Salamu alaykum my beautiful readers! I apologize for the spaced apart updates, but I honestly didn't have time to write during the week. The joys of homework 😒

^Pic of Mariam's outfit. Gotta love hijabi fashion.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this Chapter. It's more of a filler chapter but oh well, a chapter nonetheless. 😉😃😜

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"Yes, baby, the camera loves you! Now move your head a little to the left and smile like it's Christmas morning."

Denise had been saying all sorts of ludicrous things as she took our pictures, because that's apparently what "real photographers" did. She even had a black beret perched on her ginger curls and she wore a white t-shirt and black pants with red suspenders. All in all, she was really getting into the photographer vibe, though she looked more like a French cartoon.

"We don't celebrate Christmas," Yasmine reminded Denise as she leaned against the tree, arms crossed. She was wearing a denim blouse rolled up at the sleeves and a long caramel brown skirt and a leopard print hijab. We were in Denise's backyard which provided a beautiful backdrop for the photos.

"Oh, yeah, that's right, my bad," Denise smiled sheepishly.

"You know what does get us smiling?" I said, a grin already spreading across my face. I turned to Yasmine, and she had that same smile, and we both exclaimed, "EID!"

Denise laughed, "That's right, you guys have Eid, I totally forgot!" she lifted her black Nikon camera back, obscuring most of her face and saying, "Smile like it's Eid morning!"

And so we did, shoulder to shoulder, our outfits complimenting each other (I was wearing a coral hijab, aqua blue tight top, a brown leather belt around my waist and a long coral skirt), and as soon as we were done taking the photos for Denise's media assignment, we retired inside her house for a bit. On the way in Denise's cat Skittles rubbed its speckled fur against my leg as it slipped into the backyard. I was glad none of my friends owned dogs, otherwise going to their house would've been a problem. Theo used to have a dog when he was a kid but it died when he was ten, so since then the only pet he had was a cockatoo that ended up flying away after three years of being caged.

"Skittles is so cute," Yasmine cooed as she watched it lick its paw on the lawn outside the screen door.
Denise chuckled. "She used to be, but now she can get annoying," she said as she opened the fridge. We both joined her at the kitchen bench as Denise poured us some lemonade Denise's mum had made the day before, so it was still fresh, and it tasted amazing.

"How can a cat get annoying?" I asked as I exhaled, setting my glass down on the marble bench.

"She's shedding her fur everywhere and she cries every morning," Denise explained with a roll of her eyes, removing the beret from her head and running a hand through her hair. "The only reason we keep her is because Amanda loves her so much."

At the mention of Denise's younger sister, the girl herself skipped in, a mini version of Denise with her pale skin and red hair, bright blue eyes sparkling as she greeted us again. Amanda loved saying hello, even if she only saw you five minutes before.

"Can I have some lemonade too?" Amanda asked sweetly to her sister.

"Fine," Denise sighed and got out an extra glass for her. Amanda was nine years old and though Denise complained about her sometimes, I knew she had a special place in her heart for her younger sister, just like I had a place for Zeinab, and even Nasr.

"Are you finished taking photos?" Amanda asked as she sipped from her glass with both hands. She was quite short, her head only just popping up from over the benchtop, and Denise leaned her elbows on the benchtop, regarding her sister with amusement.

"Yeah, we're all done. In fact, we were thinking of going to the park now," Denise said in that voice reserved for little kids. We all had that strange tone we used, like a sing-song lilt to our words to make ourselves sound happy and appealing to children, the same tone the adults on Playschool used that I found a little creepy.

Amanda's eyes lit up. "Can I come?"

"Of course you can come," Yasmine beamed at the little girl.

Amanda began jumping up and down, but not before putting her cup on the bench. "Yay!"

The park wasn't too far from Denise's house, so we all set out into the autumn afternoon sunshine, Amanda skipping along the path, her red hair bouncing up and down as the three of us walked calmly behind her.

"I haven't been to the park in ages," Yasmine said as we crossed the grass, letting Amanda run free to the playground. I watched her with a hint of nostalgia. I missed being a carefree kid, swinging on the swings and sliding down the slide.

"We should go on the playground too," Denise suggested cheekily, eyes glittering as she approached it. She was still wearing her ridiculous photographer getup, without her beret, though, because that was apparently overdoing it, when the suspenders were enough. But it looked good on her, and as she climbed the bridge, beckoning for us to follow, I exchanged a shrug with Yasmine and obeyed.

