So excited to release this chapter! Would've done it earlier if it weren't for my urge to workout in the arvo, but here it is finally! Enjoy 😁

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Damian's POV

"Are you dressed as...?"

"Shrek? You bet," Theo pulled the mask over his face and grinned.

"And I'm guessing you're Fiona, right?" Mariam gestured to Denise, who wore a tight forest green medieval gown and a gold crown atop her braided fiery hair.

"I guess," Denise shrugged. "But I originally wanted to be Merida from Brave, until this guy suggested we should dress as a couple." She pointed to Theo, who was exclaiming in a really bad Scottish accent to anyone who passed, "Ogres have layers!"

"Where's donkey?" Yasmine asked.

"Well, I was going to get Damian to be donkey, but..." Theo glanced at me, and I arched an eyebrow.

"I told you, that ain't ever happening, mate," I said dryly. Instead, I was dressed as something I never thought I'd be. A Muslim. Except with a comedic twist. I had ordered an 'Arab Sheik' Costume on eBay, which consisted of a long white tunic, a checked red cloth for my head fastened with a black headband and a black moustache and goatee. I even wore sunglasses, and when everyone saw me I had seen the shock on their faces.

"You look awesome, man!" Theo had slapped me on the back, laughing. "I see you've finally grown some facial hair."

I stroked my beard with a grin. "Yes, it just grew over the weekend. Quite miraculous, really."

"I can't believe you dressed as an Arab Sheik!" Yasmine and Mariam were in fits of giggles when they first saw me. They looked kind of like female characters from the Arabian Nights, except Yasmine had altered the costumes to make it more modest, and they looked pretty good. Mariam wore a blue version of the costume while Yasmine was in pink, and they even had the makeup to go with it, framing their eyes in dark kohl eyeliner.

(A/N: What they're wearing...sort of, but with hijab, of course 😉)

"Believe it, princesses," I raised my arms, doing a little spin on the spot to show off my glorious outfit.

"Princesses?" Mariam repeated, and I nodded.

"That's what you guys are, right? Arabian princesses?" I smirked.

"That's right, we're royalty," Yasmine said with a smug smile.

"You three go well together, though," Denise remarked.

"It was completely unintentional," Mariam said.

"Great minds think alike," I slid my sunglasses down my nose and winked at her.

"Well, I wouldn't say yours was great," she muttered.

"Yeah, because it's genius," I joked. Whenever I was a bit cocky, I always tried to make it as a joke so they wouldn't actually think I was like that. Good thing my friends never took me seriously.

"Looking great, man," Aidan came over to us with Felix, who was dressed in – no surprise – a purple skinsuit, something he had vowed to do when he was in year twelve for Muck-up day. Toby beside him was dressed as some kind of gangster, with baggy clothes, a snap-back and a gold chain around his neck, carrying a mini boom box on his shoulder that blasted hip-hop music.

"You too, dude. How ironic," Theo said as we all took in his surfer dude getup. He even carried a surfboard, which was his, since he was a surfer in reality.

"We've got some water guns and water balloons," Felix announced, and for the first time I noticed the duffel bag he was carrying filled with the weapons of comedic destruction. "We're going to totally prank this school today."

I rubbed my hands in anticipation. "Can't wait."

Felix glanced at me for the first time and his eyes popped out of his sockets. "Shit, man. Didn't even recognise you."

I laughed. "That's the plan. This way, I won't get expelled for doing all these pranks because no one will even know who I am."

"We're not going to get expelled," Aidan assured me as he clicked a water gun into place. "We're keeping it clean."

"And by clean we mean ice cold water in everybody's faces!" Felix whooped.

"Awesome," I grinned.

The girls were just rolling their eyes. "As long as you don't spray us. We worked really hard on our outfits," Yasmine said.

"Oh, no, you girls are the first to get sprayed," Felix said mischievously, pointing a gun to them threateningly, and they squealed, running away from us.

"Shall we get started, lads?" Aidan handed Theo and I a gun each, and holding it brought back so many memories of spraying my mates at pool parties, and filling it with dye so that everyone would turn blue, but unfortunately, we couldn't go that far today. Not if we wanted to graduate.

"Certainly," Theo replied. "I was born for this day."

"Let's go," Aidan lead us into the battlegrounds, a.k.a., the hallways. All the senior students were gathered outside the building on the ground floor, but all the fun was inside, with all the younger unsuspecting kids.

