Masqué Chapter 3

Do I have any silent readers? Comment! I absolutely love every feedback I get. <3 This took me a whole day, trying to think of what I should write. I have so many ideas but the problem is, I can't go into them right now. It's too early in the story. :( I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

@vieblogue.

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"Asmaa!" Nawaf's voice echoed through the restaurant. Asmaa's head quickly turned to look at Nawaf and Saif, standing with angry expressions on. Nawaf looked back at me, his eyes still full of fury.


Asmaa quickly hurried over to us, leaving her friends behind.

"Yalla, bitrideen m3ay al7een." Nawaf kept his voice calm, he was trying to hold back his anger.

Asmaa kept her mouth shut and followed him out of the restaurant. Nawaf looked back at Bibi and I, signalling us to follow too.

Saif stayed with Nawaf's friends whilst Nawaf ushered us to his wrangler car. Asmaa climbed into the backseat with Bibi, too afraid to sit in the front. I was forced to sit next to Nawaf in the front of the car.

Nawaf didn't say a word, his silence was scarier than his yells. I kept glancing back at him as he drove, his eyes would meet mine for a few seconds before planting them back onto the road.

"El9ara7a I didn't expect this from you Amal." Nawaf's words felt like pins against my skin, especially after the long stretched out silence.

"Ana?" I replied, in a shocked tone.

"Maybe Saif was right." Nawaf muttered to himself. Was he going to regret defending me now?

"Amal ma sawet shay Nawaf!" Bibi spoke up for the first time in 15 minutes.

"3yal who's idea was it to meet up with those guys? Are you saying what I saw there wasn't true?" Nawaf replied angrily.

"Bibi and I were leaving the restaurant, we didn't even know about the guys." I nearly whispered, I was still shocked by Nawaf's words.

 For some reason, his words had hurt me the most. Why was he so fast into believing that I would be a part of this date? And why did I care so much about what he thought about me?

I heard Maroon 5's "Payphone" on the radio and I did the first thing I could think of, which was turn up the volume in order to end this horrid conversation.

I pressed my cheek up against the warm window, staring at the road outside, ignoring Nawaf's intense stare.

Once we arrived by the house, I noticed one tall figure waiting outside with his arms crossed over his chest. His posture screamed out "pissed off".

"Nawaf, allah yikhaleek la etgoul 7ag okhouy A7mad. I won't do it again, I promise!" Asmaa pleaded as she was trying to pull her cardigan over her skin baring outfit.

"Ma ra7 agoula." Nawaf's tone was emotionless, he parked in front of the house and unlocked the doors so we could get out of the wrangler.

"Asmaa, entay shsaweitay?!" I could see the tall figure now, he had a close resemblance to Asmaa and I guessed that the tall figure was A7mad, Asmaa's older brother.

"Ma saweit shay." Asmaa replied, her tone full of fear.

 Nawaf's expression looked shocked, Asmaa looked over to Nawaf, trying to ask "Did you tell him?" with her eyes. Nawaf shook his head for a "No".

"Asmaa ma sawet shay A7mad. What are you talking about?" Nawaf gave A7mad an easy smile, trying to cover up for Asmaa.

"Nawaf, la etchathib! Saif dag 3lay w galy kilashay. Yal 7m-ra ta3alay!" A7mad grabbed Asmaa's arm pulling her closer to him, his left hand extended ready to slap Asmaa.

Bibi was standing behind me, I could feel her shaking out of fear.

"La etmid eedik 3leha!" Nawaf barked angrily, he grabbed A7mad's extended hand and tore it away from Asmaa.

Asmaa shrieked, trying to free herself away from her brother's harsh grip.

"Nawaf, la titdakhal!" A7mad planted his hands over Nawaf's chest, pushing him off.

"Tir'9a et6ig ekhtik el 9gheera?!" Nawaf angrily yelled, grabbing A7mad's shirt by force.

