Chapter 10: Chapter 10

Fatimah’s POV

I couldn’t wait to get to the party. We hopped out of the car and entered their house. It wasn’t as big as ours but it was big enough for a family of five.

We entered and met UmmuKalthum trying to setup the decorations and guess what, she was very bad at it. I laughed at her attempt and took over. Halli helped with the drinks and food while UmmuKalthum continued to invite people over.

I made the house look perfect. Don’t mind me for showing off. The decors were all in cyan and milk colors. There was pepper chicken and small chops like samosa and spring rolls all prepared by my best friend. I was so proud of her.

She was in the process of preparing the cupcakes. As for the drinks, there were milkshakes, Jamaican punch, mango mojito, watermelon lassi and fruit juices also made by yours truly, my one and only bestie in the world.

We finished everything within three hours and then went to freshen up. We were all in cooperate wears. By 6pm, people had started flooding in for the party.

When it was 6:30 which was the time Amir was supposed to come home, we all switched off the lights and found hiding spots. The moment he entered, Alex switched on the light and we all shouted surprise. He was happy and the party went on.

This is a regular teens party but cause the host was muslim, Haram (prohibited) acts were not allowed.

The party went smoothly and ended at 8pm. We spent the night at UmmuKalthum’s place and before you ask, with our parents’ permissions of course.

Our parents gave us permission to spend the night anywhere as long as it was not at a boy’s house and as long as we were together. Lucky us.

We thought of a shorter name for UmmuKalthum and came to a conclusion on Kalt. What a weird name right?

The next morning I was the first to wake up and when I went out to receive some fresh air, I saw Amir in all his glory, exercising. Now I knew why he was so muscular.

He saw me and motioned me to sit on a bench I sat down and he did so too. He gave me water and asked me what I was doing so early in the morning.

I told him I had a habit of waking up early in the morning. We had a little chit chat and I went back inside and we got ready for school. It was Friday and we were expected to appear on mofty.

I didn’t know why but I felt like there was something about Amir that I was missing on. Normally I would’ve brushed the feeling but it kept nagging me.

I remembered in the morning when I looked into his eyes, I couldn’t see any emotion. It was as if he had a secret I needed to know. I just tried not to think about it.

Kalt invited us to her house the next two weeks to her house for our first sleepover together. We were all thrilled about it and as I said before we could go anywhere we wanted as long as we were together.

We went there and since it was a weekend long sleepover, we had to pack for it. Trust Halli to take all the snacks that could fit in her side bag. I just picked the necessary things and a little makeup. I didn’t even know why I took the makeup but there was a nagging feeling that made me do things at that time.

We went for outings and on the last day of the sleepover, I was feeling uneasy and suddenly I remembered AbdulHalim and all the memories we shared. I didn’t want to make Kalt and Halli worry over me so I just went to the terrace and sat on a bench.

It was already 11pm so the place was dark. I stared at the sky and admired nature, the sky, stars, moon and everything around me was a sight to behold. I never enjoyed this kind of moments but for the first time I felt utter inner peace.

Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I was never at peace it’s just that I was scared of the dark and being in the dark at that time and feeling at peace wasn’t a normal thing for me.

I heard sobbing and sniffing from one end of the terrace. I tried to walk my way through the dark but I was failing in flying colors so I just switched on the lights and to my utmost surprise, Amir was the one crying.

He had noticed that the lights were now on so he started cleaning his face with the back of his palm.

I sat beside him and asked if he wanted to talk about it. He didn’t want to at first but I convinced him that a problem shared is half solved. I was very good at finding out what a person was hiding by merely looking into their eyes.

Just as I was going to use my nifty on him, he started talking.

“Since our parents died I’ve had to be Ummu’s only support. She once even tried to commit suicide and I didn’t want to loose her so I just hid my feelings and took care of her. It has been five years since they died. Sometimes, I just feel the need to cry.

“I checked that up and found out it is a symptom of depression. I decided to start taking joy in little things. That didn’t work and when I checked it up again, I found out that the only way I could get rid of my depression was to let it all out. When I felt like crying, I needed to cry so that I wouldn’t be actually depressed and when I had chest pain, I should drink plenty of water. I should admire myself and lastly I should never stop myself from getting things I wanted, no matter what they are.” He concluded looking at me.

Wow was all I could mutter. He held my hand and it felt uncomfortable but he needed comfort do I let him.

“Just promise me you won’t tell anyone. If you tell Ummu she’ll be heartbroken so please.”

“Okay I promise but I might have some tips on how to get rid of your depression. Whenever you feel the need to get something off your chest or you have that chest pain, look for someone to confide in, someone you can trust and tell them anything and everything that comes to your mind. Okay?”

“ OK thanks b”, he said giving me a full blown smile. With that, I went back inside hoping that I had helped him and that he would confide in me.