Le Chase Chapter 27

Hellooo. FINALLY, it's weekend! And what's best than knowing you'll also have a new post to read when you come back from 6al3atkom or wake up from a nap or maybe there's someone out there studying for a quiz and needs a break (good boys/girls, studying in the weekend, I hope to be like you one day:p). I'm finally done with my maths quiz, yes I might have a Philosophy of Art one coming up this week but hey, it sounds much easier/interesting than numbers. 

W 3la fekrah, I'm a blogger, not someone you can randomly DM and ask them to do your English homework or some exam essay, whatever, okay?:p Do your own work, or how else are you going to learn? 

Now who's up for some action this time? 

-

Previously in Chapter 26:

"Shfeek ma seme3t?" He continued on, I spaced out for a second there and he ignored my sudden silence.

"Shnu?" My voice sounded a bit wobbly, I tried to strengthen it against his. His steel gaze hardened as his next words flew easily out of his lips.

"Murty 7amil."

-

"Mabrouk." I spat at him, letting him see the pure disgust on my facial expression. I walked past him, not bothering to look at his face because I was pretty sure my father had a meek smile on his face, finding it amusing that he seemed to infuriate me off once again.

"Wath7a!" I shouted once I was upstairs, I banged over her door countless times. She had her door locked and I could hear her muffled sobs, she was still crying and I was pretty sure my dad made sure Wath7a knew about the news too, yet I always thought Wath7a would be happy to have a younger sibling. There was something else going on, but I didn't know what.

As usual, I was the last to know.

"Sh9ar?" Wath7a asked nervously as soon as she unlocked her door and pulled it open, her face had a few wet tears daring to slip further down her cheeks but I could see the harsh marks over her skin where she was rushingly pushing her tears away with the not too soft looking tissues. There was Rihanna's new single playing in the background in her room, probably to drown out the sound of Wath7a sobbing.

"You tell me," I rushed into her room, she stepped to the side so I could shut the door behind us silently, not wanting to grab our father's attention.

"Bizifny etha giltlk," she hiccuped, drawing her wispy fingers through her dark black hair, pulling it up into a weak bun. She was avoiding my eyes, she was embarrassed about her bloodshot eyes, embarrassed that a 13 year old still cried when I was proud of her not losing her emotions like I once did in the past. 

"Wath7a, tell me." I urged, taking a few steps forward so I stood in front of her. I was much taller but her eyes finally looked up, catching mine.

"Mom left the h-house a-a-nd h-his second wife is making me call her 'm-mama', i-it's like she's replacing Mom," Wath7a hiccuped in between her words, her eyes filling up with a new rush of tears, daring to mount over.

"S-shnu?! Wainha omi?!" I dug my hand into the pockets of my trousers to grab my Samsung Galaxy, my fingers fidgeted for a second before they regained control. 

"M-madry Thari! Baba won't tell me, I don't think... I don't think he knows either," Wath7a's voice slowly grew quiet as her words escaped from her lips, causing reality to strike. It seemed to terrify her even more. I was too busy dialling my mother's number, waiting impatiently for the service to kick in so I can get connected to the call.

"Her mobile's switched off," I stared at my Galaxy strangely once I heard the familiar voice of the machine telling me that the contact's mobile is switched off.

"What?!" Wath7a's eyes nearly flew out of her sockets. I tried calling again, and again, and yet again. I had a small flickr of hope ignited inside of me, hoping that she might have changed her mind and switched her phone off last minute, but that hope was soon blown away after the same machine voice, telling me again and again that the contact had her mobile switched off.

"Great, our mom's missing." I sarcastically stated.

"Can't you do something?" Wath7a's eyes were still hopeful once they were on me.

"Madre shasawe," I huffed in defeat, sitting back onto Wath7a's fluffy bed. I rushed my fingertips through my hair, it was growing longer and my headache was growing stronger. I was hoping I could come back home to some peace, yet I was pushed into more problems.

I only knew one person who could help me.

-

"3abbas-" I was in a rush, I drove all the way to 3abbas's place and made sure Wath7a wasn't alone at home with Dad, so I dropped her off at one of her friend's houses. I was now in 3abbas's familiar cigarette scented diwaneya, knowing 3abbas, his diwaneya was only full of our friends or any other guys who had joined us, on Wednesdays.

"Bo Zaid," 3abbas looked surprised that I showed up, most likely because of our strained conversation earlier today. Next to him was Ghanim, 3abbas's obnoxious friend, that didn't mind flirting with Layal in Starbucks. I hated that jacka**. 

"Fee shay esma etdig gabel ma tiyee, hatha mu baitik etdish w ti6la3 3la kaifik," Ghanim spat at me, clearly remembering our near physical fight in Starbucks.

"Shtabe? A7ad kalimik?" I clenched my fingers into fists.

"Hadaw hadaw!" 3abbas stood up and stood in between us before we decided to lunge at each other. There wasn't anyone else in the diwaneya, just the three of us and Ghanim clearly didn't know how long 3abbas and I knew each other. 

"Madre shfeeh hal walad, 3a9abe. 9ej yahel, laish tig3ad wyah?" Ghanim hissed under his breath, his icy glare staring right at me.

And that was the last straw. The next thing I knew, I pushed 3abbas to the side (he might have been more muscled but he wasn't as quick as me), my strength empowering his and I crushed the hood of my fist into Ghanim's boney jaw. The hard bone structure of his face dug into my knuckles, a pain shooting right through me. 

"Ofhh," Ghanim groaned out in pain but he quickly regained his posture. With me too slow to get out of the way, he pushed his shoulder against mine, forcing my knees to buckle, my body falling down to the ground. Ghanim's heavy weight grinds into me once he climbs on top of my body on the ground, is knuckles smashing into my cheek bones. The pain was unbearable, his blows were much more stronger than mine was since his hands were a lot more thicker and meatier. 

"Ghanim!" 3abbas shouted, his hands on Ghanim's shoulders, trying to pull him off of me, but Ghanim was twice the size as 3abbas. It had to take at least two men to carry him off of me. My legs were much skinnier than his, I wedged one of them in between Ghanim's legs and dug my knee up to his crotch, hitting him hard on his weak spot.

