Chapter Nine - Don't Let the World Burn

"Hey." Leila drawled, in a not-so-bad imitation of Khalid's voice.

Sabrina resisted the urge to smack herself. What does she think she's doing? Emaan stared at Leila, her mouth slightly open, her eyes wide. Leila, on the other hand, ignored their looks and was trying to suppress laughter. She put the speaker on and held out the phone in front of her. On the other line, Leena could be heard shrieking like a little girl.

"Omg, you texted me?" She sounded awed. 

Sabrina rolled her eyes, while Leila smirked.

"Yeah, listen." She said in a husky voice, " I wanted to ask you if you were free today."

Sabrina gaped at Leila who smiled back sweetly. Her eyes swam with excitement. Sabrina slowly shook her head but didn't dare to sat anything. If Leena found out...she couldn't imagine her anger. She couldn't even believe how she was falling for Leila's fake voice! But she was apparently, for she gave a small gasp which was followed by a clamour of hushed voices.

Sabrina guessed that Leena's phone was on speaker too and her friends were huddled around it. She didn't know what to feel. Annoyed that none of them were smart enough to see through Leila's sham or anxious that they might be able to. She was caught between rolling her eyes and biting her nails. 

"YES." Leena squealed, and then cleared her throat. "I mean sure...why?"

"Well," Leila said, "Wanna meet me at Lazia's for dinner at six?"

"Oh wow." Leena cooed. "Is that a restaurant?" 

Emaan shook her head, while Sabrina bit her lip trying to keep back a snide remark. No, its a Museum, she thought sarcastically, cause people eat dinner at Museums. Leila's face turned red as she tried to hold back laughter.

"Yeah, so what do you say?" Leila went on when she settled down. "Wanna meet me there. I would pick you up, but..uh..my ride is gettin fixed."

Sabrina raised an eyebrow, catching Leila's gaze. Leila stared at her, a small smile flickering across her face. She's loving this, Sabrina thought, slightly annoyed. Sabrina didn't want revenge on Leena. She didn't believe in revenge. When Leena finds out she'll loathe us, Sabrina thought. And that's the thing about revenge. It doesn't solve the problem - it makes it even bigger. 

"Sure!" Leena agreed happily.

"Well then, see ya later." Leila said, shutting off her phone. The second it was off, Emaan and Sabrina exploded.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU THINKING?!" Sabrina shouted.

"What if she finds out!" Emaan yells.

"Are you crazy?" Sabrina whispers. "As soon as that girl finds out it was us, she'll kill us!"

"What makes you think she'll find out?" Leila asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Well," Sabrina scoffed. "When you don't show up tonight - unless your planning on dressing like Khalid and reconstructing your face - she'll do whatever she can to track down your number and ugh...we're doomed..." Sabrina trailed off, her head spinning. 

"I don't think she's smart enough to track down my number." Leila smirked. "She didn't even notice that a girl was pretending to be the guy she's madly obsessed with!" 

"True." Sabrina said, reluctantly, "But she'll find out sooner or later." 

"I don't see how." Leila shrugged. "If she calls my number again - I wont pick up."

"Wait...you can track down someone by their cell phone number?" Emaan asked wonderingly, staring through Sabrina, with a thoughtful expression on her face.

Sabrina and Leila stared at her and burst into laughter at the random question. After a second, Emaan joined them and the three girls bent over, clutching their stomachs, earning funny looks by the people who shuffled past them.

As Sabrina climbed on the bus that day, she felt fear surging through her veins. She was haunted by the fact that Leena would find out that they had tried to trick her. Leena would be enraged. She would do every possible thing to get back at them. This isn't race or skin color that we're discussing, thought Sabrina, this is love. 

And people can do terrible things for love.

 * * *

She couldn't sleep that night. Somewhere out there was a hurt girl, full with anger and seething for revenge. She must know by now, Sabrina thought. The alarm clock on her bedside table read 11:00. It was well past six and Leena was probably turning in her bed, shaking with fury. If Leena found out...Sabrina couldn't complete the thought.

She hoped -prayed - that they would get away with this. 

* * *

The next day, Sabrina studied her nails. They were bitten to the core, and throbbing with pain. Sabrina had had a poor night, barely getting a sufficient amount of sleep for her to get through the day. She scanned the halls for Leena. She was sure that she would be here any second, walking up to her and screaming:

"IT WAS YOU! YOU'RE SO DEAD! I HATE YOU!"

But thankfully, it hadn't happened...yet. And Sabrina hope it wouldn't for the rest of the day. Scratch that, she thought. Rest of her life. She decided to go on and get to her first class. She had a feeling Leila wouldn't bother meeting her at her locker. Leila was probably hunting Leena down to see how she was doing. The thought was sickening. As she walked down the halls, dodging flying objects and slowpoke couples, an arm flew out and grabbed her. 