While Toby blasted his music through the speakers, we ran down the hallways, squirting all the kids at the lockers and probably scaring half of them. All the year twelves in the past had done the exact same thing to me, so now it was time to leave these kids with a dress up day they will never forget.

***

"Did you see the look on Mr Bacon's face when we burst in? Classic!" Felix laughed along with the rest of us as we sat in the canteen after spending the first couple of periods terrorising all the classes. It was all in good fun, and this was the last day of freedom before our exams started, the last day before the stress began.

"I especially loved when you started dancing on the table. I swear I had never seen Mr Bacon's face go that red," I chuckled.

"The kids love us, though. We made their Monday more interesting, didn't we, boys?" Toby exclaimed, and we all whooped in agreement.

"Can't wait for the ceremony," I said. "That's where the real fun's at."

"You bet," Theo agreed. "Plus, I'm not complete without my other half, Fiona. It's a shame you didn't dress up as donkey, then we'd really be complete."

"Hell to the no," I wrinkled my nose. No way would I ever be seen dressed up as an ass!

"Where are the girls? We should go find them," Aidan suggested.

"Yeah, we should," I murmured, being the first to stand. As we walked through the quadrangle we bumped into George who was on a scooter, and after taking turns riding on it for a bit and feeling even cooler than before, we went in search for the females.

They were all in the back garden of the school, playing music and dancing and just chilling on the benches under the trees. 

"Ladies," I joined them swiftly, scaring them a little since we came from behind.

"You're not going to squirt us, are you?" Mariam held up her hands, backing away, and I laughed.

"Not now," I replied cheekily.

"I guess I'll just have to live the rest of the day in dread, then," Mariam sighed.

"Aw, you don't have to, I'll protect you," I vowed valiantly.

"Really?" Mariam asked.

"Nah," I chuckled as she narrowed her eyes at me.

"Group photo!" Theo called, and sure enough, the school photographer came and took a few photos of us gathered in the garden with the sunlight filtering through the trees and lighting up our faces.

"Ugh, I hate photos," Denise groaned after the photographer was gone.

"That's ironic coming from a photographer," I commented.

"I just don't like being in them," Denise explained.

"Why? You look gorgeous today," Theo slung an arm around her, his Shrek mask sitting on top of his hair.

"Of course I do next to you, since you're an ogre," Denise teased.

"You got a point there, Fiona," Theo answered in a Scottish accent.

"You sound like my grandfather," Denise giggled.

"Wow, that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me," Theo placed a hand on his heart and cracked a fake sob.

I scanned the rest of the year twelves gathered here, and noticed Sam for the first time dressed as Tinkerbell, with her boyfriend Lachlan as Peter Pan. Toby broke up with Carrie, so Carrie was now a free bird, dressed as some adult version of Red Riding Hood, which went well with Jason's wolf suit. Everyone had planned their outfits to match up with someone else's, which left me with Mariam and Yasmine.

"We're the middle eastern trio," I told them.

"Agreed," Mariam and Yasmine nodded.

***

Mariam's POV

All eyes on us.

I never thought I would enjoy it this much, but I did. We were the kings and queens of the school, just for today, and we paraded past the younger year levels in all our dressed up glory to the beat of Team by Iggy Azalea, as Yasmine had informed me since I was wondering what this hideous song was.

"It's not hideous, it's boss!" Yasmine exclaimed.

We passed the Year Tens, and I made sure to wave at Zeinab, who was cheering loudly with her friends; my own little fan club. Damian, who walked with us, was high-fiving all the kids he passed, thinking he was so cool because of his beard, and someone even asked him if they could touch it. Crazy kids.

Toby ran around with his boom box and tossed fake money at the kids, who screamed and scrambled to collect the bills, while Carrie threw lollies for all the kids from her basket. Aidan and Felix used the surfboard to carry kids around, which was a hilarious sight to see, until one of the boys they carried fell off the board, but at least he was okay.

"Now we will be judging the best couples, so could all the pairs come out and show us what you got!" the school captain, who was dressed as a pirate, announced through the microphone.

"That's us!" I said to Yasmine, so together we linked arms and went out with Theo and Denise.

"Aw, I feel so lonely now," Damian pouted.

"Just come with us! We're basically a couple anyway," Yasmine beckoned him.

"I'm pretty sure a couple has two people, not three," Damian said wryly.

"Doesn't matter, let's go! We'll be a polygamous couple," Yasmine joked.

"No way," I shook my head as the song Marvin Gaye started to play.

"What's that?" Damian looked confused.