Ghanim let out a yelp of pain, his arms weakening and his blows suddenly stopping, my face was throbbing yet it felt numb, the punches were hard but the pain was bearable. I made sure to dig in my knee into his crotch one more time, just so his face twists in pain and another yelp rolls of his tongue. Watching him go through pain amused me, I was smirking to myself for a second but then I felt a splash of fresh blood on my tongue. I hadn't noticed my lip was bleeding.

Ghanim was finally pulled off of me by 3abbas. Even 3abbas looked pained, did Ghanim punch him or hurt him by accident? I hadn't noticed, I had my eyes closed, trying to avoid Ghanim's fingers from clawing my eyeballs out when he was attacking my face.

"Entow yahal!?" 3abbas shouted at us, a wash of disapproval on his face. I pushed myself up from the ground, ignoring the nagging pain from my jaw. Ghanim finally also recovered from his crotch pain and stood up from the ground, but instead of standing as I was, he simply walked out of the diwaneya without another word, clearly pissed off at 3abbas for not putting all the blame on me.

"Entow shfeekom? Kel hatha 3la bent?" 3abbas continued on, he looked tired and sick of this situation. I didn't blame him.

"3abbas la etgouly ely sawaah eb Starbucks mu ghala6!" I snapped at him, rubbing off the blood on my lips with my hoodie.

"W enta la etgouly enta ma saweit nefs el 7araka men gabel Thari," 3abbas's word shut me up. 

The sound of two girls giggling in 3abbas's garden silenced us both. 3abbas had a sister who attended AUK, she was attractive but not my type. She took after 3abbas's mother's British features, the light hair and light skin. But what grabbed my attention was that the second female's giggles sounded familiar, I looked to the right where there was a window that showed us a view of 3abbas's mother's beautiful garden. The window was tinted, we could see what was outside but people from the outside couldn't see what was going on inside, so the girls, of course, didn't even know we were watching them, or hearing them...

"Layal shoufay how Mom's so obsessed with her lilies," 3abbas's short sister's voice was hearable. Especially when she said "Layal".

"Hessa you so didn't bring me here for the flowers," Layal pointed out, it was too dark to catch a good glimpse of her but their voices were too loud and the walls of this cream painted diwaneya were too thin.

"3abbas's friends are hot, okay? There's one, he's always around here, sleeping over at our house, madre shisma." Hessa giggled once again.

"Ushh yal ghabeya, tara yismi3oun!" Layal hissed.

"Shaku, the walls aren't that thin. A9lan ever since you visited us two weeks ago, 3abbas kept asking about you. I think he likes you," Hessa grinned in the dark, her words caused my fists to clench once again. I turned to look at 3abbas in horror.

3abbas looked like a naughty little child, who just got caught stealing a piece of candy from the supermarket. 

Le Chase Chapter 26

How's everyone doing? I know I haven't posted in a while, I didn't think university would be this hectic/tiring. Boy was I wrong! Sure, it's different than high school in so many ways, more freedom and all that but it's way more tiring too, a lot less fun when you have to say goodbye to half of your other friends since they're in either other universities or going to study abroad in Ireland or the UK. Allah yiwafighom kelehom, and to all of you readers who have either started a new year in school or a new year in university. I have a maths quiz tomorrow and a dentist appointment soon for this throbbing pain I'm getting from my growing wisdom teeth (ugh). So yes, I'm trying to write whenever I can.

I WILL continue blogging even though university will delay my posts. Thank you all to who didn't pressure me and have been so understanding, I love you guys, you've helped me from day one and I haven't forgotten, I also promise I won't forget it. x

I also got SO MANY new ideas, usually for new stories. Would you like me to start a new one after this one? I might write in advance and only post them once I have at least 3 chapters written, so I won't drive all of you crazy for waiting for the second or third chapter. It's just a thought, contact me on @vieblogue to tell me what you think.

-

Previously in Chapter 25:

Even after the "shhh" trick, Bdour didn't budge. After a few minutes, she leaned closer to me so I could catch a whiff of her perfume. It smelt of something intense and strong, it caused me to wince. It wasn't a pleasant smell at all.

Her next words creeped me out even more.

"3ndech 9oura w entay mu labsa 7jabich?"

-

-LAYAL-

Her question startled me. It was beyond creepy in a way, even though it was a girl asking, not a guy. However, she didn't even personally know me. What was it to her? A thought about her trying to compare both of us, appearance wise, crept into my head. Was that was she was interested in? Who was the prettier girl?

Well isn't that shallow.

"La2 ma 3nde." I lied, of course I had over 100 pictures of me without my veil (veil=hijab) in my iPhone's gallery. 

"Mu men 9ijech," Bdour's thin yet overly red tinted lips formed a small "o". 

"Girls, now if you would stop gossiping and pay attention." The professor's voice was aimed right at us, his eyes torching us with disappointment and disapproval. Bdour nodded in agreement, giving me a look that said "yeah Layal, listen to the professor for God's sakes."

That look just annoyed me even further.

Next time, I'm going to the lecture late so I'd make sure I didn't get a seat next to this tight cloths obsessed snake.

-

-THARI-

"Hey, khatheit aghra'9ik men el diwaneya?" 3abbas asked me as he walked up to our table in Starbucks, I was lounging in one of the seats alone, with my Macbook in front of me, trying to do my research paper for a class. I had left it till last minute, as usual.

"Eee," I shrugged, my fingers typing over the sleek keyboard.

"Shnu, bitrid baitkom?" He continued, he pushed one of the free chairs besides me back to sit.

"Eee, mashkour bas khala9 elyoum barid." I politely said.

"Don't mention it, you're always welcome." He patted a strong hand over my back, I paused and looked at him to offer a smile.

"Ma ga9ert wyay, mashkour." I said again.

"Agoulk don't mention it, shnu ma tifham engleizi?" 3abbas let out a deep laugh.

"7aram ashkirik?" I couldn't help but smile again. 3abbas might be a bit dangerous with his actions but it was very easy to get along with him, he was always the most social in our group of friends.

"Eee, kho ana okhouk mu wa7d ghareeb," 3abbas's grin widened, his light teeth flashing at me. At the same time, an image straight ahead caught my eye. I found Layal walking in front of us, Bdour trying to walk as fast as she was.

