A F I A  P A T E L

I sigh in content as I feel soft warm hands caress my cheek moving towards my chin. I smile and slowly open my eyes to be met with the sight that made my heart soar in happiness. Ubaidullah stared down at me with so much love in his hazel eyes. I don't think I've ever been looked at with such pure, intense love before , not even my parents have looked at me like that. I guess that's what love between two non-related  people feel like.

My heart rate picks up as he smiles -that breathtaking smile that makes my heart skip a few beats- and leans down to -I assume- give me a kiss. I close my eyes and wait expectantly for his soft lips to meet mine but that doesn't happen at all.

What does happen though is me being shook. Violently. I groan, hating the person that disturbed me from that wonderful dream.

Holy crap! I had a dream. About Ubaidullah. And me. In a bed. And we were about to kiss. Oh my god!

My eyes snap open and I shoot up from the bed so fast that I could have caught a whiplash. "Fia! Whats wrong, baby? You okay?" My mother asks with concern lacing her voice. Her eyebrows furrowed in worry. I just look at her. I stare not knowing what to say. I open my mouth but no words form. So I just sit there. With her curious gaze on me.

If I dreamt about Ubaidullah, doesn't that mean its a sign?A sign that I should accept the marriage proposal. I mean, I did perform istikhaara yesterday.

My heart involuntarily beats faster at the thought of my mornings being like that with the hazel eyed man.

When I gain enough courage to speak I just say two words.

"A dream."

My mother looks at me confused. I don't blame her because at the moment I'm also confused and shocked.

"Uh honey, we all have dreams. Do you want to tell me what it was about?"

I shook my head and mouthed later while holding up my pinky,indicating I needed to use the bathroom- I know that boys use that when they have to go to pee but I use it too in the morning.

I hate, no absolutely despise, opening my mouth in the mornings. If I do it's really important or I just make my sentences really short, like what I did right now to my mom. Why do I despise opening my mouth you may wonder? Morning breath. That's it.

My mother nods her head and stands up so I can get out of the bed. I rush to the bathroom and close the door behind me.

As I'm brushing my teeth I cant help but wonder about the dream. What if that dream can come true? What if we can really be like that after a few years of our marriage? Is that what love feels like? That happiness that pulses through your veins. That feeling where you feel you can take on all the challenges and hardships that life throws at you. That feeling of utter bliss when you with that person. When you look at that person and you cant help but feel like you are the most luckiest person ever to have them in your life. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying I'm in love with him, it's just that what I dreamt felt so real, so vivid, like it was not a dream but a mere memory. I sigh and wash my mouth and face before drying it and stepping out of the room.

My mother was gone and I was grateful because I didn't want to be questioned at the moment.

I looked through my cupboard for something to wear for today when I heard a ping from my phone. I walked over to my phone and switched it on to see seven new messages from Yasmeen.

Big Foot 💩

Hey Stinky Winky
Are we still on for today
08:45
Okay I checked with Ray we still on
09:00
Hellooo
09:01
Hii
09:02
You there?
09:04
Did you die? Who do I need to kill now? I have my ax and shovel ready! Oh wait if you die its probably because of your own clumsiness
09:07

Hi Annoying Rat.
Yes we still on.
Yes I'm here. Just woke up
No I did not die. I'm pretty much alive right now.
09:08

Thank god! For a moment i thought you
choked on your drool while sleeping
09:09

I laughed at my best friend and replied with the straight face emoji. I put my phone off and went to look for something to wear. If I hadn't received the text from Yasmeen then I wouldn't have remembered that we were meeting up at our usual spot, the coffee shop close to our university. We got there a lot when we have our breaks during lessons or when we just want to hang out.

As I was moving clothes, a blur of red caught my attention. I grabbed the piece of clothing and realised it was my new red hijab I bought from one of my mothers close friends. I really wanted to use it today so I paired it with a plain white long sleeved flowy shirt with black skinny jeans and my red VANS.

I had a quick shower and brushed my hair before tying it in a ponytail. I put on my clothes and tied my hijab securing it with a black pin. As i was coming out of the bathroom I heard my mother calling me from downstairs saying breakfast was ready. Today was a Saturday and I had no university classes. Explains why I got up late.

