!?!? REPLY AS SOON AS YOU SEE THIS!

I switched to Twitter and shakily clicked on the message icon.

Jassim: Shoug, sh9ar?! Mnu em3awrech?! :/ Shoug, you can tell me anything. E3tabreeni your bestfriend..

Now what the hell was I supposed to do?

I sighed. I couldn't lie but I could skip out some information. I sent the same message to both Jassim and S3ood, it said:

Shoug: It's no big deal! This random guy tried to touch me, he was too hard on my arm but don't worry, Lisa-Anne took care of it. She hit the guy with her shoe. :D Hahhaha.

I tried to make it lighthearted as much as possible.

Out/S3ood Al-X:
What no big deal!? 7M-R! Zain sawet feeh Lisa-Anne!! Go to the doctor, NOW.

Jassim: Laish ma gilteely? :/ Chan sima3tay kalam okhouch w ri7tay 3nd el doctor..

I promised both of them that I would go get it checked out if the pain had exceeded. I slipped my blackberry back into my pocket and handed out the frozen yogurts to the little kids.

"Thoug! Ana awbee!" Little 7anan called out, she was running over to me and grabbing at my sweats.

"Ekhthay 7beebti," I pulled out the last little frozen yogurt and handed it over to her. She took a spoonful of chocolate frozen yogurt chocolate and gave me a toothy smile. I planted a kiss over her cheek, she was adorable. I stood up to find Jassim standing over me with a small smile on his face.

"You sure love kids, don't you?" He asked casually.

"Of course," I answered, I didn't notice him. If he was back, that meant S3ood was too. I wasn't expecting them to come back so early. These guys popped out of nowhere, I checked around for M7md or S3ood but they weren't there, me and Jassim were left alone in the living room once the kids scurried off to the playroom.

"Shoug.." Jassim's hand rested above my bruised shoulder, he pulled the jacket halfway done to look at the bruise. His eyes were filled with pain.

"Jassim." I heard S3ood's voice behind me, his voice was filled with anger and.. jealousy? I turned around to look at him, stepping away from Jassim. Jassim dropped his hand down to his side, I walked away from Jassim and S3ood. The atmosphere felt intense in there, I had to get out.

"Shoug, yalla mama benrou7." My mother walked up to me, wrapping her e7jab around her salt and peppered hair.

"Wein?" I asked, it was still too early. We usually stayed here till 12:30am, 1 am at the latest. I saw Shaikha's face sadden as she heard us, she must have wanted M7md to stay longer.

"Bitig3deen? Ana barid el bait, t3bt." Mom's face looked worn out, her thick eyeliner was smeared. She only wore eyeliner, always. She had big eyes that me and my sisters inherited, they were always so beautiful to look into.

"3sa ma shar, shfeech?" I asked her, worried.

"Ma feene shay, la etkhafein. Kiberna mama, yalla etha bitig3deen 3yal digay 3la Hussain ow Lisa-Anne 3shan lema bitrideen elbait. La et6awleen." Her lips widened and had formed into a smile.

I heard a load of pings from my pocket, I slipped my blackberry out and clicked on bbm. My mom was busy looking for her purse so I clicked on one of the chats.

Loura:* :
Shouuug?! Weiniiich!

Loura:*:
RIDAY 3LAAAAAY SHOUUUUUG!

Loura:*:

PING!!!

PING!!!

PING!!!

Zwara/Shoug Al-X:
Ma etshoufeen el 'zwara' on my name? -.- Haaa shfeech? ;o

Loura:*:
T3alaay 3ndna ;;) ..

Zwara/Shoug Al-X:
3balee 3ndch salfa -.- wein? It's 6pm!

Loura:*:
Offh ee, embacher! Beitna, 3yal wein?:p

Zwara/Shoug Al-X:
Lemme ask mom.

"Yumaaa, 3ade arou7 bait Loura?" I scurried over to her, giving her my best puppy eye expression. She was probably getting fed up of my puppy eyes.

"Laa2, yaah tig3deen 3nd bait yeditich ow etrideen el bait m3ay. Tawich rada men pinkberry w ams ri7tay 360. Besiich kela t6l3een!" Mom complained.

"Yumaaa.." I groaned.

"Etha tabe teyee 3yal 7ayah allah bs entay tig3deen mukanich, Hussain yigder yumerha. Beit'hom yem bait yedetich, mu 9a7?"

"YESYESYES!" I jumped up and down, like a child. My mom looked embarrassed.

"Okay okay, ga3da etfashleena!" Mom was holding back a laugh, I squeezed her for a hug and she looked weirded out. She wasn't a hugger but her expression had made me laugh even more.

Zwara/Shoug Al-X:
Shrayech tiyeen 3ndna?:D

Loura:*:
Laaa2, fashlaa! :c

Zwara/Shoug Al-X:
Yalla 3aad, shd3wa. :D Sayigna yumerich w ma tabeen etshoufeen Nasser?;p

Loura:*:
Let him pick me up in 40 minutes!