The little kids at the park were giving us strange looks as we slid down the slide as giant seventeen year olds, laughing our heads off on the seesaw and soaring high on the swings, which we hogged for a good ten minutes before kids began whining, so we got off, feeling like kids again.

"Watch me do a cartwheel!" Amanda got our attention as she lifted her hands into the air and did what she promised, so the three of us applauded, grinning.

"That was impressive," I commented.

"I can do a handstand too!" Amanda crowed, and she did. As she landed on her feet and we applauded her once again (she did gymnastics, so she was always showing off her new tricks) the tinkling melody of an ice cream reached our ears, and Denise, Yasmine and I exchanged wide-eyed looks.

"Ice cream!" Amanda screamed.

"Good thing I brought money," Denise said, digging her pockets. I had to, just in case, as Mama always made sure I had an emergency ten dollars with me.

Amanda beat us to the truck, which pulled up in the parking lot, swarming with kids dragging along their parents. Denise went ahead to catch up to Amanda and buy her ice-cream, while I walked with Yasmine at a slower pace, taking the opportunity to talk about what I wanted to talk about without Denise hearing.

"Her birthday's coming up," I hissed.

"Whose? Amanda's?" Yasmine asked.

"No, silly, Denise's birthday. Her eighteenth, remember?" Yasmine could be so forgetful sometimes.

"Oh, yeah! April fourth, right?"

"Right. Which is in, like, six days. And we need to organize something for her," I planned.

"Like what, though? A party?" Yasmine suggested, though I saw the flicker of a dark expression cross her features at a party. The last party she went to didn't end too well for her, so I could understand her hesitance at throwing one.

"I mean, it could just be a small gathering of just her friends..." I trailed off as we queued up for ice cream, since it was the school holidays and there were a lot of kids at the park.

"We gotta get Theo involved," Yasmine whispered as Denise got a double scoop waffle cone of vanilla and chocolate for Amanda, who squealed with delight at the sight of her dessert.

"Well, obviously, he has to come," I said. "Maybe we should just stick to it being the four of us."

"Yeah," Yasmine agreed. "Could we go bowling again? It was really fun last time."

"It was, but Denise is turning eighteen. We should make it more memorable," I suggested. "How about we do something that shows how much we love her? Like we make a collage of all our photos from our five years of friendship, and we get her a massive cake, and then we get a band to sing for her –"

"Maybe not a band, but otherwise, it sounds good," Yasmine said before going up to the ice cream man to order the butterscotch waffle cone. I ordered cookies and cream and we both walked back to where Denise and Amanda sat, licking their ice creams.

"I'll text Theo and let him know tonight," Yasmine said as she nibbled on her scoop. "You can work on the collage."

"I can't do it by myself, I need your help too," I moaned, nudging her. "Come over tomorrow and we'll work on it."

"Okay, fine," Yasmine sighed, pretending to sound aggravated about it, but I knew she was excited to work on the collage. After all, arts and crafts was more her thing. "Hey, speaking of Theo, have you noticed –"

"I got a double scoop!" Amanda boasted, interrupting Yasmine from whatever she was going to say. I smiled at the way she showed off in front of Yaz and I. Every time we came over, Amanda was always trying to show us something, whether it was her cool collection of smooth pebbles or what she had learned, Amanda was always so bright and bubbly.

"That's amazing!" I said in that sing-song voice, trying not to sound sarcastic because if you didn't do it right you end up sounding sarcastic.

"I know, right?" Amanda licked the chocolate scoop, getting some on her nose, so Denise had to dab it away with a napkin.

As we sat on the park bench, devouring our ice creams, my mind wandered back to last Thursday night, when Damian had surprised us all by showing up at the mosque. But what surprised me more was that he stayed, and he even spoke with Hassan, and from afar I could tell the conversation went well because Hassan was smiling and Damian had a perplexed look on his face, which I realized now meant that his brain was thinking and he was intrigued. Whatever Hassan told him must have had an effect on him because Damian walked out of the mosque with that same mystified expression, his phone buzzing in his hand, but he didn't pick up.

"So that's the infamous Damian Brewer you were speaking about!" Fatima had exclaimed as we huddled by the doorway with Yasmine and Zeinab, finally able to speak to each other after an hour of silence.

"Yeah, what a guy," I said sarcastically.

Fatima smirked. "He's not bad looking, if I do say so myself, but astaghfurullah just in case," Fatima glanced up to the ceiling, brows knitted together ruefully, and I had to laugh at her antics.