"Ana ma 3ndi ekht etwa3d! Wein ga3deen e7na? W enta mnu 3shan etgouly shloun a3amil ekhty?!" A7mad clenched his fingers into a fist and extended his hand so he could punch Nawaf's jaw.

Nawaf ducked his head down and missed the punch, my heart beat was accelerating inside my chest.

Amal shfeech ga3da etkhizeen? Do something for God's sake.

"Bibi, dikhlay dakhil bsr3a w naday obouy." I turned around, blocking Bibi's view of the fight. Bibi listened and ran into the house. 

I tip toed up behind A7mad, he was still holding onto Asmaa's arm, not letting her go. I thought of the things I could do to distract him, there was only one thing that came into my mind. This was going to be stupid but it had to work.

I ran my fingers over A7mad's waist, tickling him. A7mad quickly let go of Asmaa's arm, trying to grab his stomach, stopping himself from laughing.

 7amdellah, he's ticklish!

I tickled his waist again until his face was turned away from Nawaf and Asmaa. This time, his angry eyes were staring into mine.

"Asmaa, run!" I hissed, Asmaa obeyed and followed Bibi into the house. Nawaf noticed how A7mad was distracted, he took his chance to grab A7mad's shirt from behind, his arm wrapping around A7mad's body to trap him in his place.

"Hey! Sh9ayer?!" I heard my Dad's deep voice yell out. I sighed in relief and my heart rate slowed down.

"Amal, t3awertay?" Dad hurried to my side.

"La2 bas Nawaf.." I noticed Nawaf's bloody bottom lip.

"La2 ma feene shay. A7mad, did you calm down?" Nawaf replied, his tone still emotionless. A7mad's chest was heaving.

"Eee khala9, let me go." A7mad tried to push Nawaf off of him.

"Goul walla ma ra7 etmid eedik 3la Asmaa." Nawaf replied harshly.

"Walla! Okay? WALLA! Now let me go." A7mad said in a disgusted tone.

Nawaf obeyed and released A7mad from his strong grip. A7mad stormed off to where his car was parked, probably wanting to leave before he could see his sister again and lose his cool.

"Sh9ayer?!" Dad repeated his question.

"Wla shay." Nawaf didn't look into my Dad's eyes, he walked back into the house leaving Dad and I alone. I didn't want to answer any of Dad's questions either so I followed Nawaf into the house.

I found Asmaa sitting on the couch, her eyes full of tears. Bibi had her arm around Asmaa, trying to calm her down.

I didn't blame Asmaa for her behavior, I was shocked myself. I had never seen such a thing before, how could a brother want to hit his own sister? Even if she did do something wrong?

"Asmaa, are you okay?" I walked over to Asmaa, looking at her.

"I'm s-sorry." Asmaa sobbed. "Walla, I'm so s-sorry."

"It's okay." I sighed. Khalti Zaina hurried over to where we were sitting, she must have heard Asmaa's sobs.

"Banat, shfeekom?" Khalti's eyes were full of worry. I let Bibi tell her mother the news, I needed to look for Nawaf.

I tried the kitchen, the other living room and the halls, but Nawaf was nowhere to be seen. I decided to try his room last but I was hoping I wouldn't find him there, I couldn't stand being alone with him in a room with his intense gaze.

I knocked over his bedroom door, waiting for an answer. I was about to turn around and leave once I didn't hear anything for the first 5 seconds but I froze once I heard him say "Come in".

I pushed the door open and was surprised to find that Nawaf's room was neat. It had dark furniture and the same beige walls as my room.

Nawaf had a tissue pressed up against his bloody lip and there was a glass full of ice next to him. He turned around on his bed to look at me.

"Oh." He said once he noticed that it was me that knocked on his door. I began to feel angry, what did he mean by 'Oh'?

"Ifffh, if you hate me THAT much then just say it." I couldn't hide my anger anymore, I forced the words out of me and turned around to leave his room.

"Amal, ni6ray!" I heard him call out. I didn't stop, I was in the hallways now and I heard footsteps behind me. A pair of soft fingers wrapped around my wrist, stopping me midway.

