Amira Sarker

Currently, I was in lunch. I talked to my friends as if the events of yesterday never happened. I was very good at concealing my feelings. I didn't want to burden my friends with my problems when they were going through their own. Plus, it felt nice to forget about yesterday and enjoy myself.

"Theo James is so hot. I'm not even joking," gushed Meredith.

I raised my eyebrows at this. Theo James was this actor. He played Tobias Eaton in 'Divergent.' I admit he was cute, but I wouldn't go boy crazy about it.

"I swear you are too obsessed with him. You barely know the guy for heaven's sake!" laughed Lucy.

"I agree. Sure the guy is cute, but not like crazy hot," I said.

"Oh shut up. A girl can dream," Meredith playfully glared.

"Hey! Telling people to shut up is my thing!" exclaimed Tasneem.

"Oh, whatever. Everyone tells people to shut up," remarked Lucy.

"Yeah but the way I say it is way cooler," argued Tasneem.

Tasneem and Lucy continued their silly argument. Meredith and I just laughed at their comebacks. I noticed that one member from our group stayed silent and looked as if she was in deep thought about something. Aria was looking across the room. I followed her gaze and saw she was looking at Mark's table.

He was laughing with his friends. There was a girl seated right next to him. She touched his biceps, twirling her hair and giggling at whatever he just said. Mark didn't seem to realize her obvious attempts at flirting.

I looked back to Aria. Her eyes were glistening. Her once electric blue eyes turned stormy. It was clouded with hurt and betrayal. I was sitting next to her, so I grabbed one of her hands. This seemed to get her attention.

"Talk to him," I whispered.

She rubbed her eyes to rid the tears. "He really is losing interest in me. Isn't he?" she asked, brokenly.

"I can't say. But if he does, it's his loss. You're an amazing girl. You have a kind and pure heart. You're selfless in your deeds and try your best to become a good person. If he doesn't see that then he's an idiot. Talk to him about it. See what he says," I told her softly.

She nodded her head but kept her head down. Her light brown hair covered her face. I saw a tear slip on her hand. I squeezed it in reassurance, my heart aching for my friend of many years.

"Some guys aren't worth the tears," I said.

I gazed around the lunchroom and my eyes landed on Damon. He was wearing a plaid shirt with jeans, an outfit far too casual than I expected for him. For a guy who had a whispering rumor about a major fight, I expected more of the bad boy, leather jacket and motorcycle look. The again, Damon was full of surprises.

I really hoped he forgot about yesterday, but only Allah knew. Damon was staring at his food, picking at it as his mind waivered. He seemed lost in thought about something. I turned my eyes away from him and paid attention to what my friends were saying.

Damon was just another boy, he isn't worth my thoughts.

* * * *

Lunch was over and I was walking to my science class. Science was my favorite subject. It always fascinated me especially how the body worked. Human health was interesting. Maybe that was why I wanted to be a doctor so much or a biomedical person. Organisms and microbiology really heightened my interest in learning form their complexity and their ability to regenerate easily if cells were healthy. Allah's creations surely were perfect and beyond amazing.

As I was walking, Damon ran up to me.

"Hey," he smiled.

"Hi," I replied.

"Are you going to tell me what happened yesterday or not?" he asked, seriously.

"Nothing happened," I responded, firmly. I was hoping that he forgot about yesterday.

"Don't give me that crap. If nothing happened then why were you crying and why were there bruises on your arm?" he asked with raised eyebrows like he was challenging me to tell him otherwise.

"I hurt myself really badly," was my simple reply. I thank Allah that I didn't stutter. It wasn't a lie. Not exactly. I pushed Tanwir to his limits, part of it was my fault.

He gave me the 'are-you-kidding-me' look. "Likely story," he remarked.

I shrugged.

"Tell me the truth now. What happened? I know you didn't hurt yourself. Someone hurt you physically and I want to know why. Are you in an abusive relationship?" he demanded.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"The hell you don't. You know exactly what I'm talking about so I suggest you spill the beans," he retorted.

We walked into the classroom together. We were the only ones in the classroom at the moment. Placing my stuff on my desk, I turned to him with my most expressionless face.

"There are certain things in life that are meant to stay under lock and keys. It's my personal life and I suggest that you," I said while pointing at him, "stay out of it."

"I'm trying to help you," he said with a determined look in his forest-green eyes.

"Why? Why do you care so much about it?" I asked.

"Because... well because," he paused, shifting on his feet uneasily. That same tension coiled around him again, immobilizing his train of thoughts. "Well... I'm not quite sure myself."

I was shocked. The new guy called me his friend. "Well, I don't need your help," I scoffed, taking my seat. My next words flew out without my consent. "I doubt you'd want to help a girl you deem as incapable in her beliefs."

Offense crawled over his features. "Hey, we don't have to agree on every little thing. I'm not a heartless person, Amira. You can trust me."

"It's not a matter of trust."

He sighed. "Damn. Why do you have to be so secretive?"

"Secrets are meant to stay hidden," I smiled tightly.

"You are a mystery behind eyes, Amira Sarker," he grinned, slowly easing the previous tension away. He was warming up to me it seemed.

I felt my face heat up at the comment. I thanked Allah for my tan skin. It was harder to notice my blush, which was a trait many would wish to have. I watched as Damon engaged in a conversation with some of the guys, his eyes suddenly gleamed with newfound brightness and luminosity, occasionally landing on me. Lost in my own world, I didn't notice that my science partner, Anna, came and took a seat beside me.

"Are you blushing or is that make up?" she asked while squinting her eyes and looking very closely at my face.

"When do I ever wear make up in school?" I answered back with a question.

"The great Amira Sarker has actually blushed for the first time in forever. Who's the lucky guy?" she asked.

"No one."

"Liar. Someone has their eyes set on you huh?" she winked.

"Oh shut up. That's not true," I laughed.

She just grinned and wiggled her eyebrows at me. I was about to tell her to quit it, but the bell rung and cut me off. Everyone took their seats, and our teacher began the lesson.

"Today we are going to start with the research presentations. First up is Anna and Amira," she announced.

"Ms. Lyon, I need to log into my email to open up the power point since I saved it there," I said.

She nodded her head and I got up with Anna following behind me. Damon sat near the computer. I quickly logged in and opened up the presentation, ignoring his burning gaze on my back.

* * * *

I arrived home and placed my stuff on the counter. Walking over to the sink, I washed my hands. I saw Mum putting a bowl on the counter.

"It's macaroni and cheese so enjoy. The kids are about to wake up. If you need anything I'll be downstairs. Oh and after your done with your homework, come and help me take care of the kids," she said and then headed downstairs.

Mum was a babysitter. She ran a family day care so we all pitched in to help. She made a daycare out of our basement. It was like a child's dreamland down there.

I grabbed the laptop and checked my email while eating my food. It had been a long day. Damon kept glancing at me in all our classes together, no matter how hard I tried to ignore it, I just felt even more hot and bothered. His sudden act of kindness had painted his personality in a different life.

He was willing to put our differences aside just to help me. As much as I'd like to ignore it, my body felt warm and fuzzy like I rested upon a cloud of loving embraces.

Sighing, I opened up my Google chat and saw something that made my body freeze.

[email protected] would like to chat with you.

Assalamualaikum!

Just a heads up I do not recommend talking to the opposite gender secretly online. It was just for the story and to show what some Muslims are going through and what runs in their heads while doing the action. Remember to vote, comment, and fan! Thanks:)