Shfeeha hathe ga3da titlazag eb Layal?

It was obvious that Layal didn't want anything to do with her, even though I thought they were friends. Layal had a pained expression on her face as Bdour's lips kept smacking about, probably talking about a subject Layal wanted nothing to do with.

"Ooohhh Bo Zaid," 3abbas hooted, teasing me once he caught me staring at Layal. I quickly turned away, taking my eyes off of her. It was hard to, take my eyes off of her I mean.

"Giltleha?" He pressured on once I had my eyes on my laptop screen.

"Shagouleha?" I acted dumb, avoiding his question.

"Enik t7bha, shnu b3ad?" 3abbas chuckled, the veins in his neck moving around as his eyes squinted in joy.

"Mmm." I groaned in response.

"Thari yikhish 3ane?" 3abbas's dark eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Ensa el salfa." I sighed.

"Fee salfa b3ad?" 3abbas was listening toe every word that escaped my lips, annoying me a bit.

"Maku salfa, el bent metrabya," I shot him a glare.

"Metrabya wela she just isn't interested in Thari Al-X?" 3abbas shot back at me.

"3abbas shfeek? Mu qa9eb agoulk kelshay." I tried to calm myself internally, he was starting to really get on my nerves. 

"Y3ne t7bik?" He continued on.

"What's it to you? Basik legafa." I snapped at him, the fury evolving inside me showing.

"Teghayart wayed Thari," 3abbas suddenly said in a serious tone. I snapped my Macbook shut, tucked it under my arm, stood up from my seat and simply stalked off before my anger caused me to do anything else.

I kept replaying back 3abbas's words in my head when I was in the car, already driving towards my house. Our conversation started off well, it started off more than well actually. And suddenly once he brought up Layal's name, lava erupted out of me.

Was it jealousy or did I actually change?

And if I did change, what was it that changed me? 

-

"Thari!" My name was exclaimed by a young female teen's voice once I pushed the heavy door of our house open. I found a short Wath7a standing in front of me in her crinkly school uniform, her large dark eyes squinted at me as a long smile stretched along her lips.

"Missed me?" I grinned, she forgot herself and her "13 year olds were too mature" saying, she ran up to me and wrapped her arms around me, hugging me by force.

"Woaah." I laughed, I couldn't remember the last time I got a hug from her. Her arms felt warm and secure, her face was covered, it was dug into my hoodie as she softly sobbed.

"Wath7a?" I whispered softly and realised that she was crying. Her tears stained the cloth material of my hoodie.

"Shfeech?!" I pushed her away so I could get a look at her face. Her eyes were bloodshot, her face weary and her tears hugging against her wet eyelashes. She had hints of her black mascara running down her cheeks.

I ignored the thought about how she was too young to even wear mascara to school and tried to concentrate on why she was crying in the first place.

"Wath7a jawbay," I could feel the frown lines over my face as I watched hertry to rub off her wet tears with the back of her hand.

"Wath7a." A stern voice scared the both of us, I could feel my little sister's body jolt in fright once she heard the voice. I let go of my sister, pushed my head upwards and found my father a few feet away from us with his wrinkled yet fearful eyes staring right at us in mere disapproval.

"Yahel? Kibartay 9irtay mara, shfeech tabcheen?" He spat at Wath7a in disgust.

"A-asfa," she stuttered, her shoulders shaking as yet again, she tried to force the tears away but it was as if her emotions neglected her. Numerous tears slipped out of her tear ducts, clouding her vision, forcing her to hiccup when she was trying to mask a sob.

What was he doing here? My mother said he was in another country with his second wife, why the heck was he still here?

"9i3day foug yalla," He commanded my shaken sister, she obeyed and hurried upstairs, her bare feet daring to slip over the cold slippery floors of our house.

"Shitsawe ehny? Akeed omik galetlik tiyee, mu 9a7?" My father aimed his disgusted glance on me, he looked lean and tall in his dish dasha. He had his beard shaven, his light skin much similar to mine and his steady thick eyebrows which looked just like mine. I hated how much we resembled each other.

"Shnu? Ma ra7 etsafir?" I avoided his own question.

"Shal legafa?" A slow grin was placed over his lips as if he was amused by why I was interested in him travelling. I rarely ever asked, scratch that, I never asked him about his traveling because I made it obvious that I didn't give a sh*t about it. His words reminded me of mine, when I snapped those familiar words at 3abbas and probably wounded our friendship. 

"Shfeek ma seme3t?" He continued on, I spaced out for a second there and he ignored my sudden silence.

"Shnu?" My voice sounded a bit wobbly, I tried to strengthen it against his. His steel gaze hardened as his next words flew easily out of his lips.

"Murty 7amil."

Le Chase Chapter 25

Thank God I got to post 5 chapters before I got super busy, finally found time to post the next chapter. I'm getting new ideas out of nowhere for new stories but I'm afraid of starting a new story while I'm in university, I won't be able to post, it would probably be one post a week and the posts wouldn't be short of course, they'd be much longer probably. I'm not sure about it, or I might just stick to posting short stories which aren't that short, it would be a long post and it would maybe have more than one part to it? Maybe? 'Cus I have all of these new ideas for new stories that I wanna write down, they'll be fully in English but the names might be in Arabic. I'll change up my characters this time so they might not be from Kuwait, or there would be other nationalities and different backgrounds, what do you all think? It would definitely be a lot more different than my "blog" stories, more detail and everything.

Tell me here: @vieblogue

Dedicated to my gorgeoussss, oh so very gorgeous, Basma. Much love! (@BasmaAlJ)
-

Previously in Chapter 24:

"And Jarra7 won't be the last of your friends that I'll mess with. You're going to regret rejecting me pretty boy, enta wayed em9adg nefsik enk a7la wa7d bel jam3a." Bdour continued hissing, not bothering to stop to let me speak. I clenched my hands into fists, wanting to punch her overly plastic face.

"Bdour if you-" My nostrils were flaring with fury.

"You have two choices Thari Al-X." Bdour turned around to face me, making it obvious that we were talking, her next words froze me in my place and showed me evil that I've never witnessed before.