"You don't wanna know," I replied over my shoulder while dragging Yasmine by the arm so we could join the flow of couples.

Theo had his Shrek mask over his face and he scooped Denise in his arms, walking the whole ceremony like that while she squealed for him to put her down. Since Sam was dressed as Tinkerbell, she sprinkled pixie dust on all the kids so that their hair sparkled in the gym lights, while her partner, Peter Pan a.k.a. Lachlan, did a few flips in the air. It was a great atmosphere, and the whole way round Yasmine and I were laughing because we were the only couple made up of two girls.

The next calling was for the trios, and this time Damian joined us happily, walking between us and bobbing his head to the beat of Adventure Of A Lifetime by Coldplay.

"I must be the luckiest guy here," Damian said to us as we strutted our stuff.

"And why is that?" I inquired.

"Because I've got two beautiful ladies by my side," Damian replied flirtatiously.

"Yeah, mate, you sure are lucky," Yasmine smirked, nudging me. I shot a look at her.

After all the categories were called, including fairy-tale, superhero, and home-made costumes, it was time for the judges, which consisted of Mr Newton, Ms Harvey and Miss Finch, to decide the winners.

"For the couple category, the winners are..."

I hated suspense, and it was clear that Mr Newton was enjoying this.

"Shrek and Fiona!"

"Woo! Go Theo and Denise!" We all clapped loudly for our friends, who walked up to collect their tiny little trophy from Mr Newton. I noticed Sam and Lachlan looking pissed, since they probably wanted to win best couple, but I was happy for my friends.

"And for the best trio..." Mr Newton smiled as he declared the winners. "The two Arabian Nights girls and the sheik!"

Yasmine and I exchanged a look of utmost joy at hearing this, and we almost forgot we had to collect a trophy too from how excited we were.

"You look lovely, girls," Mr Newton complimented us as he handed us our trophies.

"Thanks, sir," I beamed.

"I'll just add this to my trophy collection, then," Damian said as we walked back to our seats.

"You have a collection?" I asked.

"Yeah, I won loads of footy awards back in the day," Damian reminisced. "I was a pro."

"Of course you were," Yasmine rolled her eyes.

"The fairy-tale category goes to Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf!"

Of course not everyone won an award, but as the category winners were called, I couldn't stop staring at my trophy and how shiny it was. The first trophy I won and it's when I was dressed as someone other than myself. My parents would be so proud.

"Happy birthday," I held out the trophy to Zeinab later that night, and she stared at in confusion.

"My birthday was last week," she stated bluntly.

"So you don't want it? Okay, that's fine by me." I wasn't actually going to give it to her. That'd be stupid. I earned this trophy.

"I totally didn't expect Damian to dress up like that!" Zeinab giggled. "Did he get it off eBay?"

"Yep, he's crazy like that," I replied casually, tossing the trophy between my hands. It was so tiny, and it was just a gold cup with two handles on the sides on top of a wooden stand, but I liked it.

"Are you ready for your exams?" Zeinab asked me.

"Honestly, not yet," I admitted, sitting on the foot of her bed. "But my first one isn't for another week, so..."

"So what are you doing? Go study!" Zeinab shooed me away, and I sighed, getting up.

"Now you sound like Immi," I muttered, obeying her order.

The fun of today was over. Now it was time to get serious again. And I was good at being serious.

***

Three weeks later...

It was finally over.

All those nights, sacrificing sleep and swallowing textbooks, all those days spent revising and practising and forgetting to eat and drink because we were so caught up in our studies, forgetting what time or day it was because all we could think of was the time we would be sitting the exam – over.

Thirteen years of my life – from prep to Year 12 – 200 days a year, six hours a day...I wasn't going to even bother calculating that. Anyway, all those years spent had come down to this. This moment right now.

"Mariam Barakat."

I took a deep breath and rose from my seat, approaching the stage and ascending the steps. I had been on this exact stage many times before to accept awards for excellence in various subjects over the years, but this time was different. This time, I was graduating.

I shook the principal's hand as the crowd applauded. I was one of the first to graduate from my class, and I held my certificate of education with pride while searching the dark audience for my family. It didn't take me long to spot them beyond the bright spotlights that almost blinded me, and I smiled the hardest I had probably ever smiled as Baba snapped a photo of me on his iPhone. I made sure to turn the tassel of my hat from right to left to show that I had graduated, something I had watched the year twelves in the past do after they got their diploma.