I waited impatiently, I tried my best not to bump into S3ood or Jassim. I felt so awkward after that encounter. After an hour, Loura had showed up on my Grandmother's doorstep. Loura had over done it, she straightened her hair down to her shoulders and had worn thick winged eyeliner that shaped her eyes. Her full lips were coated with red lip gloss and she'd worn a black blazer over her colorful top and jeans.

"Woooaah," I said before greeting her with a warm hug.

"3ijebich?" Loura smiled before twirling around, showing off her full outfit.

"Amazing!" I exclaimed, I guided her into the house. She was too shy to see all of my relatives so we decided to go to the abandoned diwanya. The guys had used the second living room today, leaving the diwanya vacant. We passed Nasser on the way there, his eyes followed Loura and she blushed, trying to walk as quickly as possible.

"He's so cute!" Loura gushed as soon as we were in the diwanya.

"Besssiiiich, al7een enta yaya 7agi wla 7aga?" I rolled my eyes at her teasingly.

"Shoug.." Loura placed her hands over mine, her eyes hardened and she looked deep into mine, becoming serious, "I'm sorry.. but we have to break up. I've found someone else. Someone hotter, taller, tanner and six packed-er."

"Six packed-er isn't a word you idiot." I laughed at her, she was a fa9la.

"Ahhhh," Loura let go of me and sighed dreamily as she laid back down on the couch.

"Ley hal deraja in love?" One of my arched eyebrows shot up as I asked her.

"Maybeeeeee," Loura sighed again, in a happy way. "Did you see how I caught his attention? I should dress up more often."

"If he can't accept you the way you are then you shouldn't even like him in the first place." I huffed at her, I wasn't close to Nasser but he seemed like a respectable guy. I still didn't want her getting into a bad situation though. "Loura, deeray balich 3la nafsich, okay?"

"Shd3waa, it's just a crush. You're such a mom Shoug, do I have to remind you that I'm older than you?" Loura smiled at me.

"No you don't but still, just take care of yourself with these things..." I sighed.

"You worry a lot, el 7aya 7ilwa. Loosen up!" Loura sat up and pulled me up from the couch. "Khanrou7 enshoufhom mara thanya."

"Loura, la2.." I really wasn't interested in trying to follow my cousins around, I saw them as my brothers and I couldn't imagine myself liking any of them.

"Yalla 3aaad.. ma ra7 en6awil, pinky promise!" Loura stretched out her pinky and wrapped it around mine.

"Fine," I surrendered and let her pull me along. We ended up joining my cousins in watching a football match, they all were Real Madrid guys and I was a Barca fan.

So I found this torturing, listening to their dull conversations about RM while Loura kept nodding at Nassir, agreeing to everything he said.

S3ood had walked into the TV room and found me sitting on the couch alone, while Loura was on the ground, next to Nasser and Ghaneema.

He pulled out his blackberry and feverishly typed a message, I watched his fingers move easily over the keyboard. My blackberry vibrated against my leg and I knew that the message he was typing was for me.

Out/S3ood Al-X:
I have a little surprise for you. Go back to the diwaneya and look under the orange couch, you'll find it there. ;*

A surprise? I looked up to find that S3ood was gone. Loura's attention was on Nasser so I decided to sneak out of the TV room and hurry outside to the diwanya. I pushed the slide glass door to the side and walked into the diwanya. Phew, no one's here! 

I crouched down to the floor and stretched my arm under the orange couch, my hand found something hidden under it. I grabbed it and pulled it out. I gasped in wonder and excitement once I saw what it was.

Chapter 22

 *Made this post longer than the others 3shankom, hope you guys enjoy it! :D x  - @_Kuwaitblog

-


My blackberry vibrated impatiently in the pockets of my Juicy, I pulled it out with shaky hands and read the following message:

Out/S3ood Al-X:
Hey.. why did my friend just smile at you? Do you two know each other?

I couldn't lie to him, why should I lie? There wasn't anything going on with Jassim and me. I bet he was just being kind to me.

Zwara/Shoug Al-X:
Oh, Jassim? Yes, we're twitter buddies. I never knew he knew you or my brothers so I wasn't expecting to see him.

The little D next to my bbm message turned into an R (indicating that S3ood had already read my message). There wasn't a typing on his status, he didn't reply for seemed like hours. I stared at the time, 8 minutes had passed before he replied.

Out/S3ood Al-X:
You're following him on twitter too?

Zwara/Shoug Al-X:
Uhm yeah, is there a problem? :/

Out/S3ood Al-X:
Can you unfollow him?

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Zwara/Shoug Al-X:
 Laish? :s

Out/S3ood Al-X:
Bs.

Anger boiled inside me, I hated it when people just expected me to do something.

Zwara/Shoug Al-X:
La2, he's my friend. There's nothing between us.

Another 8 minutes had passed.

