Don't Forget Me (2)

I quickly grabbed Lulu's drink, nearly forgetting the straws as I begged her to leave the cafe.

I was so so embarrassed and humiliated that I wanted to just cry in her arms.

We walked all the way to Chocolate Bar with Lulu trying to get out answers from me while I was trying not to lose my cool. It would be a cherry on top to cry right now in front of everyone.

We finally found Sarah in Chocolate Bar and I nearly threw her bottle on the table while I sit on the couch.

"Okaaay?" Sarah said, weirded out by my behavior.

"Niyoh sh9ar?!" Lulu nearly shook me.

I took a deep breath and explain to them everything that had happened. They knew about my brother a long time ago, but needed a small reminder.

"Ubai tara la2 jed yistahbil shnu mayathkir ikhta!" Lulu said as she took a long sip of her latte.

"Half ikhta," Sarah added.

"Ysamoona ukhooha mn ubooha," Lulu corrected her.

"Inzain wagta! Ubai fashla, moo hamni Essa kithir ili kanaw warai! Fashla mnhum, shbyfakroon 3anni? Ya3ni wallah tadroon ana kilish moo no3i akalm oo chithi! Shbaguluhum? Oh hatha ukhooy bas ma3arafni? Minu by9adig!" I tell them as I bury my face in my hands.

"Inzain 3araftay minu uhma?" Lulu asked.

I bite my lip.

They were five guys. The first one I think was Yousif, he was with me in Algebra II and was kind of a genius but hated to show it. The other was I think Zaid, he walked around with a cane because of his limp, and the rest I had no idea who they were but I saw them around.

I told them what I knew and they tried to cheer me up.
"Fakray feeha i7na seniors, ya3ni kilha cham shahar oo uhma msafreen. Oo tara 6oul hal sneen ma7ad garrab 9obna l2ana yadroun no3na kilish moo nafs baji ilbanat oo ma3ndina suwalif fa kilish lat7ateen," Sarah tried to calm me down.

"Adri bas kil hatha kan b Starbucks, ya3ni atwaqa3 lo kan b cashier McDonald's chan mashakaw b shay," I told them. They laughed.

"Mu 9a7ya! Wallah 9ij don't sweat it, ukhooch hatha il7mdellah wlshkir khaleeny sakta bas, oo iltkhumasy ilmari7 ili warach wallah enraweehum ilsh'3l in galaw shay 3annich, sima3tay? Mashafoni ana oo Sarah," Lulu threatened and I laughed.

I wouldn't be lying if I said I was relieved when I heard their speeches. I was still sad about what had happened with Essa, but I didn't do anything wrong (or did I?).

The waiter brought two large bowls of pink pasta and a side of fries.

"Yallah 3al a8al al7een 3ndina reason 7ag comfort food," I said as I dug in.

/

11 PM, Sunday. 

"Yuma 7abeebty bes latabcheen entay ray7a tistansain wala tabcheen?" my mother said as I hugged her at the airport. I was in tears.

"Wallah tara ra7 olah 3alaich wayid o tara 3adi arid ilkwait bacher brou7i, fa latikhtar3ain," I said with a failed chuckle as I hugged her again. I bet my nose was red.

"El7mdillah wlshkir 3adatan ilum tabchi mu ilbent," Lulu said, trying to lighten up the situation. It worked as we all laughed.

"3asher tayam inzain?" I told my mom as she rubbed my shoulder.

"Inshaaallah, rou7ay istansay ma3a 9adee8atich oo lat7ateen wayid intay hal m7atat tawich 9'3eera 3alaih. Allah y3eeni lay kubart wallah!" my mom teased and I laughed.

"Khalti matwa9een, bnyeeblich iyaha '6e7kat'ha tshig wayihha," Lulu said as she put an arm around my shoulders.

My mother laughed and hugged Lulu. Sarah joined and hugged my mom too and soon we were all hugging each other's moms.

"Bas two weeks ya jma3a mu two years," Sarah said, and we cracked up, easing the nerves.

The teachers call us to join the rest of the grade at the check in and we wave our mothers goodbye. I feel like running back to my mom but I knew she'd want me to be happy so I put my arms around my two best friends as we waited for our luggage to be x-rayed.

"Ubai laaa2," I muttered. The five guys I'd seen in Starbucks were with us on our senior trip. Just perfect. I was going to be reminded of the incident all day, everyday for ten days.

"Shda3wa Nouf labsa chethi?" Lulu gossiped about a classmate of ours, Nouf. She was wearing a low cut and rather tight top with leggings and a plaid shirt covering her butt. It was winter.

"Bidaina mn awalha," Sarah said.

We each had a hard time deciding what to wear to the airport and airplane. My comfy clothes were rather hideous so it was between looking good and being uncomfortable or being comfortable and looking not so good.

I was wearing a long maroon sweater dress that reached below my knees and comfy black leggings, along with some thick boots for the weather there, plus a coat in my carry-on. I kept my curled hair down and had only applied some airplane-appropriate eyeliner.

Sarah and Lulu looked great in jeggings and blouses, which they both wore by accident.

We finished checking in the bags after a long wait. We were a lot of people, like maybe twenty-five if not thirty all together. It was the whole grade, without some students, of course.

Sarah, Lulu, and I kept ourselves busy with suwalif, which we never seemed to run out of.

"Tara they kind of look cute bara iluniforms," Lulu gossiped about the boys
.
It was true, and I think they put in some extra effort for the girls. They almost all wore Abercrombie sweatpants, in all colors, and Hollister t-shirts, and like ten percent of them wore caps. It was kind of funny, but they still looked good. Even the five guys I didn't want to see again.

The girls looked a bit weird though; who wore skinny jeans to an airplane? I guess those who favored looking good over comfort.

W9alna our gate, and the teachers took attendance to make sure we were all here. It was a wait to get to my name.

"Okay so we'll meet back here in forty-five minutes guys. Set your alarms, we don't want to be late!" a teacher said.

"Ula forty five minutes shbensawe!" Sarah exclaimed.

"Please mu Starbucks," I said.

They laughed and apologized for laughing.

"Okay tabeen frozen yogurt? Ana 7ail meshtahya parfait!" Lulu said. And I agreed.

We drag our carry-ons with us all the way to Pinkberry next to Starbucks, which was infested by our school mates. 9ij chicken nuggets.

I took a small original frozen yogurt with berries, and I didn't even enjoy it while worrying if I'd see the guys again. I was trying to avoid them.

"Niyah?"

***

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