Nayla walked into the house defeated. What a horrible first day of school.

"Are you ready to go, or do you want to go later?" asked Khalid.

She sighed, "Let's go." She dragged her feet as she headed out, longing for her bed.

"Let's get Chick-Fil-A on the way," said Nayla as Khalid got into the car.

"Yeah, ok. How was your first day of high school though? Was it as amazing as you'd hoped it would be?"  he asked.

Nayla laughed and plastered a fake smile on her face, "Yeah, it was awesome."

He bobbed his head in approval and started the car.

***
They got to the hospital in record time. Nayla came out of the car hunched over and feeling a little nauseous, that Deluxe Sandwich wasn't sitting well. She took a second to relax her body before following Khalid into the building.

When they got to the hospital room Asad was in, Khalid entered first and motioned for Nayla to be quiet as she entered. Both her parents were there and a couple of nurses.

Her mother noticed them enter the room and came over to give her a hug. "How was your first day of school today sweetie?" she asked.

Nayla looked from her mom and then to her dad who had come over to greet her as well. She saw the bags under their eyes and the tens of coffee cups scattered across the room. She took a deep breath, "It was awesome. Best day ever, I love all my teachers and my friends." she said. Nayla waved her hands for extra emphasis and smiled harder than necessary.

They all seemed to breathe a collective gasp of relief.

Her mom kissed her on the cheek. "I'm so glad to hear that sweetie. And how's Madison? Is she bothering you at all?"

Nayla shook her head, "No, I think we're getting off on a good foot this year." Nayla rocked back and forth on her feet and smiled at her parents.

Her dad beamed back at her, "Well that's good to hear. That whole situation was plenty of trouble. I'm glad we got that over with."

Nayla nodded at both of them, but she couldn't help but feel a little pang of guilt.

"Honey, your dad and I are going to go pick up Salma from school ok? Do you mind staying here with Asad till we get back?"

Nayla's dad grabbed his jacket and headed towards the door, "The nurses are here if you need anything. Thanks a lot, honey. C'mon Khalid let's go."

Nayla waved as they left and shook the guilty feeling off. Her parents didn't need anything else to worry about right now. They had a child in the hospital and a 5-year-old to worry about. They had more things to juggle than a nurse on the night shift. Besides, Nayla could handle herself, if she put things in perspective, Madison wasn't that big of a deal. There was more to life than school.

Nayla sat down next to Asad. She felt a rush of despair as she glanced at all the wires and tubes he was being suffocated with. His face was pale, and he looked extremely tired. His hair was really nice though, it was thick, wavy, and was a little tousled. She ruffled it and gave him a small smile.

"I love you," she whispered, wrapping him in a careful hug.

Nayla sat down after she was done fussing over him told him how her first day of school actually went. She felt like she could tell him anything. He always listened and never interrupted. It probably had to do something with the fact that he couldn't talk, nevertheless, it was nice to have a real person to rant to for a change.

"Yah, and after Mr. Blake embarrassed her in front of everyone she had the audacity to come yell at me at lunch. Her big insult was that Anwar was out of my league, like what? What does he have to do with this? He's the new kid! And why can't she just evaporate? I mean yelling at me in front of the entire freshman class? Who is she?" Nayla rolled her eyes and pulled out her laptop.

Maybe she should get back at Madison, but that was a terrifying thought to have. There were so many ways it could backfire and lead to her ultimate demise. It was too risky. And what would she do? Fight her, pshh. Never gonna happen. But she had to admit, it was fun to think about. Her, Nayla Abdullahi, finally one-upping the Madison Zavier? That would be so dope.

She laughed to herself and opened up a Google Docs so she could start her letter. This is going to be easy she thought to herself. She was an aspiring author and loved to write, how hard could it be?

Nayla put on her headphones as the rest of her family entered the room and started her letter.

Dear Nayla,

You are an inspiration. I appreciate you. I just want you to know that you'll get through whatever you're going through. You always pull through. You're a survivor! That's what you do! Well, you and the entire human population. Sure you can be a little insecure and introverted, but that's what I love about you. You don't let those type of things define you. You are more than your anxiety disorder. You are more that your speech impediment! You're Nayla!! And no matter what anyone else says, those things don't define you. Sure you have a couple of bad days, ok more than a couple, but that's only natural. Don't let the bullies get you down. How is speech therapy going? And the meds? I hope they're helping, but regardless I'm sure you'll be ok. Don't be afraid to up your dose, or the number of sessions you're going to.