Out/S3ood Al-X:
You're upstairs, right? I'm coming.

What!?

Zwara/Shoug Al-X:
S3ood la2!! Ekhwanii ta7at!

After a few minutes, I heard two quiet but hear-able knocks on the bathroom door. I stared at the white polished door and at the golden knob.

"It's me," S3ood whispered through the door, he tried turning the knob a few times before whispering again; "Shoug?"

"Y-yes?" I croaked.

"Open the door... unless you're busy uhm, doing your business in there?" S3ood chucked to himself, trying to hold back his laughter. I felt my face redden, I quickly turned the knob and pulled the door open.

I crossed my arms and pouted, "No thank you, I'm not doing any kind of business."

"Ma y9eer atghasmar m3ach?" S3ood laughed again, his dimples were visible and I could feel my insides melt. I couldn't stay mad at him any longer.

"Okay but isn't this kind of, uhm, awkward?" I took a step back so S3ood could walk into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. His hands searched for the knob behind his back, he slid his fingers over the lock and turned it, trapping us in the flower scented bathroom.

"This could be our first date," S3ood smiled and slid his fingers through his hair, combing it back.

"Well, isn't this romantic?" I asked sarcastically, I couldn't help but smile back at him. The anger in me was all lost and forgotten once I caught the sight of him, standing in front of him and his adorable dimples popping out every few seconds.

"I'm sorry, I know your brothers would kill you and me if they saw us together like this, but I needed to talk to you face to face. 7aseit enich 3a9ebtay on bbm.." S3ood looked down, his smile fading and was replaced with a small frown.

"S3ood.. why do you want me to unfollow him? Ohwa shsawa?" I sighed, trying to keep my voice low so no one would hear us outside. I was pretty sure no one was upstairs, everyone was busy with the zwara.

"Khayif eni.." S3ood looked hesitant to continue his sentence, he inhaled a large dose of oxygen before continuing; "Khayif eni bakhserich, adre we're just friends right now. W adre you're not that type of girl, that's why I like you so much. I can see myself with you in the future, you're not one of those sl*ts and I never thought you were, even when I first bumped into you in the Mishref bookstore."

My lips suddenly felt sealed against each other, I couldn't utter a word at his reply.

"S-s3ood... enta et'3ar 3lay?" I immediately regretted it once those words escaped my mouth.
Stupid, stupid Shoug!

"Akeed a'3ar 3lech, abeech Shoug." S3ood lifted his head and his eyes searched for mine. I believed every last word that came out of his mouth, I could see the emotions in his eyes. And one of those emotions stood out most to me.

That emotion was love.

"Shoofay, ensay 3an the unfollowing Jassim thing. Okay? I'll wait for you, I won't be the person that gets you into trouble with your family and I don't want to be the kind of guy that forces you into doing things you don't want to do.." S3ood continued, he saw my speechless expression and I felt grateful that he didn't push me into speaking.

"Okay, thank you S3ood." I whispered shyly, I stared down at the white tiles of the bathroom, as if they were the most interesting thing ever.

"Yalla barou7 al7een, tamreen 3la shay?" S3ood noticed my shyness and his smile grew, he was enjoying this.

"La2," I looked back up at him and smiled back.

"Bye you tomato," S3ood chuckled softly after poking one of my reddened cheeks, he turned to leave the bathroom and closed the door behind him. I turned to look at my own reflection in the mirror in front of me and gasped. Ekhdoudi! Oh my god, that's so embarrassing! 

I pressed the palm of my hands against my cheeks and rubbed them, feeling the heat radiate through my skin. I waited for 10 minutes to pass before I left the bathroom and made my way down the stairs. I couldn't leave right after S3ood had, then people would have become suspicious.

I found Shaikha passing the living room filled with guys, she smiled at me in relief once she saw me. I bet she was super shy with having to pass at least twenty guys. I wasn't alone. Shaikha grabbed me by my hand and ushered me through the house, leading me outside to yard.

"Shrayech enrou7 Pinkberry?" Shaikha winked at me once we were standing next to her illuminating red Porsche Cayenne.

"Bs ome ma ra7 tir'9a," I argued, I mostly just wanted to be as close to S3ood as possible.

"Laa 3ameti Shaha bitir'9a etha ana kalemt'ha," Shaikha snagged her iPhone out of her fuschia Bottega Veneta purse and dialed my mother's mobile number.

"Ahleein 3ameti, bakheth Shougo m3ay, benyeeb barid 7ag el yahal men Pinkberry," Shaikha kept nodding even though she was speaking into the phone.

"La la, ma ra7 en6awl 3ameti, w el yahal gamow y7inoun yaboun barid. Ma y3rfoun el farg bein frozen yogurt w barid. Kaa, yemna. Pinkberry ely eb Jabriya, yem Starbucks. 3arafteeh? Eeh, yalla okay mashkoura 3ameti. M3a el salama." Shaikha worked her wonders and gave me a big toothy smile.

