Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Learn to pray like a Muslim

It was Friday, and this week had been a blur—extremely long and filled with pain.

Since I didn’t want people to know I was sick, I had to attend gym class. It was dodgeball week.

Gosh, my body still aches.

Diego told us that he was to return to school next week, and since today was Friday, I was following Zainab to the mosque after school. This would be my opportunity to learn how to pray and probably learn how to read the Arabic alphabet.

“It’s called recitation,” Zainab always told me.

I had told her beforehand, so she brought a cute yellow hijab for me. She knew how much I really, really loved the colour yellow.

I couldn’t wait for school to be over.

Finally, the last bell rang.

Time to go!

Zainab normally went straight to the mosque before going home because it was closer to school. That was one of the reasons her parents had chosen our school. Otherwise, we would have been separated.

Today, I was going in with her.

We normally went home together anyway. We loved walking after school, always going home late and getting grounded for the millionth time. But we never listened.

Our chauffeur had been threatened with being fired if he didn’t pick us up, but we always disappeared before he arrived.

We mostly went to the mosque first before going on our little adventures, but we made sure we were back by six so Zainab could pray on time and help in making dinner.

Whenever we went to the mosque, I usually sat in a corner and watched them pray. I covered my hair, though.

But today was different.

Today, I was going to join them.

I was so excited I could literally explode.

And here we were, standing in front of the huge mosque. It was beautiful, but because there were so few Muslims in our area, it was mostly empty.

Such a shame. A beautiful place like this deserved to be used more often.

Zainab took me to where they performed their purification ritual.

“Ablution,” she corrected me, as she always did.

I loved how she taught me. She was slow and painfully patient. No matter how many mistakes I made, she never got tired of explaining things.

After what seemed like forever, I finally got it right.

She helped me put on the hijab, and we went into the main mosque, into the section for females. We sat down and listened to the preaching.

And good Lord, I could have sworn I fell in love with the man’s voice.

But that wasn’t what I came for.

Still, I thought I might come often.

You know, to list... sorry—to learn more about the religion.

The kind Muslims around us, along with my bestie, guided me through everything. They told me what to do and what not to do, how to place my hands, when to go down, when to stand up, and what to say.

By the end, I felt like a professional.

When we finished, they recited a little for me, and I was so overwhelmed.

As we were leaving the mosque, they told me they wanted to introduce me to their imam—the person who led the prayer.

While they were talking, I realized that he was the same person who had preached earlier.

My goodness!

He wasn’t much older than us—just two years older.

Forget about the voice. He was the whole package.

If I wasn’t so unsure about how much time I had left in this world, I would definitely have imagined my future as his future Mrs.

I think Zainab understood what was going through my mind because she tapped me, bringing me back to reality.

But I couldn’t get him off my mind.

I disturbed her with questions about him whenever I got the chance. Eventually, I stopped—not because I had gotten over him, but because I realized that love wasn’t for me right now.

Not until I knew whether I would survive the surgery.

Anytime I went to the mosque, though, I still stole glances at him.

“I wish I could be yours,” I would mutter under my breath.

But it was going to be alright.

At least I got better at praying, performing ablution, and the rest. I had started finding peace in my condition and everything.

Diego joined us when he returned to school. He enjoyed the moments too, but he never failed to tease me about my incredibly handsome crush once he got the chance.

I felt like shoving him into a dumpster whenever he started.

At least nobody else knew about my crush I hope so actually.

Cause if by chance any girl hears Diego teasing me about a guy they would surely ask but what if he had already told them about him, what if Diego told people where to find him? What if other girls went after him?

No!

Girls knew that if I had a crush on someone, he had to be a solid ten.

But enough about my clumsy love life.

I had completed the second thing on my list.

Time to get ready for the third.

And it was happening on Saturday.

I was ecstatic.