"Amal, just wait." I heard Nawaf's voice behind me. His fingers were still holding my wrist.

"Shnu?" I couldn't turn around and face him. I knew, I knew if I just got a look at his dark eyes I would forget his hurtful words.

"Amal, look at me." Nawaf's deep voice sounded kind. I wasn't used to hearing kindness behind his voice. I gave up and turned around to face him. Nawaf dropped his hand once I faced him, letting go of my wrist.

"I'm looking." I said, but my eyes were staring down at the ground.

"No you're not." Nawaf pressed a finger under my chin, tilting my face up so I was forced to look into his eyes. My heart skipped a beat.

"I'm sorry." Nawaf said, his eyes felt like razor blades slicing into my skin. I looked away quickly.

"It's o-okay." I shrugged.

"No, I'm sincerely sorry. I shouldn't have said that earlier, I was too quick on judging you. Can we start over?" Nawaf pleaded, his hand still pressing the tissue up against his bloody lip.

"We can start over." I sighed in defeat.

"Good." Nawaf said with a smile. I was surprised to see his smile, it brightened up his whole face, changing his bad boy image to a more friendly one.

"You should, uhm, get that looked at." I pointed to his bloody lip.

"Laish? Khayfa 3lay?" Nawaf teased.

"Laish akhaf 3leik?!" I was alarmed by his words.

"Amal ga3d atghashmar m3ach." Nawaf laughed, his laugh was a deep laugh that caused me to smile in return.

It felt like I heard that laugh before, he felt so familiar. He didn't feel like a stranger at all.

"My bad." I replied embarrassed.

"So, bitrou7een Kuwait University?" Nawaf asked as his fingers scratched the back of his neck. He seemed a bit shy.

Amal, stop imagining things. Nawaf, shy? Ha!

"Eee enshallah. Do you go there?" I replied politely.


"Eee, I'm taking Medicine. Are you taking anything related to singing?" He asked, his eyes hiding a secret message.

Singing? Why would he assume that?

"Um, no. I'm planning to take Law." I said, in a weird tone.

"Oh." Nawaf looked disappointed. "Yalla, uhm, I have to go."

"Okay.." Something was wrong, he wasn't the friendly Nawaf anymore. He was back to the emotionless Nawaf again. I watched him walk off back to his room, his head lowered.

His posture reminded me of something.

I suddenly got a flashback, just hints of an old memory.

-Years and years ago-

"No, stand up straight!" My little kiddy voice called out to a little boy. The little boy turned to look at me, his dark eyes full of mischief. The greens were all around us, surrounding us. The sky was as bright as it could be and I could hear the laughter of our siblings behind us.

"Laa Amal, mabe!" He had his head lowered down, his dark hair hiding his eyes.

"Ma y9eer, if you want to be a doctor you have to stand up right like a real man!" I argued, putting my hands on my hips.

"Fine but if you want to be a singer, you have to dance." His dark eyes were dancing, challenging me to dance in front of him.

I obeyed and turned around, letting my little dress move with me as I started to dance. I grabbed the little boy's hand and we danced together, jumping around on the ground and laughing together.

"Amal, yalla 7bebty ghada!" I heard a friendly voice call out.

"Okay mama digeega, bal3ab m3a.."

- Present day -

I was brought back to reality and I felt a sharp pain dig into my head. I rubbed my forehead with my finger tips.

What was that? Who was that little boy?

I stared back at Nawaf's closed door, images of me when I was a child running through my head.

Another sharp pain dug deep into my scalp, forcing me to stop thinking of the flashbacks. Before I could think any more of the little boy I saw in my head, I began to feel dizzy.

 I tried to hold onto the wall next to me but I was falling down. I was getting closer and closer to the ground, the images of the little boy racing around in my head, making me feel even dizzier.

"Amal! La trou7een, g3day l3bay m3ay!" I heard the faint voice of the little boy in my head before silence infected the insides of my ears.

And the next thing I saw, was pure black.