"Mu giltlch biter'9a etha ana kalemt'ha?" Shaikha showed off, I nodded at her in agreement and laughed at her.

"Shaikha, Shoug, wein btrou7oun?" I heard my brother, M7md, ask behind me. I turned around and saw S3ood and another one of their friends stand next to them. S3ood turned his head down and avoided looking into my eyes in front of the others. So cute! 

"Pinkberry, tiyoun m3ana?" Shaikha was very bold, her mother's side of the family were super free and open minded so she was used to having close guy cousins. My family was the opposite. I noticed M7md's eyes were staring down at the floor, he wouldn't look Shaikha in the eyes either. I've never seen him act this way towards a girl before. No way! He looks.. shy! 

"Eeh, ana w el shabab binakheth sayarti w entow rou7aw eb sayartkom," M7md gave Shaikha a little smile before walking to his car. Shaikha's eyes stared at M7md's back for a few long seconds. I nudged Shaikha's arm, pulling her attention away from my brother. My brother was dark skinned, not too dark but he never needed to tan, he had short hair and a tall build.

 He had an addiction with body building but he had stopped working out to maintain his figure, big muscles were just not attractive (in my opinion). So I guess he was fairly attractive, but come on, he's my brother!

The ride to Pinkberry Jabriya was quick since it was close to my Grandmother's house. There were numerous cars parked outside Pinkberry, people were sitting outside, sipping their Frappochinos and hot Lattes in their hands.

They were probably enjoying the light gusts of wind that indicated the hints of winter. It was still too early for winter but you could still feel that it was nearing closer and closer by the week.

The boys had arrived to Pinkberry before us, I noticed that Jassim was with the M7md, S3oud and the other guy friend. He probably decided to accompany them. We entered Pinkberry and I decided to order multiple flavours in small sizes for the kids. Shaikha and M7md had decided to go to Starbucks instead.

I could feel S3ood's arm softly brush up against mine every few moments while we were standing in front of the counter, looking over the colourful toppings through the glass protecting it.

I listened clearly to his order.

"Can I have one pomegranate, big size, fill it up with bananas, blackberries, granola and strawberries." His voice was deep but not too deep to sound like an old creep. Jassim was right next to S3ood and I tried to put some space between us once M7md walked up to me.

He was holding a chocolate frappacino with whip cream, he placed an hand over my bruised arm in a brotherly way as I was waiting for my order. M7md accidentally squeezed my arm, I winced out in pain.

"Ayyy!" I quickly moved away from M7md, holding back my arm. M7md's eyes were full of panic.

"Walla neseit! Asif Shougo, 3awertich?" M7md took a step closer and pulled my Juicy jacket down, exposing the bruise. It was getting worse, my arm was swollen and I could see the colours violet and indigo surrounding my arm. I felt S3ood's and Jassim's eyes on me, they were gaping at my arm.

Ugh, no! 

I pushed M7md's hand away and covered my arm up.

"Shoug, lazem awadeech el doctor! Gam yizeed," M7md looked worried and scared. I didn't dare look at S3ood or Jassim but their eyes were burning into my skin.

"M7md, ma feene shay! Walla," I smiled weakly at him.

"Ma'am, your order is ready." I heard the Pinkberry worker speak up. I took the plastic bag from her that was filled with small yogurts for the kids back at the zwara. I saw Shaikha aproach us and I pulled her along, forcing her out with me before any of the guys had anything else to say about my bruise.

"Shfeech msta3eela?" Shaikha's eyes kept trying to search for M7md as I was pulling her along, we passed the seats for Starbucks and Pinkberry outside and found our way to her car.

"Ome ma et3arf ena M7md's friends are with us, ma abeeha et3a9ib." It wasn't a lie, my mom wouldn't have liked the idea of me out with M7md's friends. Especially if she knew I was crushing on one of them.

"Okay, okay." Shaikha bought it, she drove us back to the house and I figured the guys decided to hang around in Jabriya Pinkberry. They had more freedom then I could ever have.

da-ling! I saw the little bird signal and the bbm one, I knew who had contacted me on twitter and bbm. I couldn't avoid the questions any longer. I clicked on bbm first, scrolled down multiple chats and stopped over one.

Out/S3ood Al-X: 
 Shoug!!! Who hurt you like that?!?!? REPLY AS SOON AS YOU SEE THIS!


I switched to Twitter and shakily clicked on the message icon.

Jassim: Shoug, sh9ar?! Mnu em3awrech?! :/ Shoug, you can tell me anything. E3tabreeni your bestfriend..

Now what the hell was I supposed to do?

Chapter 21

"7mdellah zain," I smiled at her, my smile became forceful once I saw Nour approach me. She took me in her skinny body and pressed herself hard against me for a hug. Her bones crushed against mine, I winced.

Nour pulled me back in before I let go, she smiled a big icey smile as she whispered the following poisonous words: "Stay away from my boyfriend, he told me that you were all over him in 360. yesterday. Face it, he's mine b*tch."