I heard extra loud cheers from Yasmine, Theo, Denise and Damian, but even more so from Nasr and Theo's brother Alex, who were standing in their seats clapping and hooting like maniacs. I saw Zeinab sitting with all her Year Ten friends in the top right wing and waved at her, blowing her a kiss as I made my way down the stage.

"Damian Brewer."

If I thought my cheers were loud, his were deafening. Of course, Damian had a lot of fans in the crowd, and I glanced over my shoulder, pausing on the steps to see him in his long black gown and mortar cap, a big grin on his face as he shook the principal's hand. And then, to everyone's surprise – except mine, since I learned to expect Damian's spontaneity – he pulled out his phone and took a selfie with the principal, who complied good-naturedly, and the crowd went wild.

"Typical Damian," I chuckled.

I waited in the shadows of the stairs for him to descend the stairs, and when he laid eyes on me his smile widened. "We did it!" he whooped, jumping down from the stairs as the audience applauded for the next graduate.

"We sure did," I couldn't contain the excitement from seeping into my voice, reflecting his grin. "Alhamdulillah."

"Couldn't agree more," Damian said, examining his certificate in the dim light. "This will look great on my wall. Right next to the giant poster of my face."

I snorted with laughter, rolling my eyes. "I wouldn't be surprised if that was true."

Damian chuckled. "Nah, even I'm not that vain."

"Are you sure about that?" I cocked an eyebrow.

"You need to return to your seats," Florence hissed to us as she descended the stage steps with her diploma, so we followed her back, slipping back into our assigned seats just in time for Yasmine's name to get called.

I erupted into applause, whooping and cheering more than I had ever done in my life as Yasmine stepped up, shooting us an excited grin as she approached the stairs. While she looked at us, she managed a Jennifer Lawrence, tripping slightly on her gown, but she quickly regained composure and laughed it off, grabbing her diploma like it was a trophy and waving it around proudly on stage.

"Go Yaz!" Denise hooted, clapping even harder than me, while Theo wolf-whistled with his fingers in his mouth. I wished I could do that but I always just ended up spitting everywhere.

There were around a hundred and fifty of us Year Twelves this year, so it took a while to get through all of us. With every name that was called, memories of talking to that person for a project or sharing a class with them at some point in the last six years flashed across my mind, and I was sad to say that there were some people I had never even spoken to in my year level, and maybe I would never see them again after this.

I admitted I would miss some of these people, like Felix and Toby and their mischief, though they had been extremely annoying, as well as Russell, and his geekiness. But there were people I wouldn't miss, and that was alright. Everything was in the past. There was only the future now. In Sha Allah.

"And that is your Class of 2016, everyone! Give another round of applause for our graduates – we will surely miss them all!" the principal announced in the microphone, and as the crowd clapped one last time for all of us, I felt like crying.

"This is the best day of my life!" Theo exclaimed at the end of the ceremony, tossing his hat in the air. A lot of other people from our class began throwing their hats too, even though it would be hard to find them again and most would probably get trampled.

The parents were finding their kids in the crowd and going backstage to get photographs taken in the makeshift studio, so I broke away from my friends to find my own, but it seemed they found me first.

"Habibti, you did it! Alhamdulillah," Immi sounded emotional as she embraced me in a cloud of perfume, and sure enough, there were happy tears in her eyes. Seeing her tears made my own eyes sheen with them, and I blinked them away, laughing and echoing, "Alhamdulillah."

"I am so proud of you, Mariam. My big girl," Baba kissed me on the forehead, and I fully embraced him after handing my diploma to Immi, who was muttering, "This will definitely be hung up in the living room."

"Where's my hug, huh?" I turned to find Nasr grinning at me, and I rushed into his open arms, not minding that his stubble grazed my cheeks as he enveloped me. "I can't believe it. You've finally joined the club," he said.

"The cool club?" I joked.

"No, the club for graduates like myself," Nasr replied airily. "Unfortunately, the cool club is very hard to get in, lots of security –"

"What's this I hear about a club, Nasr?" Immi frowned at Nasr, who held up his hands innocently.

"Wallah, Immi, I wasn't talking about an actual club –"

"Eskut, it's Mariam's night, don't ruin it with your silly talk," Immi scolded, before turning to me and squeezing me by her side. "You are the queen of this night, habibti."

"Thanks, Immi," I beamed, kissing her cheek. Everyone was pouring out the exits, since the presentation night had come to an end and people were going home. But I didn't want to go home yet.

"I'm tired," Zeinab whined as soon as she found us, yawning openly and resting her head on Baba's chest.