"One, you talk to me now in a much nicer way with a smile on your face so your little pretty girl Layal can see us. Or two, I'll make sure I send a picture of Layal mighair e7jabha to all the guys in this university."

-

-Layal's POV-

I stared right at Thari's tall figure, his eyes seemed astounded for a few seconds as he was watching Bdour's burgundy painted lips speak in a hushed tone. I longed to take a step forward so I could listen to her words and why Thari looked so stricken. As soon as I become even more suspicious, I noticed his eyes were on his phone as he held his astounded expression.

Oh, was someone just calling him, was that why he looked so surprised?

"Layal, hello?" The girl sitting in front of me waved her delicate hand in front of me, I hadn't noticed that my college advisor was sitting with my friend and I. I guess I got too engrossed into trying to find out why Bdour was talking to Thari.

Snap out of it Layal, it's a mixed university, it's not a crime to talk to the opposite sex.

"Are you finding your classes okay? Everything okay?" My advisor was a young woman in her early twenties, her squinted eyes were looking right at mine, her hair was pressed back into a neat bun that framed light skinned angular face.

"Uhm yeah." I nodded in response to her British accent. As an, a friend of mine that also attended AUM, sat besides me looking at me strangely. I peeked sideways to look at Thari again and I found him standing by the counter, ordering himself a drink and Bdour was already long gone. 

Huh?

"Sh9ayer?" Asan hissed towards me once the advisor walked off, she was holding onto her steaming Vanilla Latte. I was guessing she bumped into us once she was getting her morning hot drink.

"Wela shay, laish?" I answered with a shrug. 

"Mtdoudha elyoum, el'9aher mu nayma 3adl,"Asan shrugged as well, obviously ignoring how obvious I was when I was staring at Thari. Her fingers gripped her flaming hot chocolate as she pulled it up to her coral coloured lips, drawing in a long soothing sip.

"El'9aher."

The long day stretched out over the endless hours, every class seemed to be boring today. Usually teachers were just giving an introduction to their subject or they were already in the middle of it since I attended late. Asan was kind enough to hand me her notes or back me up with the info I missed out on, I personally was impatient about tomorrow's English class. I kept day dreaming about what I'd say to Thari, or how I'd act. I kept replaying the scene, especially when he suddenly said my eyes were beautiful, out of nowhere.

Or maybe he said that to all the girls he's met, he sure looked quite friendly with Bdour this morning and he is a quite famous guy blogger, especially with the girls. They're all over him.

"Layal!" Asan's clear voice crushed my thoughts.

"Hmm?" I lightheartedly replied.

"The lecture's over, yalla I have a free hour with nothing to do before my Maths lecture." Asan brushed back her mid-length caramel coloured hair, she was naturally tanned and had an eye for fashion.

"Digeega." I thrust a hand into my purse to look for my class schedule. I was still a newbie and I had no track of where or when my classes started. I squinted at the blank sheet with the complicated looking  squares that held the names and timings to each class. 

"I have Biology in 10 minutes." I groaned, staring back at Asan in frustration. As an didn't take Biology or any of my other friends, the thought of sitting in a class with strangers and not knowing any of them frightened me. I wasn't an outgoing type, I'd take my comfort only around people I knew.

"Wai3, 6i7say." Asan laughed as she took out her text book, tucking it under her arm.

"You're such a kind friend." I sarcastically stated.

"Tara ma giltay shay yideed." Asan fluttered her dark thick eyelashes at me, her confidence oozing out of her. I laughed as well, she was her own character and had the quirkiest comebacks. She was the exact opposite of me.

"Khala9 3yal ashoufich bacher? L2ena lema etkhal9een, I'll have class," she continued on.

"And I'll be home, in bed," I fired back at her. It was her turn now to groan in annoyance. We parted ways and I walked the opposite side of where she walked to, looking for the Biology room. I was still holding onto my now cold white hazelnut mocha from Starbucks. My other arm held the stack of notebooks I had to get today, I cursed myself mentally for not getting a bigger bag than my Celine purse, it was already holding my Macbook Air.

I dumped my drink into the nearest trash can so I can peak at my class schedule. It said "Class B1" but I couldn't find a class that held the same number and letter. I kept walking, getting frustrated for not asking Asan before I rushed off.

"Layal?" A male voice spoke out behind me. I turned around and found Thari with a boyish grin on his face, he looked at me with sympathy, clearly knowing I'm lost.

"Ahlain." I squeaked out but I quickly adjusted my voice last minute.

"'9i3tay?" He asked me, trying to mask his growing grin.

"Uhm, la2," I lied.

"3yal laish ga3da 3nd el gym? The guy's gym?" Thari coughed and restated his last few words, causing my face to flush in embarrassment. I looked to my right and saw a sign that said "MEN'S GYM" and clearly the rest of the space was for the gym and dressing rooms, there weren't any classes around here.

"Okay '9i3t." I confessed which caused him to laugh, a deep short laugh that forced my eyes down to the floor. I was suddenly shy for some reason, I was never shy when we worked together...

"3a6eeny your schedule," Thari gave me the "I know" look before he stretched out one of his big hands, his dark eyes were watching me as I handed the paper over. Our wrists brushed over accidentally for a second, I quickly pulled my arm back. I expected him to notice but he seemed unaware, he was too busy looking at my class schedule.

"Class B1? Ma shifteeh? Kan yem 9afich, ely tawa 6l3tay mena. You were in B3 10 minutes ago." Thari looked at me strangely, trying not to laugh again.

I. Am. So. Stupid.

"I was taking a tour around the university, 7aram?" I huffed.

"Next time let me give you the tour instead before you walk in the guy's dressing room." Thari's deep laugh echoed around the hall, we were alone and I could hear the faint noises of the guys rummaging around in the dressing room, clearly getting ready for a sport activity.

"We'll see, oh w mashkour." I pointed towards the schedule, he handed it back to me and gave me a slight nod. I was about to walk by him, he had a gym bag over his shoulder and by the looks of it, he was on his way to the dressing room.

"Oh Layal." Thari called out and took a step back to face me again. "The starbucks thing with Bdour.."

"What starbucks thing with Bdour?" I asked, confused on why he'd even bring it up. He seemed as confused as I was once I cut him off, he suddenly looked like he understood something I didn't.