I stared at Nour in bewilderment, the hell!? I pulled her arm and guided her towards the coat room besides the living room. I shut the door behind us and she crossed her arms in front of me.

"You think I flirted with your boyfriend? Your boyfriend is a liar!" I tried to keep my voice low so I wouldn't attract any unwanted attention from the living room. Nour looked expressionless.

"Agoul, la etchathbeen. Me and my boyfriend have an honest relationship. If he was a liar, he wouldn't have told me what you did to him in 360 yesterday," Nour huffed.

"Honest relationship? You must be bullsh*tting me right now, right? Ey honest 7bebti? He thinks you're a tall gorgeous model with black hair and tan skin, all I can see is a thin girl standing right in front of me, wearing a e7jab and has skin as white as an Asian woman." I tsked in disapproval.

 I continued before she could say anything to interrupt me; "And you know what? You two have plenty in common, you both just love to flirt with other people even when you're already taken. You should ask him who he flirted with yesterday, I'm pretty sure one of the girls he was following was in our school." I saw her expression shift from strong to shocked, I knew she believed me. She believed every word I said.

"Oh and for more proof," I turned around and slid off my juicy jacket halfway to show her the purple bruise forming on my left arm, where Ali's fingers had roughly squeezed. The shape of his fingers had imprinted onto my arm, showing that it was a bruise from someone who had the intention of hurting me.

"S-shoug..." Nour took a step towards me to look at my arm closely, but her eyes quickly averted and she looked behind me. I turned around to see what she was looking at and found M7md's eyes staring hard at the bruise on my arm. I quickly covered my arm with the jacket.

"Shoug, mnu em3awrich?!" M7md asked, he seemed worried but shocked at the same time. I didn't know what to say.

"Um, I-" I started, but Nour cut me off.

"M7md, Nour 6a7at el youm bel shower w kanet ga3da etwareeni el bruise. Giltleha ena lazem et7i6 vaseline 3leeh w etha lal7een y3rwha b3ad chem youm, etrou7 el doctor," Nour lied.

"Laish ma gilteely? Tabeeni awadeech el doctor al7een?" M7md placed his hand over my right arm, the unbruised one.

"La la, shd3wa! Ma y3wr, it'll fade after a few days." I assured him. M7md looked satisfied, he connected his blackberry to a charger on the table in the room and left. He was probably looking for an outlet so he could charge his phone. I looked back at Nour, surprised that she had covered for me.

"M-mashkoura..?" I looked at her, puzzled. Nour shrugged and left the room, leaving me alone.

What was that all about? Was this her way of calling peace?

da-ding! 

I quickly checked bbm and found a new message from S3ood.

Out/S3ood Al-X:
Heeyy, guess where I am?;p

Zwara/Shoug Al-X:
Weeeeein? :D

Out/S3ood Al-X:
How about you come out of that tiny room so I can see you?;p

Wait, WHAT?

Zwara/Shoug Al-X:
La7tha.. shdarak ena.. wait wait, weinik enta?!

Out/S3ood Al-X:
Ga3d m3a M7md w okhouy Wahab bel 9ala;p ma et3rfeen ena your brother's friends are gonna be in this room? Your relatives ra7ow to the other 9ala. ;p

Sh*t, that's why M7md had used this room for charging his phone! I looked around for a mirror, I found a little one besides the door. I looked at my own reflection. I grabbed my lip stick from my purse and re-applied it.

No, too much.

 I grabbed a tissue and dabbed it against my lips, making the ruby colour fade a bit. I leaned my head down so my hair would flip over, I dug my fingers into my hair and messed it up so once I stood back up, my curls were even bigger and I had more volume. I patted my hair into place and took a deep breath.

Out/S3ood Al-X:
Shfeech sa3a?;p  I'm waitingggg. =))

I turned the knob and pulled the door open, the living room was filled with guys! Mohammed and Khalid were seated in the middle and I could feel every head turn as I tried to walk to the next living room as fast as I could.

I sneaked a glance at S3ood and I could see that he was trying very hard not to smile. His dimples popped out and his hair was combed back. He had the softest looking brown hair I've ever seen, I noticed that he was wearing a form fitting navy Hollister shirt and a pair of beige shorts.

I could feel my cheeks heat up at the sight of him, I finally got to the next living room and noticed that it was full of our relatives, the other living room was occupied with my brother's and guy cousin's friends.

My 19 year old cousin Shaikha approached me. She was wearing a beautiful multi coloured sun dress that reached her knees, her hair was pulled back into a messy bun.

"Wein kentaay? Waleht 3leech! Menzaman ma shiftech," Shaikha smiled widely at me before pulling me in for a tight embrace.

"Oh uhm, kent ga3da adwr sha7an 7ag telephoni bs M7md khathaah gabli," I rolled my eyes, it was becoming easier and easier to lie. I felt guilty rise in the pit of my stomach.