I sit next to Ahmed Saeed and smack him upside his head. He gives me a glare while his mouth is stuffed with the blueberry pancakes my father made for breakfast. Yes my father made, unbelievable but yes. My father is actually a really good cook and so is my mom. My mother used to own a restaurant in South Africa before we moved to California.

It was a really big change, considering i was only 10 but i got used to it and as time went by my friends from South Africa stopped texting and calling and we drifted apart. I do miss them sometimes but i have new friends and I couldn't be more thankful. I'm an introvert and its really hard for me to make friends. If I do I'll probably be shy and reserved for the first few times we hang out together but as time goes on I'll open up and you'll wish you could find an off button to me and my mouth. Unfortunately I don't have one.

"So... I had a dream yesterday..." I trail off  while poking the blueberries on my plate. My father looked up from his food and motioned for me too carry on. I cleared my throat clearly awkward that i have to tell them what happened in my dream.

"Uh so ma said I should perform istikhaara yesterday and I did. I had a dream about me and Ubaidullah and we were...married."

I definitely left out the part where we almost kissed. How awkward would that be? I had a dream about Ubaidullah and we were about to do the nasty. Yeah definitely not saying that.

I heard my brother choke on his food and my mothers excited squeal coming from the kitchen. I looked up to see a wide grin on my fathers face. I mentally rolled my eyes but I gave him a small, uncertain smile.

Π•Π•Π•Π

"Oh. My. God. You're getting married!" My best friend exclaims.

We're currently at K's Café , sipping on our usual coffees that we always buy whenever we visit this place. Mikayla hasn't arrived as yet, which is unlike her since she's always on time and she's never been the one to leave people waiting. She's the type of girl that plans out her day or else she'll be a wreck.

Yasmeen is more of the "I'm tough and I'll kick your butt if you talk shit about me, my family or my friends" although she does have a soft side somewhere in there. She's never one to show her emotions and by that I mean sadness or hurt. She's been through a lot in her life and I feel she's one of the strongest person in my life. She has lisp and all her life she's been teased about it but honestly that doesn't defy her nor does she let it. Without her I'll probably never know what true friendship is.

Rayhaan is the "go with the flow'' kind of person. He's easygoing and chilled. I've never seen him stress. Not once in the 11 years that I've known him.

Ray and I became friends ever since I've moved to California. Y, Ray and I have been best friends since primary school onto highschool. Kay came into our lives in university.

Y and Ray always liked each other. From the time that little boy nudged my shoulder on the school grounds saying "She has pretty eyes, I wanna talk to her." till the time in highschool when he wiped her tears and told her it will be okay. They make a good couple and one day,I hope, he grows a pair and finally tells her how he feels.

I just broke the news to them and Yasmeen seems more thrilled to hear that I'm getting engaged than me. Which is not certain by the way.

"He just asked, I didn't agree as yet. Chill." I roll my eyes and take a sip of the piping coffee in my hands. I sigh as the warm goodness makes its way down my throat. I love coffee more than I like tea.

"But you performed istikhaara salah. And you had the dream. That has to mean something!" She exclaims, a little too loudly for my liking. People were starting to look at us like we've grown two heads.

"I don't know." I mumbled into my coffee cup.

"So wait, hold up. How does this boy know you again?" Rayhaan asks while lifting up one of his eyebrows. I have no idea how people do that. Like mine is either lift both eyebrows up or none.

I sigh. "No clue. Apparently his Mads best friend or whatever."

"So, you've never seen him before?"

"Nope, not once." I shrug my shoulders. Ray looks at me thoughtfully. "But he did, and he certainly noticed something he likes." Yasmeen says while wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. I scrunch my nose up and was going to tell her something when the bell in the coffee shop chimed.

Mikayla walked in and searched for us. Once she spotted us seated in the back of the café she waved and walked over.

"So what did I miss?" She asks while putting her bag on the chairs side and taking a seat next to me.

"This one," Yasmeen points at me. " is engaged."

Π•Π•Π•Π

Hello everyone! How you all doing?

I swear when I wrote the text convo I started laughing because that's exactly how I act towards my friends.

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Butterscotch_07