"Don't be fooled by his looks, Fatima," Yasmine warned. "He sure can be a pain sometimes."

"But he's definitely changed," I remarked. "There's something about him that's less...him."

"Yeah, that totally makes sense, Mariam!" Zeinab laughed at my loss for words. I just couldn't explain it, the way Damian was less grounded. Sometimes I'd catch a sad look in his eyes, or the pensive puckered brow, and I'd know that inside he was struggling, but those minor hints were all I got for when he spoke to me most of the time he was back to his usual cocky ways, and I hadn't minded that. Weirdly, I had gotten used to them, and since I loved spitting back fiery comebacks it had become a little game of ours.

Now that it was the holidays I didn't have to see Damian or Aidan or any of my classmates everyday, and I was glad because honestly, I needed a break. But I definitely didn't get sick of seeing Yasmine and Denise, or Theo, who I still had to meet up with for the training sessions. In fact, we had met up just two days ago at this exact park so we could do some more jogging and aerobics. Samantha came too, and the three of us girls found that running the five laps around the park wasn't as tiring as it first had been, and strangely enough, I was getting along with Samantha. We had never had any reason to be friends before, since she hung out with a totally different crowd, but exercising with her, along with Denise and Theo, wasn't too bad. Except for the fact that by the end of it I was drenched with sweat under my hijab, but the reward was I got to lose some weight, every girl's goal at some point in their life.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, snapping me out of my reverie, and I pulled it out to see Nasr's number on the screen with a rare photo of him smiling. I accepted the call, pressing the screen to my ear – or the general area where my ear was under my hijab.

"Salam, bro, whassup?" Sometimes I liked to answer the phone like a hijabi gangster, because I was so cool like that.

"Mama wants you to come home," Nasr said, getting straight to business. There was no small talk with him on the phone. When he called, it was always for a reason.

"Aw, but I'm having so much fun!" I whined like a little girl. With Zeinab I had to be the mature responsible older sibling but with Nasr I could be as childish as I wanted because it was his job to be mature and responsible. And I enjoyed annoying him.

"Mariam, you've been out for four hours, I think you've had enough fun. Plus, you'll miss Zuhr at this rate," Nasr chided, and I sighed, knowing he had a point. I had almost forgotten I was neglecting my prayers!

"Okay, I'll be home soon, In Sha Allah, I just gotta finish my ice-cream cone," I gloated, crunching into the waffle, my favourite part of the ice cream experience.

"You got ice cream?" Nasr's voice rose a little incredulously, and I chuckled at his childishness. In the background I could hear Zeinab faintly, crying, "Who got ice cream?"

I laughed, knowing Zeinab would've loved to come with me if she knew there was ice cream available. What can I say? She loved food.

"Anyway, I can walk home from here, I'm at the park, and there was an ice cream truck, so we got ice cream," I said, trying to ignore Yasmine who was mouthing words and nudging me. When I couldn't take it anymore, I turned to her, hissing, "What?" and she batted her eyelashes at me sweetly, whispering, "Say Salam to Nasr for me."

I rolled my eyes, nonetheless telling Nasr, "Yaz says Salam," to which he replied, "Tell her Wa Alaykum." Wow, my brother was so lazy he couldn't be bothered adding 'musalaam' at the end of that, and after I hung up on him, I told Yaz his reply, to which she just giggled.

"What's wrong with you?" I questioned as I popped the last bit of the cone in my mouth. Amanda and Denise had stood up and put the remainder of their ice creams in the bin, so Yasmine and I did the same.

"Nothing, it's just your brother is so cool," Yasmine shrugged, biting back a smile.

"Yeah, he's so cool he's a penguin," I said sarcastically, laughing. We joined Denise and her sister, who was begging her for a piggy back, but Denise was refusing because Amanda may be small but she sure was heavy, apparently.

"I gotta go now, Denise," I told her, giving her a small hug. Denise rubbed my back, saying, "Thanks so much for being my model today, Mims." She turned to Yaz, also giving her a hug. "You too, Yaz. I'll send you the final pictures on email."

"After you Photoshop them, of course," Yasmine chuckled. "Make me look as flawless as the cover girl of Vogue."

"Trust me, Yaz, you're already flawless," Denise winked, and we all laughed.

"Are you leaving now?" Amanda pouted, and I ruffled her hair with a rueful smile.

"Yeah, I am, but I'll definitely see you soon, okay?"