"Yalla t3alaay, solfeeli 3an medrisa, w ma gilteely, meta bititkharejein?" Shaikha pulled my along and sat me down besides her.

The day passed pretty quickly, we had mchbous deyay (yum) for lunch and Nour kept close with the younger cousins. I couldn't text much since I got occupied with chatting with a new relative every 15 minutes but I glanced at my blackberry every now and then, reading S3ood's messages.

Out/S3ood Al-X:
I told you that you looked beautiful today. You always look beautiful mashallah.

Out/S3ood Al-X:
Oh and laish labsa jackeit? Mu 7ar 3lech? :o

Zwara/Shoug Al-X:
Awwh ty. :$ Ma agder akelmik al7een, ome ga3da jedami. x_x Ttyl! xo

I didn't want to lie to S3ood too so I avoided his question. I wasn't lying, my mother was sitting in front of me and she had a thing about texting all the time. Her suspicions grew that way so I always made sure I didn't text so much in front of her.

I was mid-way in conversation with my other cousin, Ghaneema, before I noticed Nour approach us. She sat next to Ghaneema and included herself into the conversation. I was still confused by her behavior.

"Barou7 el 7amam, be right back." I excused myself and left Ghaneema with Nour.

Wait, the only bathroom is either the one upstairs or the one next to the living room filled with guys. And even if I did go upstairs, I'd have to pass by that living room, filled with guys! 

This was going to be embarrassing.  -.- I decided to use the upstairs bathroom, I walked into the living room filled with guys and tried to walk as fast as I could.

However, I noticed a strange and new face added to the group. I couldn't believe my eyes. Both my brothers weren't there with the guys, so I got away with sneaking another glance at S3ood until I found someone familiar sitting right next to him.

Jassim.

Jassim gave me an easy smile from far and S3ood had caught him. No, no, no, no! I turned my head away and hurried to the stairs, making my way to the bathroom.

My blackberry vibrated impatiently in the pockets of my Juicy, I pulled it out with shaky hands and read the following message:

Out/S3ood Al-X:
Hey.. why did my friend just smile at you? Do you two know each other?

Chapter 20

S3ood accepted me in mere seconds and bbm'd me.

CR/S3ood Al-X:
Wanna know my secret?;p

Shoug Al-X:
 Eeeh! Yalla tell me. :D

CR/S3ood Al-X:
What's the secret word?;p

Shoug Al-X:
Fffh!! ;p please?

 CR/S3ood Al-X:
I have a crush on this girl..

Prickles of sweat formed on my palm, I felt a pang of jealousy.

 Shoug Al-X:
Oh really? A3rfha?

I prayed that he would say no.

CR/S3ood Al-X:
You know her reallllyyyy well. ;p

Great. I bet now he was going to ask me to tell her that he liked her.

Shoug Al-X:
Mnuu? :o

CR/S3ood Al-X:
It's you. <3

Wait, what? My heart beat started to race.

"Shoug, yalla we are home," Lisa stated. I left the car and made my way into the house while I kept staring at the words.

"Shoug? Mu 6weltay elyoum?" I heard M7md's voice, I quickly deleted the chat and tore my eyes away from my phone.

"Oh, 6ile3t mt2akhr w shifna filim. Sorry." I tried to get away but M7md stopped me.

"Shfeech msta3eela?" M7md's face turned a bit suspicious, "Kentay ga3da etkalmeen-"

"SHOUUUUG, TA3ALAAY FOUG. ABE AKELMIIIIIIIIIICH." I heard my sister's voice from upstairs, she was probably visiting. I hurried upstairs and left M7md, I smiled apologetically at him before I left. Phew, saved!

"Shouuuug! A7s minzaman ma shiftech," Reem's face lit up when she saw me enter her old room, her stomach became huge, my little future niece/nephew was in there.

"Siso! Waleht 3leech, shloun el baby?" I carefully hugged her, feeling her big stomach bump against mine.

"Ma tis2leen 3ani ana?" Reem acted sad.

"Save the last for best, right? Shlounich entay?" I laughed and she smiled at me.

"Besides that I have to pee at least 6 times a day, I'm doing great. Kent bashoufech gabel ma arou7, kent ga3da m3a omi w kent bashouf ghurfeti el 8adeema," She looked around her old room, nothing changed. Her old rusted wardrobe was in the corner, the brown rug in the middle of the room looked a bit dusty but the room still smelled like Reem's old Nina Ricci perfume that she used to wear everyday. Her bed was neatly made in the middle of the room and all of Reem's things were stripped away from the room.

da-la-ling! da-la-ling-ling! 

Reem looked at her Vertu phone, pointed to the screen and mouthed "Zouji".  I nodded and knew that it meant she needed to go now. She brushed her lips over my cheek kissing it softly before answering her phone and leaving her old room, making her way out of the house.

I rushed to my room and closed the door behind me. I looked back at the bbm convo between S3ood and I.

CR/S3ood Al-X:
Shoug?