"I know, habibti, but we have to celebrate!" Baba exclaimed.

"Yeah, stop being so selfish, Zeinab," I teased.

Zeinab stood up straight, looking more awake than ever as she eyed the mortar cap on my head. "Can I try it on?"

I handed it to her, and she put it on, taking a few selfies.

"You did the exact same thing with my cap," Nasr tutted.

"Let's go get our pictures taken!" I felt a yank on my arm, and turned to see Yasmine, bright eyed and cheeks flushed.

"Yes, let's go!" I let her drag me along, beckoning for my family to follow. Zeinab was forced to hand me back my cap, much to her disappointment, and we queued up for photos. There were, after all, a hundred and fifty families wanting to take a photo with their child.

"The worst part is over," Yasmine sighed.

"Now all that's left is to find out our ATAR scores," I said.

"I hope I did alright. I know there were a few questions I stuffed up on," Yasmine bit her lip, looking worried.

"In Sha Allah you did fine," I assured her, gripping her hand and squeezing it. "It's just a score, it's not like it's going to determine the rest of your life."

"It kind of does," Nasr butted in on our conversation with a smirk.

"Really?" Yasmine's eyes widened.

Nasr shook his head. "Only if there are certain courses you want to get into for uni, you need to get an ATAR within the range of that course. So if you wanted to do medicine, like this crazy girl," Nasr pointed at me. "You'd have to get at least 95 or something."

Yasmine breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, I definitely won't get a 95, then. Design requires at least 70."

"I'm sure you got higher than that," Nasr shot her an assuring smile.

"In Sha Allah," Yasmine exhaled, more to herself than anyone else.

Photos were the highlight of the night. First I took a few photos with my entire family, with Nasr and Zeinab ruining half of them by pulling faces and giving me rabbit ears. Then Yasmine managed to locate Denise, Theo and Damian, so we took a couple group pictures together. As we grinned for the photographer, I thought of these four people with me now, and whether they would be with me in the future. I had a feeling we would still be friends, but all I could say was In Sha Allah, because we were at a point in our lives where nothing was certain anymore. Not even what university we wanted to go to, or what career we would fall into. Everything was up to Allah in the end, and the best we could do was just accept what he gave us, and be grateful for it.

"I can't wait to see the photos," I said after we were done with all the cheek-aching smiles. Damian had gone to take a photo with his family while the rest of our group hung out in the foyer where refreshments and finger food was being served.

"I probably looked horrible in all of them," Denise grumbled as she sipped some of the cordial they were serving.

"Probably because I looked too hot," Theo joked, earning a punch in the arm from Denise. "Joking, babe!"

"I told you not to call me that! Babe is like the most cringe-worthy pet-name ever!" Denise scolded.

"So I'm guessing honey-bear is off the list too then?"

"Ow!" Theo rubbed his arm where Denise had just slugged him. He glanced at Yasmine and I with despair. "You see how my woman treats me?"

"You're getting what you deserve, Theo," Yasmine teased.

"I think I deserve better, right, honey-bear?" Theo gazed innocently at Denise, who raised an eyebrow, unamused.

"You're lucky I like you," Denise said with the flicker of a smile. "Otherwise I would've done much worse."

"Ooh, like what?" Theo leaned in, smirking at her, and Denise turned away, cheeks tinged with pink.

"What would you have done? Tell me," Theo leaned even closer, and every time she moved away, he would just tease her with his proximity, until he ended up chasing her down the hall.

"Minnie!"

"Najma!"

I watched Yasmine embrace her sister-in-law, who had come to the ceremony with her husband of three months, Yusuf. I greeted Yusuf with a Salam as Yaz and Najma talked rapidly with each other. I could see how close they were already, as if they had lived with each other as sisters for years. Yasmine had always wanted a sister, which was why she was such a great friend, because she treated me like a sister. But now she had a real sister, and I was completely fine with that, since Najma was such a gem.

"You girls remind me of when I graduated so many years ago," Najma said nostalgically. "I was the first hijabi of my school to graduate."

"Really? Wow," I couldn't believe how obscure hijabis used to be, but now you found more and more in Melbourne wherever you went, which was great.

"How long has it been? Eight years?" Yusuf recalled, an arm around his beautiful wife.

"We're old, don't mind us," Najma giggled at me and Yasmine.

"We're not old, we're elegantly young," Yusuf proclaimed, causing Najma to gaze up at him with admiration.

"How quote-worthy. I think I'll write that down," Najma pulled out her phone and typed it away while Yusuf rolled his eyes with a smile.