Amanda nodded, squeezing me into a hug. "Definitely."

Yasmine glanced at her phone, a slight frown in her brow. "I better go too. I have four missed calls from my mum, which means it'll be world war three if I don't leave soon," she said with a sigh.

"Okay, I guess I'll see you guys soon?" Denise said hopefully.

"Of course, it's your birthday next week, remember?" I reminded her, and Denise laughed, smacking a palm to her forehead.

"Of course! How could I forget my own birthday?"

"Are you planning anything or...?" I left the question open, and Denise tapped her chin in thought.

"I mean, I was hoping to just keep it casual, and maybe have a little get together with you guys, and Theo..." A little colour spotted Denise's cheeks, and Yasmine exchanged a look with me that proved my suspicions.

"We could go somewhere, maybe bowling...?" Yasmine really wanted to go bowling, didn't she?

"Bowling sounds fun," Denise agreed, and Yasmine pumped her fist in the air, doing a little celebration dance.

"Yes! I am so excited. Let's go bowling!"

"Can I come?" Amanda's trademark catchphrase. Denise smiled down at her, saying, "I'm sorry, Mandy, but I'd rather just go with my friends."

Amanda's face fell. "Oh. Okay."

"Denise, be nice. We can invite her, can't we?" I forced a smile, but Denise shook her head.

"I want to spend it with you guys, and besides, I see enough of Mandy at home. I need a break," Denise replied, and Amanda scrunched up her face, looking slightly offended.

"Hey!"

"I'm just kidding, Mandy, I love you," Denise put an arm around her shoulders, and I noticed a glint in Amanda's eyes, a mischievous glint.

"If you love me, will you give me a piggy back ride?"

"If I give you a piggy back ride, will you be okay not going bowling with us?" Denise asked, looking a little guilty. I could understand why she wouldn't want her nine year old sister tagging along. Even I didn't take Zeinab everywhere I went.

"Yes!" Amanda replied, looking ecstatic at getting a piggy back for such a small exchange, and I had to laugh at her sweet innocence. Denise crouched down and Amanda climbed on, looping her arms around Denise's neck. It was there that we said our final goodbyes, waving to each other as Yasmine and I headed down the winding path that led us home.

***

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," I said as I saw none other than Aidan, Felix, Toby and Damian walk into the bowling alley. We were still putting our bowling shoes on, and at my words Theo, Denise and Yasmine looked up, following my gaze.

"Who invited them?" Denise muttered.

"I don't think they were invited," Theo said in a low voice as they scanned the place.

"So it's a coincidence?" Yasmine deduced, standing up.

"Out of all the days to go bowling, they had to choose today?" Denise said exasperatingly.

"It's not like they're stopping us from having fun," I said optimistically, grabbing a blue ball that must weigh over five kilograms. "Let's just pretend they're not here."

"Kind of hard to pretend when they're coming right for us," Denise pointed out, and sure enough, since the only alley available was right beside us, they approached. Felix picked up a bowling ball, using it like a weight and pumping his biceps, while Aidan and Toby laughed.

"Hey, dudes!" Theo greeted them, since he was friends with them after all, like most guys were friends with each other, and Damian raised his eyebrows, but there was a smile on his lips at seeing Theo. The smile faded when he noticed the rest of us, Yasmine, Denise and me, standing behind Theo, gawking at him.

"Hey, man, whatcha doing here?" Damian fist bumped Theo, while Felix, Toby and Aidan had stopped messing about with the bowling balls and were looking slightly stunned. Felix was the first to break out of his paralysis, a wide grin spreading across his face as he clasped hands with Theo and slapped him on the back.

"It's Denise's birthday," Theo replied to Damian. His eyes slid over to Aidan, who regarded him cautiously, though they exchanged a small head nod of acknowledgement. There was still some tension between Aidan and Theo since the party. You'd think it would've all dissipated since it had been a month and a half, but Theo wasn't one to let things go easily.

"Happy birthday!" Felix said cheerfully to Denise, and Denise smiled stiffly, mumbling, "Thanks." Denise felt awkward around Felix because of what had happened at the party, but Felix didn't seem to remember any of it. The effects of alcohol, ladies and gentlemen. It made people crazy and forgetful, the two things no sane human being should want to be, yet there were billions intentionally drinking it.

"Yeah, happy birthday, Denise," Aidan offered a smile, and so did Damian and Toby, echoing happy birthday. He briefly locked eyes with me, but I broke the connection first, glancing at the floor. I really hadn't expected to see him here, and the last time I saw him was at the Mosque that night. I had no idea where his thoughts were on Islam, and I made a mental note to ask him about it afterwards.

