Chapter Ten - Superheroes

"This will be the best shopping trip ever!" Leila sang happily, as the three girls entered the mall, making Sabrina roll her eyes.

Leila had practically dragged her here - against her will - for Sabrina had zero interest in shopping. Emaan only reluctantly agreed while Leila spent the rest of the day trying to convince Sabrina to come along. Sabrina's parents had given her permission which meant Sabrina had no reason not to go. That doesn't mean I want to be here, she thought, as she stood in the middle of a packed shopping centre, the smell of perfume and coffee making her nose tingle.

"Ah," Leila sighed happily. "After-school shopping is the best. Especially when your with your friends."

Sabrina held back a snort while Emaan nodded and grinned. Leila grabbed their arms and pulled them into the nearest shop. They wandered through aisles of designer clothes and brand names. Leila and Emaan seemed to comment on each and every item of clothing in the shop while Sabrina listened and mostly stayed silent.

As they exited, and entered another shop, Sabrina's legs were already sore and her head spun. She wasn't used to spending hours doting over clothes and shoes. The next shop they walked into had large glossy images of models on the walls and hundreds of shelves full of make up and beauty products.

Leila and Emaan paused in awe taking in the sight. Even Sabrina gaped at all the make up in the store. The distinct smell of face powder could be detected and as they walked across the polished floors they observed the different brands of lipstick and eyeliner. And since everything had a tester, Leila was soon running around testing everything in sight, while Sabrina and Emaan stood by and offered their opinions.

"What about this?" Leila asked, as she dabbed liquid make up on her face. "How does this look?"

Sabrina looked up from the magazine she was reading - or more like screaming "HARAAAM" in her head whenever she flipped the page to a very under-dressed female who looked like a raccoon. Beside her Emaan snorted at Leila.

"You look like a Dorito!" She exclaimed. 

At her comment, Leila bent her head and observed her newly tanned face in a mirror. She scrunched up her face while Sabrina added her thoughts.

"Yeah," Sabrina drawled. "Snooki called. She wants her face back."

Leila stuck out her tongue, while reaching for a make up removing wipe. She glanced back into the mirror and rubbed her face furiously, trying to get the make up off.

"It does make me look too tan, doesn't it?" She asked, while she worked at removing the make up.

Emaan answered with a snort and Sabrina turned back to her magazine. She flipped the pages aimlessly, waiting for Leila to hurry up. She desperately wanted to be at home, reading or curled up in front of the T.V. 

Finally, the three girls left the bright, powder-smelling shop and wandered around the mall for a bit. They argued whether they should stop by the food court and grab something to eat. Sabrina refused, while Leila and Emaan discussed weather they should buy drinks or snacks. But before they even reached the food court, Emaan shrieked and held out her arms, causing Leila and Sabrina to nearly topple over.

"Oh, thank God." Emaan said turning to the store they had stopped before. "I just remembered that I promised to get my little sister the supplies she needs for her Science project."

"Okay." Leila said slowly, looking up at the store - which happened to be Target.

They headed inside, as Leila led the way to the aisle that carried school supplies. While Emaan rummaged through boxes of glue sticks and pencil crayons, Sabrina ad Leila roamed nearby. As Sabrina decided to return to the place that she had left Emaan, a group of teenagers walked by. Sabrina froze and ducked behind a shelf, recognizing them as the kids who hung out with Khalid. Even though she didn't see him, she hoped Khalid wasn't with them as well.

"You guys, can we hurry?" She gasped as she found Emaan who was balancing two gluesticks, a box of pencil crayons and a stack of plain paper in her arms.

"Sure." Emaan said, "lets go pay."

As they stood in line to pay, Sabrina shifted anxiously. To her dismay, however, Khaild's friends had other things on their minds. As they approached the three girls, Leila took notice and groaned.

"Great." She mumbled. "My douchebag alarm is going off."

Emaan looked over and seemed to shrink behind the items she was holding. Sabrina, meanwhile was holding her breath and praying that the group of boys went away. There are five cashiers open, she reasoned. No way are they gonna come to this one.

But that's exactly what they did. Of course Sabrina thought, groaning. Because this is my life.

There were six boys and all of them were mean faced and dressed like they belonged on the streets. Their jeans hung loosely down their backsides and a few of them wore snapbacks at odd angles. They acted as if they owned the ground they walked on. Sabrina listened to them snicker and cuss behind her for a few minutes. Then, one spoke up, addressing the girls.