"Oh you didn't see us-I mean, never mind I just thought you got the wrong idea about me because Bdour talked to me." He quickly changed his words as his expression adjusted, changing to a more emotionless and a more confident one.

"Oh uhm, I didn't even notice you two talking," I lied, keeping my own expression emotionless as well. He gave me a "I don't believe you" look but then quickly changed it to a content one.

"Enzain, good luck with Biology with your friend Bdour." Thari simply said before passing me, not letting me question what he said or answer.

Was I missing something? And why'd he assume Bdour was a friend of mine? I don't even know her.

Huh, weird.

Once I was in the right class, I was seated by a girl I didn't pay attention too, I kept my focus on the lecture. I was already confused with the other ones, I couldn't slip in Biology too.

"Hey, pssttt." A girly voice hissed into my ear, next to the seat I was seated in. I tilted my head to the left and found Bdour sitting right next to me.

"Na3am?" I answered in a quiet tone, my eyes were glued on the slideshow in front of us. I was clearly not in the mood to start a conversation with her.

"Layal Al-X, mu 9a7?" Bdour asked in a sweet tone.

"Eee," I was forced to make eye contact with her, I noticed the clunks of dry mascara that was all over her eyelashes.

"Mashallah te7ejbtay?" She looked at me as if she had known me for a while. How did she even guess that I recently wore the 7jab?

"Eee.. asfa bas a3arfich?" I bluntly asked.

"La2 bas ome kanet eta3rif omich," Bdour had a hint of evilness in her eyes, once she mentioned my mother, my fingers started to tremble.

Why was Kuwait such a small country?

"Aha." I replied, trying to end the subject.

"Wainha omich?" Bdour forced the conversation to continue.

"Shhh." I hissed, giving her the look that said "can't talk, the professor's staring at us." Who was she to ask such a question? And why the hell would she even know about our mothers knowing each other when we never even met properly before? I had a feeling she did her own Kuwaiti version of the FBI search over my family, it creeped the hell out of me.

Even after the "shhh" trick, she didn't budge. After a few minutes, she leaned closer to me so I could catch a whiff of her perfume. It smelt of something intense and strong, it caused me to wince. It wasn't a pleasant smell at all.

Her next words creeped me out even more.

"3ndech 9oura w entay mu labsa 7jabich?"

Le Chase Chapter 20

This took me ages.. literally AGES.. this is my apology for all my readers for not being as fast at posting as I used to, yes I've grown old and my fingers are all wrinkly now, so I have to take an hour to write up a sentence.. okay I'm exaggerating it now LOL. Anyways.. for my old readers, who were there when I posted 3 chapters, that HUGE surprise that took me hours.. guess what?

This time..

This time..

it's..

5 CHAPTERSSSS!

Enjoy beauties, this is a little gift before university starts for me and it's a gift for all my amazing readers who have supported me from day one, who haven't pressured me and have let me write on my own time.

THANK YOU MY LOVELIES, MY HUGE SUPPORTERS *I'm not forgetting my other ones too* > @Ba6ah_ and Dalal Al S, my gorgeoussss friend! Much much love. xx

Time started writing: 3:15 am.

-

Previously in Chapter 19:

"Do you really want me to prove you wrong Layal?" I looked into her eyes, searching for the Layal I saw with her friends, the one with the smile, the one who didn't sound so cruel because the anger she had about me talking to Bdour.

I was pretty sure she was angry because of that, was it jealousy? Could Layal really be jealous though?

"Yeah, go on." Layal drummed her fingers over her desk, anxious for an answer.

"Do you know the blogger ********?" I asked her, her mouth formed a little 'o' but she nodded for a 'yes'.

"I'm him."

-


 -LAYAL's POV-


WHAT!?

That word seemed to have been running and skipping around in my head for hours now. I couldn't utter a single word in front of Thari's chiseled features, I was beyond shocked. No scratch that, I was MORTIFIED.

I told him, HIM, that I liked him. How could I have been so idiotic?! I told the guy I liked, that I liked him, indirectly but directly at the same time! Did that even make any sense? No it didn't but still, this was embarrassing. Really embarrassing.

"Layal? Shfeech siketay?" Thari's deep voice startled me. Didn't I just say I was thinking for hours? I must have spaced out, that usually happens when a super cute guy I've been crushing on tells me he's been that sensitive blogger I've been messaging for days now.

"Madre shagoul..." I sttutered, my voice barely audible. But that also meant Thari was the guy who got his heart broken, he had the family issues, he was the guy who saved his own friend's stupid mistakes and had to become homeless because of it.

The Thari I always thought that was a huge player, a guy who would use a girl and then treat her like trash afterwards, was nothing like the Thari I expected. And he had some major writing skills, a guy like that could write? Seriously?

Yeah, this made me like him more.

This was not good, not good at all.. Oh no Layal don't fall for him, just don't.

"ENGLISH!" The professor wiggled his eyebrows at us, his hands on his hips whilst his eyes were aimed right at Thari and I.

"Sorry sir." Thari grunted, his masculine body was seated in front of me and he was way taller than I was, I looked down at my flats and regretted not wearing heels to my first day.

"So you're... him? And he's... you?" I stuttered once again.

"Yes Layal, yes." Thari sighed, he looked as if he regretted telling me, he nervously ran his fingers through his already messed up hair, the good messed up kind. I wondered if his hair was as soft as it looked.

What the heck Layal? Few days ago you hated his guts, what the heck happened? Stop thinking about his hair.

"Sorry." I forced it out, I was wrong by judging him and I wasn't afraid to admit it but I was still in shock. I couldn't believe it, I felt as if I met a celebrity for some reason. Everyone talks about this guy, my friends practically spam his ask account with "I love yous" and wish every man was like him, I just couldn't believe that the "perfect" Thari turned out to be the guy who's so imperfect.

Imperfectly good.

"For what?" Thari looked surprised, his mouth gaped open for a few seconds and I got a peek at his straight teeth.

"For judging you when I didn't even know anything about you. Well I kind of knew everything but I never knew that those things were about you exactly, I'm sorry." I was blabbing again and I couldn't control it, I was feeling shy around him, it felt awkward, just too awkward.