Thankfully, Damian, Aidan, Toby and Felix kept to themselves, bent on beating each other in competition rather than intrude on our bowling time.

"You go first, Denise, since you're the birthday girl," Theo held out a purple bowling ball to Denise, who took it gratefully.

"Thanks, Theo, how nice of you."

"Yes, I'm very nice," Theo agreed, brushing off his shoulder. "I'm also very good at bowling."

"Oh, really?" Denise cocked an eyebrow as she walked up to the alley with the ball expertly in her hands. Yasmine and I stood back, along with Theo, who replied, "Yeah. I'm like a pro."

Denise just flashed an amused smile over her shoulder before swinging the ball back and letting it go so that it rolled straight to the pins, knocking out nine out of ten. I chuckled at the expression on Theo's face after Denise successfully knocked down the last pin in her spare. She spun around, dusting off her hands with a satisfied look on her face.

"Damn, you're actually pretty good," Theo said with wide eyes.

Denise shrugged. "Yeah, I'm like a pro," she imitated his words, and Theo suddenly looked determined, striding up to the row of balls and grabbing a blue one.

"Well, I can do better," he boasted, lifting the ball and releasing it down the alley, but sadly, he only knocked out seven pins. He let out a frustrated groan as Denise shook her head pitifully, arms crossed.

"Wow, Theo, you're like a pro!" Yasmine cheered sarcastically.

Theo shot her a look before he went for the spare, managing to knock out the last three without a problem. "See? Pro," he smirked.

"My turn," Yasmine said, and I honestly didn't mind going last. But instead of watching my friends bowling, my eyes wandered to the alley on our right, where Damian was currently bowling, hitting a strike. He high fived his mates, whooping, and I cracked a smile. Damian caught me creepily smiling at him and shot me a wink to which I widened my eyes, a little surprised and flushed.

"Mariam, your go," Denise nudged me, and so I picked up a green ball and whispered, "Bismillah," before letting it go. And sure enough, I got a strike, the first strike out of all of us, and I couldn't help celebrating, high-fiving my friends and jumping up and down.

"Not bad," I turned to find Damian slow clapping from the next row.

"Not bad? A strike is the best one can do in bowling," Denise retorted.

"But could you do it again?" Damian asked me with a slight smirk.

"Of course," I replied with a scoff, though mentally I added, In Sha Allah. "How about you?"

Damian let out a conceited laugh. "Duh, I'm like a pro at bowling."

Yasmine, Denise and I burst out laughing at Damian's same choice of words as Theo to describe his bowling skills. Guys were all the same. Theo just cocked an eyebrow.

"If you're such a pro, then prove it," Theo challenged, and Damian picked up a black ball in his right hand, still smirking.

"Okay, I will," he said smugly, turning to the array of ten pins. Aidan, Felix and Toby cheered him on as he puckered his brow in concentration before releasing the black ball, sending it spinning at a speed faster than I could run, successfully barrelling into all ten pins.

"Strike!" Damian whooped.

"Isn't it funny how in baseball a strike is a bad thing, but in bowling it's a good thing?" Denise commented.

"Yeah, funny," I murmured, my eyes fixed on Damian's smug celebrating. "Not bad," I called out to Damian as Denise took her turn to bowl.

"Can you do better?" Damian asked after he finished high-fiving his mates.

"Perhaps," I replied lightly.

"Let's have a competition, then," Damian proposed. "First to get to ten strikes wins."

"You're on," I simpered.

"You sure are competitive, Mariam," Yasmine remarked as Theo bowled, moaning when he didn't get a strike. I guessed today wasn't his lucky day, but for Denise it sure was, since she had just achieved her first strike.

"Well, yes, I am. I like winning," I said as I flexed my fingers, cracking them. I needed to warm up and get ready to beat Damian.

"Yeah, but you especially like beating Damian," Yasmine said. "You two are always up in each other's grill."

"In that case, Damian's about to get barbecued because I am not letting him get ten strikes before me! In Sha Allah," I added sheepishly. I wasn't the best bowler, but sometimes I got 'lucky.' I didn't believe in luck, I only believed in Allah, and right now I needed Him to guide the bowling ball, as well as guide Damian spiritually. Him going to the mosque must have meant something, right? Maybe he was slowly giving in to the beauty of Islam, but we still had less than four months left.