Shoug Al-X:
Asfaa! M7md shafny w b3dain I had to talk to my sis. I'm here now. x_x

CR/S3ood Al-X:
Phew, I thought I scared you when I told you I liked you. x_x

Shoug Al-X:
I like you too, S3ood.

CR/S3ood Al-X:
Whaaaat? Can you please say that again? o:)

Shoug Al-X:
Don't push it. x_x!

CR/S3ood Al-X:
Okay okay, sorry. :$ I can't stop smiling, the guys are giving me weird looks right now.

I smiled at his message, I rubbed my scarlet cheeks and collapsed onto my bed. I switched to twitter and saw a tweet that caught my eye.

Jassim: omw to hospital.

I DM'd him:

Shoug: Hospital?! LAISH!?

Jassim: La la ma feene shay, don't worry.

Shoug: If you lie one more time then I'm unfollowing you so you better tell me now Jassim!

Jassim: I just need my meds, khale9ow so I'm going to get more.

Shoug: Meds 7ag shnu?!

Jassim: Okay so here's the whole story.. In jan 2010, I started going to the toilet like 10 times a day. G3dt 11 months 3la hal 7aal, ma kent abe arou7 3nd el doctor l2na 9adegt kalam elnas ena ma feene shay. But then I got a blood test and my results turned back and it was pretty much horrible. They thought I had cancer and I lost a lot of weight. I used to become exhausted pretty quickly. I did a colon and small intestine scope (3melyat menthar) and I found out that I had althaab in my small intestine. ;/ Fa al7een lazem akheth 2 pills a day, 7mdellah al7een a7es wayed a7san men gabl. I gained the weight back and I feel so much better. Don't worry, okay?

I re-read his message what felt like a thousand times. A few tears escaped from my eyes as the realization of Jassim being sick and keeping it away from me had struck. He had went through all of this and I didn't even know..

Shoug: And on top of that, you've been smoking?! Jassim, promise me you'll stop smoking, you're killing your lungs this way..

Jassim: Bs Shoug..

Shoug: Promise me, please.

Jassim: Inshallah promise..

I sighed and buried myself under the covers of my bed after I washed and changed. I forced myself to sleep and had countless thoughts running through my head about Jassim.


Was he keeping anything else away from me?

I heard the annoying sounds of my alarm wake me up the next morning, I smacked the alarm and it ended up falling to the ground. That shut it up.

"SHOUG! MAMA YALLA, ELYOUM ZWARA," I heard my mother yell, she knocked on my door a few times before going to M7md's room, doing the same to him too.

"M7MD, GOUM YALLA! ZWARA ELYOUM," My mom's voice faded as she went to Khalid's bedroom. I groaned and forced myself out of bed. I quickly showered and changed into my Juicy sweats.

Jassim: Hey, awake?

Shoug: Twni ga3da ;p you feeling okay?

Jassim: Of course. :D giltlch don't worry Shoug. -.-

Shoug: Sorry for caring -.-

Jassim: Haha you're too sweet :D

Shoug: Shd3wa :D

I switched to bbm and smiled to myself as I read S3ood's message.

B+F/S3ood Al-X:
Gm sunshine. ;*

Shoug Al-X:
Morninnnggg. *yawn* :c

B+F/S3ood Al-X:
Agoul, besich noum! ;p Looking beautiful as always.

Shoug Al-X:
Ey beautiful? Ma shiftny a9lan. x_x

B+F/S3ood Al-X:
After already seeing you once, I don't need to see you again to know that you're beautiful.

"Shoug, laish weyhich a7mar?" Khalid approached me and put his hand over my forehead, "Feech 7arara ow shay?"

"Haa? La2 la2, akeed 7a6a too much blush," I rubbed my cheeks, M7md walked up to us.

"Besiiich make-up, men 7alata." M7md rolled his eyes. Phew, they bought it! 

I sat in Khalid's car as he drove me and M7md, my parents had left early since we were too busy sleeping. I walked into my Grandmother's house and greeted all of our relatives warmly. I hugged Grandma and squeezed her gently in my arms.

"Woii, 7beebty walla. Walehna 3leich Shoug, shloun el medrisa?" Grandma asked, I pressed my lips over the top of her forehead, kissing it softly.

"7mdellah zain," I smiled at her, my smile became forceful once I saw Nour approach me. She took me in her skinny body and pressed herself hard against me for a hug. Her bones crushed against mine, I winced.

Nour pulled me back in before I let go, she smiled a big icey smile as she whispered the following poisonous words: "Stay away from my boyfriend, he told me that you were all over him in 360. yesterday. Face it, he's mine b*tch."

Chapter 19

We left the cinema once the movie was over, I was trying to find my wallet in my Chanel purse and ended up bumping a guy's shoulder by accident.

"Asfa," I muttered and made my way, I looked up and notice someone staring at me. I looked back and saw the figure I bumped into was someone I knew.