"This woman loves turning everything I say into some inspirational quote, I swear," Yusuf said it as if it were a complaint, but I could hear the affection in his words as he spoke of his wife's antics. "I could be talking about bananas growing wings when you peel its exterior and she would think it's brilliant literature."

We laughed while Najma frowned. "That's not brilliant, that's just plain nonsense," she countered. But then realization dawned on her features and she looked down to her phone again. "Wait a minute..."

It was official. Najma was my new favourite person.

***

Damian's POV

"Now I truly am proud to call you my son," Dad smiled, his hands on my shoulders, and I knew he meant it in a nice way, but...

"What about before? Weren't you proud to call me you son then?" I was half-joking, but a frown settled on Dad's face.

"Oh, of course! I meant, now that you graduated, you've made us even more proud of you," Dad put an arm around Mum, who shot Dad an affectionate smile.

"Smooth, Darren," she murmured to him, and he kissed her cheek, rubbing her arm with his palm.

"As always, Karen," he grinned back.

I suddenly lost sight of Tracey, who, last time I had checked, had been at the refreshments table talking to a vaguely familiar guy.

"I'm gonna go find Tracey," I told my parents, but they were too busy laughing with my maternal grandparents, who had come just for me tonight. So had Aunt Kate, who was now speaking to...oh, God, was that Mr Newton?

"Hey, we were just talking about you, Damian," Mr Newton smiled at me, his eyes twinkling. They both held a glass of some alcoholic substance and Aunt Kate's cheeks were flushed. Seriously?

"Dave here was just telling me how much of a pleasure you were to teach," Aunt Kate told me, and I cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh, really?"

"Absolutely, he was one of my favourite students," Mr Newton nodded, sipping from his glass.

"I thought that was Mariam?"

"Oh, yes, the two of you! They were always arguing, it was entertaining to say the least," Mr Newton told Aunt Kate, who let out a loud laugh, even though it wasn't even that funny. Probably the drinks working.

"Isn't your job as the teacher to keep the peace?" Aunt Kate inquired.

"Since when was peace fun?" Mr Newton winked. "I even used a hat to pick the partners, and the kids hated it."

"I'm sure they did, I'd hate it," Aunt Kate wrinkled her nose. I was starting to wonder how the two of them had ended up speaking to each other, but then, as I looked around the room, there were many parents and family speaking to the teachers.

"Have you seen Tracey?" I asked my aunt, and she shook her head.

"She went off somewhere," she waved her hand carelessly. "Hopefully with a boy. I swear that girl is the opposite of me when I was her age!"

I decided it was best if I towed Aunt Kate away from my ex-physics teacher before she said any more embarrassing things, but Aunt Kate refused to be towed, so I let her be and went to find my cousin.

And then I found her. But she wasn't alone.

"What the heck?" I blurted, and the vaguely familiar boy sprang away from Tracey in shock. I folded my arms and shook my head, clicking my tongue.

"I expected better from you, Trace," I pretended to sound disappointed as a flush crept up Tracey's cheeks. She was wearing contacts tonight, making her blue eyes pop, and she wore a nice dress and had done her hair and makeup, for once, and it seemed to have caught the attention of Alex, Theo's older brother.

"Hey, Damian, I didn't know you knew Stacey!" Alex exclaimed, and there was a beat of silence where I face-palmed myself at his mistake.

"Stacey? Who the hell is Stacey? My name is Tracey," Tracey whacked his arm, and Alex winced.

"Sorry, babe, I'm really bad at names," Alex apologised with puppy dog eyes. Really, dude?

Tracey's face softened at his expression. "Aw, it's okay, I forgive you, Alfie."

"Alfie?" Alex looked baffled, and I laughed. Tracey was awesome!

"Oh, sorry, babe, I'm really bad at names," Tracey batted her eyelashes and pouted.

"Go Trace!" I cheered.

"Come on, I'm done with this guy," Tracey strode towards me, turning her back on Alex, who looked heartbroken, but when she thought I wasn't looking, she mouthed over her shoulder, Call me, and his eyes lit up, nodding eagerly.

"Looks like you just scored your first man," I chuckled.

"Oh, he's hardly a man," Tracey blushed. "But yeah."

"Hey, there's someone I want you to meet," I steered Tracey towards Mariam, who was at the snacks table with her sister.

"Is that the girl?" Tracey whispered with a cheeky glint in her eyes.

"Yes, she's the girl," I rolled my eyes.