Yasmine regarded me with amusement. "I gotta admire your determination, Mariam."

"It's what keeps me going," I shrugged.

While Yasmine bowled, Theo and Denise sat on the waiting bench, while I stood with my arms crossed, every now and then glancing over to my right and watching Aidan's technique in bowling, since he always got strikes. Those four boys seemed to be in their own little world, laughing and cheering each other on and just having fun. There were lots of other teenagers here doing the same, and for once I felt like just a regular teenage girl having some fun.

To my disappointment, Damian won our little competition, reaching ten strikes when I was only on eight strikes. This took us about an hour, and by then it was lunch time, a.k.a. cake time.

Yasmine and I had organized a giant chocolate cake for Denise, which was delivered to us as we sat in the booth, taking a break. Damian and his friends sat in a booth not too far from us. After winning, Damian had rubbed it in my face for a few minutes, and I just accepted my loss graciously, as one should do. I was glad in a way that I hadn't won because maybe the Shaytaan would take over and make me seem pompous and boastful, and that was one of the worst sins you could commit. Damian was always boastful and pompous, though I hoped this would all change once I was done with him.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you," Theo began singing, and I joined in along with Yasmine, causing Denise's cheeks to flush red. She wasn't a big fan of being serenaded in public, but it was her birthday, her special day turning eighteen. She was an adult now, even if we were behaving like kids as we dug into our slices of cake.

"Thanks, guys, this is great," Denise said after a bite of cake. "I couldn't have asked for better friends."

"Aw, how sweet," Yasmine cooed, placing a hand to her heart. "We love you too, Denise. Right, Theo?" Yaz nudged him, and Theo blinked, looking a little bemused.

"Uh, yeah, right," Theo smiled at Denise, and there was a long moment where they just smiled at each other, until I cleared my throat.

"So, do you want to open the presents now or...?"

"Yeah, sure!" Denise replied in a high-pitched voice unlike her usually sultry voice.

I got out the bag that contained the framed collage Yaz and I worked hard on and handed it over to Denise, who gawped at it.

"Happy birthday, Denise."

"This is so cool! Thank you so much!" Denise exclaimed. "How long did it take you to make?"

"Well, Yaz helped with it, so it only took us...three hours?" I glanced at Yasmine, who nodded.

"Yeah, we finished it in one day," Yasmine added.

"Aw, it's got all our photos since year eight," Denise cooed.

"Am I on it?" Theo asked from across the table.

Denise looked up at him, lips curved into a smile. "Yeah, you are, actually. A lot."

Denise handed it over to him to see while Yaz gave Denise her present, which was a perfume bottle that smelled sweet. "You know I don't usually wear perfume, but I'm definitely going to wear this!" Denise promised, beaming at Yaz.

"Every girl needs to smell good," Yasmine claimed.

"I got you something much better than perfume," Theo said, sliding over wrapped up package in Christmas wrapping.

"Really, Theo?" Denise cocked an eyebrow at the wrapping, and Theo just shrugged, saying he didn't have any other type of wrapping paper at home. As soon as Denise ripped open the wrapping paper she gasped. "I love it!"

"I knew you would," Theo said smugly. "I know how much you've been wanting a Polaroid since year ten."

"You got her a Polaroid?" I awed. Presenting Theo – the king of present giving. He put my collage and heart-felt card to shame.

"Denise loves photography, so of course I got her a Polaroid," Theo rolled his eyes at me.

"Let's take a picture now," Yasmine suggested, so Denise stood up and held the camera to her eye, snapping a photo of the three of us at the table laden with cake, chips and wrapping paper.

"Let's get one with you in it," I offered as we waited for the photo to show up, but Denise shook her head.

"It's okay. I'd rather be the photographer than the photographed," she said.

"Oh, come on, it's your birthday, you need at least one photo of you at the ripe young age of eighteen," I joked.

"Okay, but I don't want to be alone. Yaz, come join me," Denise yanked Yaz's arm, dragging her out of her seat.

"Me too, I have to be in the photo," Theo chimed in, getting out of the booth and standing next to Denise, putting an arm around her. I snapped the photo with a smile, removing it from the slot and waving it around in the air like I had seen Denise do before.

"You two look so good together, if you just cut me out of the photo," Yaz said after it had developed.

"I would never cut you out of the photo," Denise objected.

"Damn, I look hot," Theo commented as he studied the photo. "You don't look too bad either, Denise."

