17 years ago: Mina's POV (6 years old)

"But Maaaa!! I don't want to share my toys with Shehzer!" I whined quietly to my mom.

"Beta, be a big girl. You know how much Shehzer loves to play with you and your brother. He is a friend darling, he is visiting from so far away, soon he will leave for America again and you will miss him."

I pout like the spoiled brat that I am; "I won't miss him! HE WANTED TO HUG ME MOM! EW!"

Mom struggles to control her smile, "Well, the next time he tries, just tell him to hug your brother instead. Okay?"

"Hmmph" I grunt back in annoyance.

......

"My toy car is bigger then yours!" I boasted to Shehzer, showing off my Barbie pink, battery operated monster truck.

9 year old Shehzer looks at his tiny Hot Wheels "Dinky" car, frowns, then confidently says; "Nope, Mine is bigger!"

I stare at him in disbelief. Is he crazy or what?

"Well, if yours is bigger, then try to beat mine in a race."

"No."

"WHY NOT?"

"Because I don't race with girls. They always lose. And then they cry. I hate it when girls cry."

"I NEVER CRY. EVER."

"Fine, then we can race, but on our bikes. I don't want to break my toy car."

I nod with understanding.

Ten minutes later, We are out on our street. Shehzer is sitting atop a bike he has borrowed from his cousins who live next door to us. He is visiting his cousins for the summer vacations; hence his lack of bike.

I confidently stride out with my Barbie Bike, decked with training wheels, and plenty of ribbons. I'll show him whose car is bigger. Err...wasn't that the ultimate goal?

"You can't race in that! it still has kiddy wheels!" My nemesis points towards the bright red training wheels on my bike.

"But I don't have a Big-Kids bike yet." I tug worriedly at my curls.To be honest, I was quite scared of the two-wheel bikes. Ali had tried teaching me to ride his own two-wheeler but I always fell off too soon. Ali said it was because my legs were too short and too fat. But I wasn't about to go confessing this information to Shehzer...

"Then borrow your brother's bike, he is not home is he?" Shehzer's suggestion sounded almost reasonable.

"I guess I could take Ali's bike..."

(A horribly dangerous bike collision later)

I cannot stop crying. One of my legs is stuck inside the bike wheel spoke, and the more I stare at it, the more I cry.

"Ssshh! Mina, please stop crying. Please! I am helping you."

Shehzer's dark head is bent over the bike wheel trying to disentangle my chubby legs.

"Mama! it hu-hu-hurts! make it stop please!" I blubber incoherently.

"Okay, wait, I am calling your mom."

"NO, DON'T LEAVE ME SHEHZER PLEEEEASE!"

"I will run very, very fast, so she can come and help you. Okay?"

"P-promise?"

"Yep! I promise." He holds up his index and middle finger, in our local kid sign language for "Friendship". I don't even bother to correct him that it wasn't a promise sign.

I sniffle noisily. I think I have snot all over my face. Tears won't stop rolling, and I am ashamed. I told him i never cried. Shehzer pats my head twice, and turns to leave, then he looks back and says:

"You won Mina. Your car was bigger."

I cracked a smile through all the tears. I guess Shehzer wasn't all bad.

15 years ago: Shehzer's POV (11 years old)

I am super excited about visiting Pakistan again. I loved meeting my cousins, two years ago, but now I am even more excited. I have more friends to look forward to.

My Mom's sister's house is where we stayed two years ago, and this time will be the same. two months of fun, games, and...friends! None of my Aunt's kids are my age. Her daughters are too old for me to play with. So naturally I made friends with people from the neighborhood. I hope they still remember me. I hope Mina still remembers me.

....

"Can I be your friend?" I plead with her. I like her eyes. She is so cute, like a cartoon character.

She pinches her face. "Ew. No! I hate boys!!" She and her little friend, Adiba proceed to make gross noises.

"He is a boy." I point at Areeb, who follows the girls everywhere whenever they meet. He is a tiny kid with long bangs that fall all over his face. He smirks at me.

The girls stop making noises, and stare at Areeb dumbfounded; as if they have just realized that he is a boy.

"Well, Areeb is my ONLY boyfriend." Mina announces to me.

I am not deterred. I will be her friend, if it kills me.

"Can I just shake your hand then?"

"Nope, you can shake Areeb's hand if you like. I told you, I hate boys."

......

The other kids are making fun of my Urdu accent. I barely know how to speak the language, and even that is heavily accented by my American accent. I walk off, away from the cricket game, to a house under construction at the end of the street, moodily kicking at a rock. I hate Pakistan.

I hear voices whispering and giggling from behind a giant sand pile.

"I am telling you guys, I saw it on TV; on national joruffick (geographic) channel. This is how you search for dinosaurs."

My heart pounded. It was her. I peeked from behind the sand pile. The "Trio" was crouching beside the 4 foot deep dug-up hole in front of the house. probably for a pocket garden. It was covered with prickly thorns.

Mina clung to her tiny netted dupatta (scarf) wrapped around her neck, as she leaned forward inside the hole, wielding a garden spade. The idiot!

Before I could yell out a warning, she fell.

That same day: Mina's POV (8 years old)

My stupid net dupatta was stuck on thorns. I was pricked in so many places. The hole wasn't so deep, but I could never climb out on my own. Areeb and Adiba were peering at me from above, with their mouths hanging open.

"HELP ME YOU IDIOTS!"

They still stared. Like I was an entertaining cartoon episode, they couldn't believe was real.

Suddenly Shehzer was there.

"Hang on! I got you. Wait!" He reached for my hand, and pulled me out. huffing from the strain. "What...were...you....thinking?" he asks me angrily.

I burst into tears. I REALLY hate this boy.

I hated him as he gently disentangled me from my ruined dupatta.

I hated him when he sat with me while my Mom cleaned my wounds.

I hated him when he was praised for his bravery.

I hated him when he smirked and said: "I saved your life. Now we HAVE to be friends!"

I hated his stupid messed up urdu accent.

I hated when he left, and then never came back.

I hated it when every passing summer, I would dread and secretly anticipated his return, and he never did return.

I hated that he made me miss him.

Author's Note:

Woahhh.... That was one long chapter from me. :D yay! feeling accomplished.

What do you feel about our new character? lemme know through comments please. Desperate for feedback here!