"I'm sorry too, I wasn't judging you actually, I said those mean things just to have something to say, I got pissed off quickly but honestly I lied about the things I said about you." Thari gave me a cheeky grin and shrugged.

"Oh?" I couldn't help but smile.

"Eee, it's true, the Kuwaiti girl working at a cafe thing but the others were all made up." He continued, his eyes watching me.

"You're forgiven." I regained my confident posture and forced my smile to vanish. He knew I liked him, and he knew I knew that he knew. So many words in my head, I'm not making any sense, okay Layal stop thinking, he's looking at you and waiting for you to say something else.

"Well, what do you think?" Thari continued on, obviously trying to push the conversation along.

"About you being the blogger?" I asked.

"Yeah." Thari kept his eyes on me, his gaze was too strong, I was forced to look away for a second.

"I don't know." I honestly answered.

"Are you mad?" Thari asked, his eyes full of worry.

"N-no." But I am feeling quite awkward after finding out that you know about my silly crush.

"You sure?" Thari peeked at me through his thick eyelashes, his eyes were the dark colour I wanted, I honestly hated the eye colour I had to get from my Mom's side.

"Mashallah your eyes." Thari blurted out before I could answer him.

"What?" I hesitantly touched my left eye with a finger, just the skin around it, feeling insecure about them.

"They're beautiful." Thari stared at me, mouthing the words quietly. His words sounded sincere, open and honest. "Like you."

"Class, split up! Discussion's over, you can get to go over them next time we have English, which is in about 2 days. Make sure you have notes on your discussions so you don't end up forgetting anything, the essay will be due Monday next week." The professor's voice startled us both, I could feel my cheeks heat up and I felt like I lost myself for a minute there Thari had a disappointed expression on his face, as if he wanted the partner thing to go on longer. Did he?

He gave me a half smile before standing up, going to where his stuff was to gather it, getting ready to leave class.

Did that just happen?

I was still in shock.

Very much in shock.

-

-THARI's POV-

I was mulling over the whole conversation I just had with Layal. I didn't know if she was happy or not with me being the blogger but I felt like I saw a whole different side of her. A part that wasn't closed off or protected, she was wide open and easy to read. I even caught her blushing, it was denitely worth it, calling her beautiful to her face.

She left class before I could see another one of her expressions, all I saw was the fuzzy image of her Juicy jacket disappearing into the crowds of people in the hall way of the university.

"Bu Zaid!" A male voice exclaimed and a strong shoulder bumped into my muscled one. I turned around and Jarra7 with a smile on his face, he didn't have his glasses on today, I was guessing he switched to contact lenses.

"Halla bl 7abeeb." I grinned and patted his back once we both kissed each other's cheeks for a quick second.

"Bitiyee el l3b elyoum, mu 9a7?" Jarra7 asked once we were done greeting each other.

"Offh akeed, enta?"

"Eee, 9pm mu 9a7?" Jarra7 had a few textbooks hooked under his arm, his white polo shirt bringing out his tanned skin.

"Eee, hey t3al." I said before Jarra7 could turn around to walk off.

"Halla?" He asked.

"Sh9ar wya Noura?" I gave him a little wink, I was a bit on the happy train because of my little success with Layal.

"Wela shay." Jarra7 shrugged carelessly but I saw the sadness in his eyes.

"Weeh, ma 3aleih." I gave him a smile before I left him to walk off. I headed towards the parking area, I wanted to get back to 3abbas's place to take a long nap before the football match tonight. Once I was out of the air conditioned halls of the university and out on the exposed and chilly tree scented parking area, I heard a seductive voice behind me.

"Tharouyyyy." A girl purred behind me. I was in the midst of throwing my textbooks over to the passenger's seat. I turned around and found Bdour.

No surprise.

That girl was stickier than wax, seriously.

"Hmm." I didn't bother saying 'halla'.

"Wein raye7?" Bdour looked at my books in the car and then back at me, realising that I was going to leave.

"Barid baitna." I lied, I didn't need to tell her the details of being homeless.

"Haw, laish? Neseit bitiyee starbucks elyoum wyana?" Bdour looked skeptical and annoyed.

"Ma ra7 ayee." I shrugged, trying to end the conversation. "Yalla-"

"Shnu?!" She cut me off.

"Gltlch ma ra7 ayee, qa9eb yuba?" She pissed me off easily.

"Bas.." Bdour jutted out her bottom lip, looking all depressed and pouty.

"Yalla bye." I cut her off this time and climbed into the Range Rover, silencing her by shutting the driver's seat. She watched me drive out of the parking area, her face full of two emotions: anger and astonishment. I guessed that no guy usually rejected her, especially with that tight fitting shirt she always wore.

Before I could enter 3abbas's diwaneya, my Samsung vibrated in my pocket.

I pulled it out of my pocket and the screen indicated that I had a new notification from Twitter. I swiped a finger across, unlocking the Samsung and clicked over the Twitter app.

I had a new direct message.

And who was it from?

Bdour.

I was about to exit the application after seeing her username but her message was obvious and I could read the first few words, they grabbed my attention and I was forced to read the rest of the message.

"@BdourAlX: Treat me better or else I'll tell the whole university about your little blog baby;*"

Le Chase Chapter 24

FIFTH CHAPTER. Akh finally!:p Won't be long.

Finished at 1:23 am September 4.

This surprise is dedicated to all my readers of course but also to be more specific, to these beautiful supporters of mine, much love!: the funny @_as237, the sweet @basooma13 & @bushiiey, the awesome @danaaladsani, the pretty Aisha AlAfraj, the super beautiful @FawziyaMS, the cool @rimamq @m_shady  @3boudalmadani @prnsara & @shahadalrefeai.

And this is also to cheer up anyone who started school, enshallah this will make my readers happy, seeing you all happy makes me happy jad. x

-

"Bdour?!" Jarra7 exclaimed in pure shock. "La2 shaku!"

"Jarra7, shouf, it's the same number!" I said as I thrust my blackberry screen to his face so he could read the number again.

"La2 la2.. ma y9eer.." Jarra7 looked stubborn.

At the same time, I spotted Bdour standing in the cafe in front of us, in the line, waiting for her turn to order. She had one of her other tight shirts and a scarf around her thin neck. Her hair was up in a messy bun as she was clutching onto her phone.