"Oh look, its the Pakis." He said, snarling down at Leila and Sabrina.

"Oh no. Where's your curry?" Another gasped, in mock surprise. "Don't worry, we got you. Here you go." 

The boy produced bags of God-knows-what and tossed it over to Leila. They hit her and fell to the floor, ripping open and sprouting brown food everywhere. To Sabrina it looked like Daal, an Indian food that was in no way similar to curry. The boy who threw it - Osama - a mean faced boy with spiky hair, laughed, elbowing his friends who jeered down at Leila.

"Hey!" Leila protested and then paused bending down. She picked up one of the bags and pointed at the label. "And...this isn't even curry. Can't you guys read?"

"Read?" Sabrina snorted. 

She didn't know where her courage came from, but throwing food on people - especially her friends - was among the things that could make her angry.

"Of course not. Why do you think he repeated English?" She said, piercingly.

It was a rumor that Sabrina had heard a few girls speaking about. But the way Osama's face shriveled in contempt and embarrassment made Sabrina feel as if it wasn't just a rumor. One of the boys hooted at her retort. Osama silenced him with a piercing look and then turned to Sabrina, his eyes flashing in anger.

"Listen you little Arab hater." He began, seething. "What the heck do you think you are, huh?"

Sabrina held his glare while he cussed her out. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Leila's hand fly up to her mouth. She elbowed Emaan and nodded towards Osams's jeans. As Sabrina realized what they were giggling about, it took everything in her power to not burst out into laughter. Osama seemed to notice this and paused in the middle of his rant.

"What're you laughing about?" He asked, enraged.

"Oh sorry." Leila piped up. "We just cant take you seriously."

"Oh and whys that?" He asked, turning his icy glare on Leila.

"Hmm." Emaan mused, pretending to think. "Maybe it's cause your fly's open?"

Osama looked down and his face turned scarlet. Sabrina couldn't contain her laughter anymore and she cracked up, while Emaan doubled over, dropping her things. Leila was covering her mouth, stifling her amusement. Even Osama's friends looked caught between snickering and blushing in embarrassment.

"Stupid little..." Osama muttered, using every cuss word under the sun and making Sabrina's ears tingle. 

He turned and walked away, while his friends followed looking back and making rude gestures to the three giggling girls. But Sabrina was too hysterical to care. Her stomach hurt from laughing and she felt light headed as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She felt...happy.

* * *

"His face," Emaan gasped. "Omg, his expression was priceless!"

They were outside the mall, waiting for Leila's mom to pick them up. She had kindly offered to drop off Sabrina and Emaan too, to which the two girls were grateful for. Leila and Sabrina could both drive but didn't have their own cars. And since it was a school night, their parents needed it to get to and from work. The only time they had full access to any vehicle was during the weekend.

"Yeah, did you see how red his face got when he looked down at his pants!" Leila hooted sending them all into a fit of laughter. "That was epic!"

When the three girls finally fell silent, Leila's face grew serious and she turned to Sabrina,  curiosity playing in her eyes. 

"Hey, Bri," She addressed Sabrina with her nickname. "How did you know Osama was held back for English?"

"Eh," Sabrina shrugged. "I heard some girls talking about it."

"Well it was a good comeback," Leila said admiringly, while Sabrina hid a blush that was creeping up on her.

"Yeah. We really got 'em good today, huh?" Emaan snickered.

"Totally." Leila agreed. "We're like the Avengers. We shall right the wrong!"

"I call dibs on Black Widow." Emaan announced.

"What?" Leila shrieked. "No fair! I should be her!"

Sabrina rolled her eyes while he friends argued. She studied them, shaking her head and listened to their absurd reasoning on why they should be the red headed spy, who was famous for her hand to hand combat. Sabrina watched them affectionately, thinking of how lucky she was to have such great friends. Sure, they had their shortcomings - just like everyone did - but at the end of the day they were with her till the end.

Black Widow has nothing on them, she thought, however intelligent or charming she may be. Leila and Emaan were loyal and loved her for who she was and that was more than she could ask for. She didn't need a superhero with unimaginable superpowers. She needed her friends and she was happy with them by her side.

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Yet another chapter has been posted! 

Please comment your thoughts below and dont for get to vote! Also, keep you eye out for the next chapter, as things get a little heated. 

:)