"Is that your sister?" Zeinab asked when she saw Tracey.

"I wish," I snorted. "She's my cousin, Tracey."

"Oh, so you're Tracey! Damian has told us so much about you!" Mariam beamed, shaking Tracey's hand.

"And you're Mariam, right?" Mariam nodded, glancing briefly at me. "Yeah, Damian's told me so much about you!"

"Shut up, Trace," I said through gritted teeth. Tracey flashed a mischievous grin at me. "I'm not shutting up, Damian, because it's true. You can't stop talking about her," she turned to Mariam, who had raised eyebrows. "I swear, this boy speaks about you as if you are his hero or something."

Mariam laughed. "How nice." She shot an amused look at me, and I felt heat in my cheeks. Damn, maybe introducing my cousin and Mariam wasn't the greatest idea.

"You're so pretty!" Zeinab complimented Tracey, who touched a hand to her straightened blonde locks, saying, "Thanks, so are you!"

"Are you sure you're related to Damian?" Mariam joked, and Tracey threw her head back in laughter.

"I ask myself the same question everyday," Tracey replied.

"You and me both, girl," Zeinab chimed in, pointing to her sister, who pulled a face.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you two, thanks for introducing me, Damian," Tracey lifted her glass of champagne at me before slipping away, probably to meet up with Alex. And then there were three, until Nasr and Yasmine joined us.

"I swear, all our teachers are drunk here," Yasmine remarked as she plucked a grape from the bunch sitting on the plate. This was one sad after-graduation party.

"Makes for good entertainment, am I right?" Nasr chuckled.

"It's so weird to see Mr Bacon actually smiling," Zeinab shuddered, and sure enough Mr Bacon was throwing his head back in laughter at something Ms Harvey was saying. Weird.

"I thought he retired from smiling years ago," Nasr said. "But I guess I was wrong."

"No surprise there, bro," Mariam teased, shoving him lightly. Nasr swiped Mariam's hat from her head and shoved it on his head. "Ah, memories," he said wistfully, before frowning. "Memories I'd rather forget."

"I thought you loved high school?" I inquired.

Nasr scoffed. "Love is a strong word Damian. I simply tolerated it, but as soon as you're out, you never want to go back. Unless you're like Frankie, who did year twelve twice."

"Why would someone do such a thing?" Mariam gasped dramatically.

"He had no choice, he failed his exams, basically," Nasr shrugged. He then pointed his index finger commandingly and said wisely, "Lesson learned tonight, kids – don't fail your exams."

"You know, you actually look smarter wearing that hat," Mariam stroked her chin thoughtfully, scrutinizing her brother. "Maybe you should keep it."

"Hell naw, you can have it back," Nasr flung it back to her like it was infected, and we all laughed.

"Your advice is a little redundant, though, Nasr, maybe you should've told us before we took the exams," I teased.

"Who said your exams were over? You still gotta do them in uni," Nasr just had to remind us of that awful detail, and I groaned, along with the rest of us. "Speaking of...what uni you planning on going to, Damian?"

The dreaded question. I had been on a few tours and taken home all the pamphlets, yet I still wasn't sure which uni I wanted. Swinburne sounded pretty good, but so did Deakin. There was no way I was getting into Melbourne Uni, but perhaps Monash could be an option...

"Whichever one accepts me," I replied instead.

"Good plan, but...what if more than one accepts you?" Nasr asked.

"Then I will just have to make a choice, and In Sha Allah it'll all work out," I answered, and Nasr seemed satisfied with this answer. I glanced at Mariam and I could tell she was impressed.

"What?" I smirked at her, and she blinked, tearing her gaze away to say, "Nothing, it's just...I can't believe how mature you've gotten."

"Well, life does that to ya, you learn some, you grow some," I replied in a country accent.

"I hope life treats you kind, Damian," Yasmine said to me, and I squinted, the words sounding oddly familiar.

"Okay, Whitney Houston," I chuckled, and according to Yasmine's reaction, she hadn't even realized she had quoted her greatest hit.

"I hope you'll have all you've dreamed of, Yaz, you deserve it," I said earnestly, and Yasmine smiled at me. "You too, Mariam. And Zeinab."

"How about me?" Nasr sulked.

"And you," I added with a sigh. Then a cheeky grin spread across my face. "And I –"

"Please don't," Mariam held up a hand for me to stop.

"I won't. For you," I winked, and I swear I saw a blush in her cheeks. Damian struck again!

"Oh my god, I just realized you're quoting a really sad song, and now I feel like crying," Yasmine fanned her face.