"Jarra7, watch Bdour, I'm going to call the number, okay?" Jarra7 stubbornly turned around to stare at Bdour, I made sure he saw me dial the same exact number on my permanent phone number. This was so Bdour didn't know it was me who was calling, I was guessing she had my second number saved and Jarra7's number a well.

I kept the phone on speaker as the 6oo6 6oo6 6oo6 was crying out from the phone.

"Aloo?" It was Bdour's voice and Jarra7 saw her pick up her phone at the same exact time as the girl in the phone answered.

"No way." Jarra7 gasped once I hung up on Bdour.

"Mu giltlk?!" I gave him a satisfied expression.

"Yal ******," he started swearing towards Bdour, he was about to get up from his seat to walk towards her but I grabbed a hold of his barely muscles forearm. I was stronger than him, physically, so I was able to trap him besides me.

"Meynoun?!" I kept my hand over his arm, a few people overheard Jarra7's angry swear words and were staring at us in excitement, thinking Jarra7 and I were going to start a fight in the middle of the university.

"Bas she sounds like Noura!" Jarra7 exclaimed in horror.

"El9ara7a she doesn't." I sighed, Jarra7 looked embarrassed for believing a stupid girl's lie.

"I'll handle her Jarra7, wakher 3anha. I have a better way to handle her." I assured him.

"Shloun?" Jarra7 asked out of curiosity.

"Just wait and see." I gave him a half evil smile to calm his anger.

I walked over to the cafe, leaving Jarra7 seated. Lucky me, Layal was also there with a taller girl who I guessed was one of her friends. I passed the tables that was scattered with people, sipping their drinks or munching on their breakfasts before class. I stood by the line, there was
a guy in front of me, so I couldn't stand behind Bdour at all.

I was lucky enough to find that the guy was one of 3abbas's friends, he let me cut in front of him for a few minutes.

"You're really stupid to try to mess with my friends Bdour." I harshly hissed towards Bdour, I caught the sight of her overly pierced ear. I tried to peak at Layal, she was wearing a red sweater this time with a blazer, she looked exquisite. Bdour caught me staring at her, she didn't seem scared of afraid of me.

This was strange..

"Ohh, looking at someone you like?" Bdour replied in a snotty voice.

"What?" She caught me off guard. "Shaku."

"Thari has a crush on the new girl." Bdour smirked.

"Hey, entay-" I was about to threaten her with the picture.

"3balik ana ghabeya adizlik 9ourte w ana labsa bikini Tharouy 7beebyy?" Bdour whispered in a venomous voice.

"S-shnu?" I stuttered.

"I'm not the girl in the picture, khatheit el 9oura men google. Khibil." Bdour giggled, not minding the stares that she got from the other people around us.

"And Jarra7 won't be the last of your friends that I'll mess with. You're going to regret rejecting me pretty boy, enta wayed em9adg nefsik enk a7la wa7d bel jam3a." Bdour continued hissing, not bothering to stop to let me speak. I clenched my hands into fists, wanting to punch her overly plastic face.

"Bdour if you-" My nostrils were flaring with fury.

"You have two choices Thari Al-X." Bdour turned around to face me, making it obvious that we were talking, her next words froze me in my place and showed me evil that I've never witnessed before.

"One, you talk to me now in a much nicer way with a smile on your face so your little pretty girl Layal can see us. Or two, I'll make sure I send a picture of Layal mighair e7jabha to all the guys in this university."

Le Chase Chapter 23

Fourth chapter.. one more to go! It's now 5:43am, my brain's pretty soaked up now and empty of ideas bas yalla, I'm nearly there! x

Update: It's now 6:03 am and I spaced out, I'll continue writing the rest tomorrow.

Updateupdate: started this again at 12:05 am. Chapters are getting shorter, running out of ideas.

-

Bzzzzt. Bzzzzt. Bzzzzzzt.

The annoying sound of my alarm woke me up the next morning. Another day at university, I hit the snooze button over my Samsung, my phone played the role of being my social network-er, my alarm clock, my note pad, my reminder, my pretty much everything.

As I was changing in 3abbas's bathroom, I was checking my Samsung every five minutes. I only noticed the missed calls after I paid more attention the screen. I clicked on the news section and read over that I had two missed calls from Mom.

I quickly dialed her number, knowing she'd be awake at this time of day. She was an early bird, the opposite of me.

"Aloo?" My mother quickly picked up the phone, her voice sounded normal, that reassured me that she was okay.

"Yuma dageitay?" I asked as I was getting my textbooks, ready to go to university.

"Eeee, tigder etrid elbait al7een!" Mom excitedly exclaimed.

"9ij?!" I replied after breathing out in relief. I can finally feel the soft sheets of my bed instead of this back aching couch I had to practically live for the last few days.

"Eeee! Obouk emsafer w gale adig 3leik, ana 7acheita w a8na3ta." Mom sounded happy but I could hear the hint of sadness behind her voice, I couldn't understand what it was about though and I didn't have time to question her.

"Okay 3yal barid ba3d ma akhale9 men jam3a." I promised her before we said our goodbyes.

I drove to university alone this time. 3abbas was nowhere to be found when I woke up but I made sure to gather up my stuff and keep them in the Range Rover so I wouldn't have to go back to his place to get everything. I was expecting today to be a boring day since Layal and I didn't have class together today, it was tomorrow.

Yeah, I was pretty disappointed. I checked my twitter and Layal hadn't accepted me yet. Her tweet count didn't change either, she probably didn't tweet or go on Twitter.

I walked into the warm university, my vest was tightly clasped around my body, warming me up and protecting me from the winter's cold chills. I spotted Jarra7 walking in front of me, I walked up behind up and greeted him with an ecstatic smile.

"Shfeek mistanis elyoum?" Jarra7 asked me, my smile must have been contagious because he began to smile as well.

"Bas." I shrugged, my smile still plastered on my face. I was going home, finally! And the best part was, my Dad wouldn't be around and I'm pretty sure he took his second wife with him. It felt like the good old days again.