"Wow, thanks," Denise said sarcastically, and Theo looked up at her, eyes wide.

"I mean, of course you don't look bad," he backtracked. "You look great, actually."

"That's more like it," Denise said jokingly, tossing her red curls over one shoulder to hide the fact that she was blushing so hard. I exchanged a sly look with Yasmine, who reflected my expression.

"We should get back to bowling," I suggested.

"Yeah, we should," Denise nodded, and after gathering up all the wrapping paper and making sure we took all our stuff from the table we went back to bowling. We still had another hour left in our session, and this time I was aiming to get at least ten strikes, just as a personal best. Nothing to do with the fact that Damian beating me had stung my pride.

"How's your mum?" I asked Damian, who leaned against the wall, waiting his turn just as I was.

Damian turned to me, looking a little startled. "She's...good."

"That's good," I forced a smile, turning back to the alleys and watching Aidan and Yasmine bowling at the same time. While Yaz got a strike, Aidan only managed to get six pins down, and only two in the spare, and I cheered loud and proud for Yaz.

"Your turn," Yasmine told me as she returned to the waiting area, and I pushed off the wall, heading to the ball dock, but not before hearing Damian call, "Good luck."

I glanced at him over my shoulder, but he was gone. I picked up a ball, and as I did I noticed Damian doing the same. Oh, so it was his turn too. Simultaneously, we went through the same motions as we both bowled at the same time, except his ball reached the pins first, and while I managed a strike, he managed a seven and a spare.

"Looks like you need the luck more than me," I smirked at him as we both returned to our own respective waiting areas.

"Is it really luck, though?" Damian questioned, stroking his chin like some philosopher, and I had to laugh at his strange behaviour.

"Well, I don't believe in luck," I said. "I only believe in God's will."

"Maybe that's what it is, then," Damian responded mysteriously. I just stared at the side of his head, wondering what went on in there. Only Allah knows.

"Do you believe in God?" I asked tentatively.

Damian shrugged. "I mean, I'd like to, but then I'd have to be religious, and honestly, I'm not a religious kind of guy. It's not my thing."

"You can still believe in a God without being religious," I said encouragingly. "That's the first step, anyway."

Damian sighed, forking his fingers through his hair. I noticed he got a bit of a trim at the sides, but the top was still as wavy and thick as ever. "It's complicated for me, alright? I know we have a bet and all, but I didn't realize how...personal it is."

"Well, yeah, God is your Creator, He created you, so of course it's personal!" I laughed. "It's the most personal relationship ever!"

"I'm not good at commitments," Damian muttered.

"No kidding," I murmured, referring to his tendency to flirt around with the girls but never actually commit to one. Even with Samantha, he wasn't fully committed to her, whereas Samantha seemed to long for that kind of relationship with him. But then again, most guys weren't good at commitments, so maybe it was just a guy thing.

By the end of the hour, I had managed to get eleven strikes, alhamdulillah, and Yaz had gotten five, which was a record for her since she sucked at bowling. Theo got the most strikes out of all of us with a total of twenty two, with Denise just falling behind with twenty.

"I wish I could let you win because you're the birthday girl but I couldn't help myself," Theo said sheepishly as we left the bowling centre. Damian and his mates were still inside, and after our little conversation, Damian and I hadn't spoken. Through this bet I didn't expect us to become best buddies, but at the same time, I felt like I was getting to know Damian on a whole different level to everyone else he knew. Religion was personal, I had to agree with him on that, and speaking about it created this intimate link in the most halal way possible.

"It's fine, I'll let it pass, but next time I am so kicking your butt!" Denise punched him lightly in the shoulder.

"Nice choice of words, Denise," Theo teased, earning another shove from Denise. Yasmine and I walked behind them, watching them in amusement.

"I am so shipping Thenise," Yasmine whispered to me. I nodded in agreement.

"Do you think they like each other?" I asked the question that had been on my mind for a while. They were our best friends, after all, so if they started dating or whatever, it would get pretty awkward, with Yaz and I being the third and fourth wheels.

"I think Denise likes Theo," Yasmine stated. "But I don't know about Theo..."

"Should we ask them?" I said mischievously. I knew how much it would make Denise and Theo squirm, and I was no sadist but it would be funny to see the looks on their faces when we posed the big question.

"Nah, let's just let love blossom by itself," Yasmine decided.

"Yes, good idea," I agreed while Denise and Theo continued to taunt each other. It seemed like most of the best love stories started out when the man and woman argued with each other.