"Hey, don't cry, Yaz," Nasr said gently.

"Saying that just makes me want to cry even more," sure enough, Yaz's eyes glimmered with unshed tears, and she turned away from us, laughing as she wiped them away. "I can't believe we graduated."

"Aw, come here," Mariam pulled her into a hug, which Zeinab joined in on, leaving Nasr and I standing there awkwardly.

"Um...wanna hug it out too?" I opened my arms, and Nasr arched an eyebrow at me.

"No, thanks, man," Nasr replied, and I chuckled.

"Damian! We were looking everywhere for you man!" Theo clamped a hand on my shoulder, and I turned to him. It seemed wherever he went, Denise was with him, and I smiled at her, and to my surprise she returned it.

"Yaz is crying," I deadpanned, pointing to the three girls hugging it out.

"What did you say to her?" Denise crossed her arms and regarded me with accusation.

"Actually, it was Nasr's fault," I gestured to the guy, who choked slightly on his cordial.

"All I said was don't cry!" he spluttered.

"Exactly, that's the worst thing you could say," Denise tutted, shaking her head.

"Yeah," Theo chimed in, agreeing with his girlfriend.

"No tact, this guy," I sighed in disappointment at Nasr, who looked irritated.

"I know, right?" Mariam agreed. I noticed Yasmine had regained composure, and was back to her smiling self.

"We're going to stay friends, aren't we?" Yasmine said to all of us, and I was the first to nod.

"Of course. Of course we will," I said ardently, maybe because I too couldn't bear to lose these people, however cheesy that was.

"In Sha Allah," Mariam murmured.

"You bet we'll still be friends, Yaz, don't worry," Theo replied with a grin. "What we have is precious."

Denise rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't say precious, but I believe that the five of us," she stirred her hand in the air, referring to me, Theo, Mariam and Yaz, since Zeinab and Nasr had slinked away somewhere. "Are indestructible."

"Like titanium?" I suggested.

"Even stronger than that," Denise said, a passion burning in her blue eyes that I recognised as hope.

"What's stronger than titanium?" I asked.

"Friendship," Denise answered. "Our friendship."

"Aww, didn't that just make you feel all warm and gooey inside?" I cooed, wrapping my arms around myself.

"Like chocolate," Mariam added.

I suddenly felt the sink of sadness in my heart, realizing that our high school career had finally come to an end. I still hadn't fully accepted it, that this place I had spent six years of my life was no longer mine.

"Can we promise each other?" Yasmine stuck her hand out in the centre of where we all stood, and continued, "Can we promise that, no matter what uni we go to, or what happens in our lives, that we will stay friends?"

"Of course," I placed my hand atop of hers, followed by Theo, Mariam, and lastly, Denise.

"Really?" Yasmine looked at us each in turn with sincere brown eyes, and we each nodded.

"We promise, Yaz," Theo said seriously.

"Yeah, if God wills it, it shall be," Mariam put in.

"One, two, three, friendship?" Yasmine suggested meekly.

"Though that's totally cheesy, okay," Mariam obliged, and even though the majority of our fellow graduates surrounded us and were probably judging us for being so silly, we counted to three and raised our hands with the last word.

Friendship. The word wasn't strong enough to convey what I had been through this year with these wonderful people. They were more than friends – they were like a second family that had adopted me when I had been in a bad place. Theo was my best bro, Yasmine and Mariam my sisters in Islam.

But for some reason, I didn't want Mariam to be my sister. Our connection was...deeper than that.

Wait, what was I thinking?

As I looked at Mariam, with her glowing skin and bright eyes, her lips perpetually curved into a smile, it suddenly dawned on me.

The truth.

___________

I wrote this chapter back to front, so the middle bit I wrote yesterday, and then the start and end today lol.

ANYWAY, time moved quickly, didn't it? It's November for CTBB, yet here we are stuck in April. Yesterday was Damian's birthday haha 🎂

Do you guys have Dress-Up days at your school? I have a love/hate relationship with those days because I'm both scared and fascinated by what the year twelves manage to come up with, especially the cool costumes!

The graduation is based off of what we do at my school, which is a sort of Presentation Night at the Town Hall where the entire school gathers and celebrates the achievements of the students. Plus, the year twelves graduate, so a lot happens on those nights!

Speaking of nights, it's night time for me, and I better upload this chapter for you lovely people. Seriously, you are all so kind and beautiful ❤❤❤

Peace be with you ALL ✌