It was Ali.

His stare was so intense, I quickly turned away and started to walk away. I felt his eyes burn against my back, I knew he was still staring.

We were walking into the food court and I felt rough fingers wrap around my arm really hard for a few seconds, I looked up and found Ali passing by. What the hell? I winced in pain and rubbed my arm.

Lisa-Anne ran up to Ali, she slid off her shoe and smacked it against Ali's shoulder.


"WHY YOU TOUCH HER?" Lisa-Anne yelled at Ali, the girls looked at me and their lips formed an 'o'.

"Hey, wakhray 3anii yal khadama!" Ali shouted at her, people in the mall turned their heads to look at them.

"I CALL BABA NOW!" Lisa-Anne pointed to Hussain, our driver dressed in a deshdasha, his face was smeared with KFC chicken oil. Hussain looked Kuwaiti, a lot of my friends had mistaked him as my dad at first but I kept assuring them that he was our driver.

Ali's eyes widened and I could see the fear in his face. He believed that Hussain was my dad, Hussain quickly stood up and his Arabic wasn't that good so he glared at Ali. He had a KFC chicken in his hand, to me he looked like a crazy guy holding a piece of chicken.

So I started laughing out loud and Fajer, Lulu and Basma did too. Ali scurried away and motioned his friends to follow them.

Lisa-Anne's face was red with anger. She adjusted her glasses and made her way back to us.

"Shoug, you muzt ztand up for yourzelf!  What if your baba or mama zee you?!" Lisa-Anne started her lecture.

"Lisa, calm down!" I was still laughing. "That's exactly why my parents need you, keep that up and I bet they'll give you a promotion." Lulu, Basma and Fajer laughed harder. Lisa smiled cheekily at me and Hussain hurried over.

"Shoooooq, ween roo7 hada walad?!" Hussain looked ready for a fight but the chicken in his hand was still there, it didn't make him look any tougher for having a chicken as his weapon.

"Hussain, la etgool 7ag mama ow baba 3an el walad. Okay? Rou7 khala9 aklek, lema etkhali9 dig 3lay 3shan enrid el bait," I smiled at him reassuringly, he calmed down and went back to his KFC meal.

The girls and I walked around for a bit, avoiding any stares from the boys. Those stares were quickly gone after the boys in the mall saw Lisa-Anne's death glare. She was still fired up from the incident with Ali, she was ready for a fight for any other guy that dared to take a step towards us.

"Shraykom net3asha eb b+f?" Fajer asked us.

"Ma ra7 nelga 6awla, male khelg an6er sa3a." Basma whined.

"And my mom's picking me up in 20 minutes," Lulu frowned.

We decided to get a snack instead, we walked to CR and each of us ordered a Ferrero Rocher smoothie. I walked over to the bathroom (it's right next to Coffee Republic - for people who don't know). Someone's face caught my eye while I was walking, I couldn't believe it.

Jassim was sitting with S3ood and a bunch of other guys outside Coffee Republic. I looked away but it was too late, Jassim had caught me looking at him and S3ood had caught Jassim looking at me. I hurried to the bathroom and hid inside.

da-ding! da-ding! 

I received two DMs from twitter, I clicked on S3ood first.

S3ood: Heey! I just saw you. :D  You look pretty. ;p

My cheeks turned red, I kept re-reading the words. I looked pretty? Shoug pull yourself together!


Shoug: Eeeh, I saw you too. :D& Awh thank youuu. x

S3ood: You're most welcome.

I switched to Jassim's conversation.

Jassim: Alllaaaaah, shift w7da tishbihech. :D

Shoug: Oooh, 9ej? Akeed 7lwa 3yal! #thi8a. Joking =))

Jassim: Akeed kanet 7lwa. ;p

I felt my cheeks become even hotter.

Shoug: Oh really? She thanks you then.

Jassim: Shfeeech:o you sound, .. madri.

Shoug: Laa mafeene shay. :D

I re-applied my lip gloss and left the bathroom, the girls were waiting for me outside and I took my smoothie from Lulu's hands. I took a huge sip and felt the sweetness of the ferrero rocher chocolate slide down my throat and land into my stomach.

 I shifted my eyes towards where Jassim and S3ood were, both of them were looking at me. I noticed S3ood give a puzzled look to Jassim and Jassim tore his eyes away from mine.

"Yalla?" Lulu nudged my shoulder.

"Yalla." I turned and followed the girls. I walked each of the girls to their cars before leaving the mall. On my way back home, I checked twitter and saw a new DM from S3ood.

S3ood: Taraa ma ra7 adesh Twitter wayed, w it's better for me if we chat on bbm. Add me? Pin: ********

Shoug: What's the magic word? ;p

S3ood: Pretty please? I'll also tell you juicy secret if you add me on bbm. ;p

Shoug: A secret? Adding you!


S3ood accepted me in mere seconds and bbm'd me.

CR/S3ood Al-X:
Wanna know my secret?;p