Both Jarra7 and I got our classes cancelled last minute so we had two hours to waste. We decided to sit by the cafe in the university. I ordered a drink that smelt of smoking coffee beans and he ordered a freshly squeezed orange juice. We picked a table by the walkaway so we'd get the view of students walking around whilst sipping our drinks.

"Sh9ar 3la Noura?" I asked out of the blue.

"Nothing yet." Jarra7 shrugged again but his eyes kept moving around, as if he was hiding something.

"Jarra7.." I mumbled.

"Ha?" He muttered.

"Shfeek?" I asked in between sips, the coffee burnt the tip of my tongue but the feeling was excruciatingly good, the hot liquid moved around my insides, swirling around  in my stomach, warming me up completely.

Jarra7 sighed in defeat. "Bas beina e7na, okay?"

"Eee okay, yalla sh9ayer?" I asked him.

"Daget 3lay ams." Jarra7 bit his bottom lip.

"Shnu!?" I nearly spit out my drink. What happened to the good girl Noura he kept talking about? And where did she even get his number?

"Sawetly prank bas ana chakeit'ha, a3arif 9out'ha 3adl.." Jarra7 continued.

"Prank?" I looked at him, my eyebrows furrowing as I became even more confused.

"Akeed hathee Noura?" I asked.

"El9ara7a.. walla madre, bas galetly enha t7bny and it was her." Jarra7 looked just as confused as I was.

"And this happened yesterday? Chithe faj2a?" I questioned.

"Eee." Jarra7 looked at me for help.

"Give me the number." I asked.

"La2!" Jarra7 looked jealous.

"Shd3wa ma ra7 asawe shay." I laughed, Jarra7 looked at me again for a second before taking out his blackberry out of the pocket of his trousers. He clicked over the buttons for a few seconds before handing me his phone, showing me his caller history.

The number he showed me looked too familiar.

"Shghaletlik Noura?" I asked him as I was trying to figure out why this number looked too familiar.

"Galetly t3al kalemny bel jam3a w lal7een ma shift'ha.. galetly tabeene agoul a7bich in person, laish?" Jarra7 said.

Man, this guy was a complete idiot. He was younger than me but I didn't think he'd be this big of a "9aida".

"Hathee mu Noura yal thaki." I shook my head at him.

"Embala!" Jarra7 stubbornly replied.

I got out my blackberry, the second one, with the number I rarely used.

I clicked open Whatsapp and I showed Jarra7 the number and the number I had saved on my second blackberry.

The two numbers, from Jarra7's phone and my phone, were the exact same.

However on Jarra7's phone, he saved the number as "Noura."

I had mine saved as "Bdour."

Le Chase Chapter 22

Third chapter.. it's now 4:49am. 2 more chapters to go! Can't do long chapters when there will be 5 of them.

-

Ghanim strutted towards Layal, she was alone and she looked vulnerable. Watching Ghanim stand behind her, his eyes on her body, infuriated me.

"Mu hathee el bent ely t7bha?" 3abbas gaped at me, he finally understood why she looked so familiar. I pushed my chair behind and got out of my seat, following Ghanim. He was whispering in Layal's ear but she kept ignoring her, she kept her face emotionless but I knew she hid her fear with her mask, her eyes were crying out for help.

"Wakher 3anha." I hissed, the fury in my voice audible. Ghanim turned around to face me, Layal noticed my presence too, she looked at me in shock for a few seconds but then quickly turned around to ignore the both of us.

"Shnu?" Ghanim laughed in my face, his breath smelled of smoke and cocktails.

"Wakher. 3anha." I said in a slower pace.

"Ethlif." Ghanim shook his head towards my direction in a pitiful way before turning around to face Layal again, whispering flirtatious words behind her, trying to get her to hive him her number.

"Giltlek wakher 3anha." I grabbed Ghanim's arm with my strong fingers, forcing him to back away. We both attracted unwanted attention from other tables, 3abbas was watching us in entertainment, not bothering to stop us.

"Hey hey, shfeekom?" One of the guys from the football match walked up, his name's Hamad and he was pretty short but he had the biggest muscles I've ever seen, he had the power to win over Ghanim and I in a fight together.

 "Wela shay." We both grunted but we were both still angry at each other. I peaked at Layal, she was already by the counter now ordering her drink but her beautiful eyes kept peaking around to meet mine. 

I decided to leave the cafe before I punched that a**hole's face into the floor, Ghanim turned to walk back to the table and didn't bother glancing back at Layal. I was met by the strong lashing of the cold wind, hitting my cheek once I was outside the super market. I stood by the entrance door, keeping my back against the wall.

I waited for a few minutes, watching the darkness in front of me and the empty cars parked in the area. As if on time, Layal left the super market, her scarf flying around in the wind, her long fingers clutching onto her cup of coffee.

"Layal." I walked up to her, but my voice startled her, she turned around, her eyes full of fear but the emotion quickly washed away once she saw that it was just me. There was no one around us, I couldn't see her properly in the dark but even in the night, her eyes bore bright colours.

"Thank you." Layal breathed out, a gust of wing flew into us and a strand of her light hair escaped her veil. She held up a hand to tuck her hair back into her dark coloured veil, her cheeks were smeared with a light shade of pink, showing how cold she was.

"Ma saweit shay." I shrugged, I couldn't control my smile around her.

"Uhm, well-" She was trying to end the conversation but I cut her off.

"Are you mad? Tabeene akafkha lech?" I bluntly asked. Layal laughed in response, it was an addictive sound that I wanted to hear again.

"La2 la2, mashkour." Layal smiled up at me, causing a slight dimple to sprout out of her left cheek. It wasn't that obvious but I had an eye for small details in a person's face.

"Akeed Layal? Ashali3 e'6rousa 3ashanich." I showed her my fist, pounding it into my right open hand, trying to show off I'm ready to fight. She ended up laughing again, the sound of her laugh ringed through my ears, making me smile again.

"Walla mashkour bas la2 ma abeek tit'hawash." Layal smiled back at me.

"If you change your mind, you'll know where to find me."

"Thank you again." Layal gave me one last smile and I got one last glance at her dimple for that night before she turned around to walk to her car. I watched her back, my hands dug deep into the pockets of my short, my legs exposed to the chilly weather as one thought ran around in my head:

I think I love her.