"My bro's picking me up soon," Yasmine declared after getting off the phone with him. The four of us waited on the footpath outside the bowling place for our rides. I had Nasr taking both me and Theo home, while Denise had her dad.

"How is Yusuf?" I asked.

Yasmine shrugged. "He's good, I guess. He's finally found a lady to be his wife, courtesy of my auntie. They haven't met yet, though," she said.

"Ooh, so is there going to be a wedding soon?" I asked. I loved weddings – I'd only been to two in my life, one of them when I was six that I didn't really remember and another when I was thirteen. It'd been so long since I'd been to a wedding, so I was a little wedding hungry.

"Maybe, I mean, they haven't met, so they might not even like each other, but the girl sounds nice. She's a nurse that works at St. Vincent's hospital," Yasmine told us.

"Wait, are you still volunteering at the hospital?" Denise asked.

"Yeah, I am, and I have to go tomorrow," I sighed. In the beginning it had seemed so exciting, volunteering at a hospital, but now it was just getting tiring. At least I had Zaid to keep me company during the breaks.

"Maybe you'll see her there," Theo said.

"Maybe I've already seen her without knowing," I vaguely remembered seeing a nurse wearing a hijab, but then it could be any girl.

As we waited, the wind blew around us, and the sun broke through the clouds just as I turned towards the building to see Damian, Aidan, Felix and Toby emerge, talking and laughing. As soon as Damian spotted me, I glanced away, vaguely tuning in to the conversation about Yusuf's potential spouse.

And then the unimaginable happened: Damian came up to me and asked if he could talk. The looks on my friends' faces were priceless, and I reluctantly agreed, since Aidan, Felix and Toby were already gone in Toby's car. I wondered why Damian hadn't gone with them.

"What is it?" I inquired.

"Can I have your number?"

I blinked, sure I had heard him incorrectly. "What?"

"Your number. Can I have it?" Damian repeated slowly as if I was an imbecile.

"Why?" I asked suspiciously.

"Oh, come on, any girl would kill to give me their number," Damian smirked, and I scowled.

"Well, I am not any girl and I am not giving you my number!" I snapped.

"Not even if it's for a good cause?" Damian asked with a pout.

"You mean annoying me more than you usually do?" I said sarcastically.

"Come on, I'm trying to make this bet easier for you," Damian said, holding out his phone. "Believe it or not, Mariam, but I'm actually sort of curious about your religion. And I'm not saying I'm going to convert or anything, I just want to be able to ask you questions whenever I need to."

"You can just google your questions, you know," I pointed out wisely.

Damian's eyes glimmered in the sunlight. "Where's the fun in that?"

"So are you saying you only want my number so you can talk about religion?" I asked for confirmation.

Damian nodded.

"Only religion?"

"Yes, I solemnly swear I won't utilise your phone number for anything other than our bet," Damian raised his right hand.

"Okay," I relented, taking his phone and adding my number. "But any funny business –"

"No funny business," Damian said with a mischievous gleam in his eyes, and I arched an eyebrow at him.

"If this is some stupid excuse to mess with me –"

"It isn't, I swear," Damian assured me as I handed him back his phone.

I still regarded him with suspicion as he tucked his phone in his pocket and then fixed those blue eyes on me. "Expect a text from me soon...Virgin Mary."

"What the heck did Damian want?" Denise asked once I returned to my friends, who had been singled down to two since Yasmine's brother had picked her up while I had spoken with Damian.

"Yeah, what's the deal with you two? Always sneaking off..." Theo trailed off with a sly smile on his face.

"It's not what you think," I began.

Denise crossed her arms. "Then enlighten us on why you even talk with that guy."

I sighed. I guess it was about time I told them the truth.

"You see, I got into this bet..."

_____________________

I originally didn't want to include Damian in this Chapter, but I couldn't help myself teehee. No Damian POV though :( 

Who else is shipping #Thenise? Just me? I guess I changed my mind with Thaz, so for all you Thaz fans I'm sorry, that ship sunk, but there's a new ship being built - Yasr! 

TBH, I'm just winging this story. I don't really follow a specific plan LOL whatever ideas I get I just include in the next chapters. I hope you're enjoying it anyway :)

Don't forget to VOTE and comment if you have something to say! Don't be shy I love to hear what you think so far! 😃 

So until next week - peace be upon you all and I hope you are all loving life and striving to be the best people you can be! This world needs more kind people 😊 and you all fall under that category! ❤❤❤