She shrieked and turned to Leila whose eyes danced with glee. Leila hushed her annoyed protests and guided her to another hallways, which was crammed with students who were gathering around a growing scene. Sabrina's heart leaped to her throat when she saw Leena yelling her head off at a bemused Khalid. The kids around her snickered. Leena didn't seem to notice.

"...TEXTED ME SAYING TO CALL YOU!" Leena yelled.

"Uh...no I didn't." Khalid said, his expression half annoyed and half amused.

"YES YOU DID!" She shrieked. "I called you and you said to meet you at Lazia's at six!" 

"Lazia?" He asked, smirking. "Is that a restaurant?"

Sabrina sighed, as Leila burst out laughing beside her. Thankfully, her laugh was lost among the noisy crowd. Sabrina noticed Emaan standing beside Leila, stifling a smile at Khalid's remark. She turned back to the subject of everyone's attention.

"...didn't text you and I dunno who did." Khalid explained, looking more irritated than amused now.

"But..but.." Leena spluttered. "It was YOU." 

"No, it wasn't! " Khalid said, sneering down at her. "I'd never ask you out." 

His friend's snickered and elbowed him, as Leena's face dropped. Her eyes glistened with tears. She turned, barging through the crowd which taunted her, their faces lit with malice. Sabrina watched her run off, guilt gnawing at her heart. Leila shook her head and laughed. Emaan met her gaze, her eyes worried.

Sabrina couldn't take the jeers of the crowd any longer. She couldn't take Leila's delighted face, laughing as if Leena had no feelings. No one deserved to be publicly humiliated. Not even Leena. She turned and scurried down the hallway that would lead her to her first class. This isn't right, she thought, along the way.

What's the difference between us and Leena if we're going to act the same way as her?

* * *

"Why?" She asked, turning to Leila as she sat down at the table, the noisy cafeteria buzzing around her.

Leila and Emaan were already seated, waiting for her. Well, Emaan was waiting. Leila was talking about something, waving her hands and stopping multiple times to bark out laughter. Sabrina assumed she was speaking about her brilliant idea to get back at Leena, today. As the question left her mouth, Leila turned to her.

"What?" She asked innocently.

"Don't 'what' me!" Sabrina snapped. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Fine." Leila sighed. "I get it. You don't like what I did. But-"

"Like?" Sabrina smirked. "I absolutely loathe what you did!" 

"Can I finish?" Leila asked, glaring at Sabrina, who shrugged, reluctantly.

"I was saying," Leila began, "That what I did was necessary! Leena deserves a little humiliation after what she did to you! You cant deny that!"

"I can't," Sabrina admitted. "But who are we to humiliate her?" Sabrina asked, quietly.

"Are you serious?" Leila said, sitting back and shaking her head. "The girl humiliated you so why cant we embarrass her back? She deserved every second of it!"

"Because." Sabrina said, simply. "Leave revenge up to Allah. Who are we to humiliate His creation?"

Leila fell silent at that and picked at her noodles, with silent anger. Sabrina could tell that Leila wasn't expecting her reaction. Well how did she expect me to react? Sabrina thought. Did she expect me to pat her on the back and declare how proud I was for putting down the enemy?

Sabrina wasn't that type of person and deep down she knew Leila was aware of that.

* * *

Sabrina phone rang, her ring tone dancing through her room. She searched for it, digging through piles of books and even lifting her cat off her bed and checking under her. Marbles, her cat, hissed as she did so. Since Marbles wasn't sleeping on her phone - as he did sometimes- Sabrina put him down and rummaged through her bed sheets. Finally it was in her hand and she was staring at the name that appeared on the screen. She hesitantly answered it.

"Asalaamu'alaikum." She greeted.

"Walaikum'asalaam." Leila returned quietly. 

A long silence stretched out between them like it had throughout the day. It had been awkward, to say the least. Sabrina and Leila didn't know how to address each other after today's events.

"Um, I'm sorry." Leila muttered, breaking the silence. "I was just so mad. Leena's been at it for far too long and the worst part is: she gets away with it."

"Hmm." Sabrina mumbled, for the sake of saying something.

"I...I guess I just wanted to make her taste her own medicine." Leila sighed.

"Well," Sabrina began. "Sometimes you just gotta forgive and forget."

"I'm not that type of person." Leila explained. "You are. You're...capable of that. But me: I fight fire with fire."

"But Leila," Sabrina said, softly. "If everyone fought fire with fire - than the whole world would burn."

___________________________________________________________________________

 Wow, Sabrina, that was deep.

What did YOU guys think of this chapter. Do you guys  agree with peaceful Sabrina or the more aggressive Leila? 

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