My room is a simple beige color. The floor is bare except for one carpet and there are 3 beds. I love its simplicity. I share it with my two sisters Salma and Radwa (more on them later). I live in a predominantly white neighborhood, but my neighbors are really sweet. Ms. Leon always says hi to me on my way to the bus stop. That always makes my day! And Mr. Bob, who always insists that I call him Bob, brought flowers for our porch the other day. And as for the current events, there's a lot of racism and sexism going around in this world. And it's honestly kind of scary that people are being so mean to each other. Imagine being harassed just because of your skin color and the clothes you wear? I heard a man yelled at a girl for riding the bus just because she was wearing a hijab and told her to go back to her country. I couldn't even believe it. People are so entitled to everything nowadays. I just want to live in a world where I have as many rights as everyone else, is that too much to ask for? As a feminist and a human rights activist it's so triggering to see all these things on the news about 3rd world countries and people not taking harassment cases seriously. I hope America does better, I hope I do better. Plus, it would be so cool to finally have a female president. Did you know that almost every other major country has had female leaders? What's up with us?

Anyways, my favorite thing to do in my spare time is to read and write. I'm an ardent writer and hope to become the next J.K Rowling. I write short stories on Wattpad and have 500 followers! Wattpad is my safe space and I go there whenever I need to vent, escape, or just need to cool off some steam. Wattpad has always been there for me and the things I write on there are very personal. I usually spend 90% of my free time on there and I plan on publishing my stories one day, but that's in the far future. Did Wattpad update their logo again? Please say no.

The most important people in my life are my family. I don't have that many friends at school, well I used to, but things change. I'm pretty chill with Hallie, but she's more of an acquaintance. I sit with her at lunch sometimes, and we usually just team up for projects together. I hope to make some friends in high school, but regardless I always have my family on my side. Mom is a stay at home mom, but she's the strongest women I know. She's always so kind and she never gives up on us. Dad is an accountant and he works hard to support all of us. I admire my parents so much and don't ever want to burden them with my silly squabbles at school. I want to be their rock. To support them. They already have so much going on with Asad. Asad is my 17-year-old brother and he's been in and out of the hospital for the past two years. The doctors don't know exactly what's going on with him, but he has a couple of conditions. When he was little he was diagnosed with autism when he was 5 and had some developmental disabilities growing up, like not learning how to talk. And as he got older it became known that he was epileptic and anorexic. He's been sick for a while and it's scary watching him be in and out of the hospital. I love him with all my heart and wouldn't want anything bad to happen to him. I hope he's doing well by the time your reading this, I pray he is.

I have two other brothers, Khalid and Fahad. Khalid is a sophomore in college and Fahad is a 7th grader. He's a gamer and my sister Radwa, who's a junior is more of an artist. And lastly, there's Salma, the baby of the family whom I love with all my heart. She's so sweet and just started Kindergarten. Khalid, Asad, and Radwa were born in Somalia and came here when they were little. I was the first person in my family to be born in America, yes I'm so special. I'm a first generation American and have actually only left the country once. It was when I went to Canada to visit my grandma at the end of 4th grade. It was fun, but I don't like airplanes that much. They make me so nauseous and claustrophobic.

For my future, I would like to become an author, a New York Times Best Selling Author! That's been my dream ever since I downloaded Wattpad, so since the fifth grade. My fall back is to become a nurse, but I'm not so ecstatic about that. I can't wait to graduate high school I'm literally counting down the days. I want to go to the University of Minnesota just like Khalid and major in Creative Writing. To be completely honest with you I just want high school to be over as fast as possible. I want to get through it with as little attention and drama as possible and fast forward to the rest of my life. I don't know what these 4 years will be like, I just hope that I can get through them. By the time you're reading this you'll be done with high school, we'll be done with high school, and that's a win.

I just want you to know that no matter what happens you'll make it. God knows what the next 1,460 days will hold. The most important thing to remember is that you'll be fine. You'll have some shitty days, some good days, and some horrible days, but you'll get through. I know you will. Because that's what you do, you survive.

- Nayla

Nayla sat back and looked at her finished work with a satisfied smile. It wasn't that bad. It was a little cheesy, but it wasn't that bad. Nayla's mom stood up, "I'm going to go get the doctor, so she can let us know when we can leave, ok guys?"

Nayla gave her a thumbs up and the rest of them mumbled something between ok and sounds good. It was getting really cramped in the hospital room. Not that the room was small, it was actually quite big. It was white and had broad windows that had an amazing view of the parking lot. The wall was lined with red cupboards and a white board that they all wrote their get well wishes on. The room even came with a T.V that had actual channels, a nice bathroom, and a mini fridge. The only things killing the vibe were the machines and tubes in the middle of the room surrounding Asad. Other than that, it was pretty much a hotel room with enough chairs for 8.

The doctor came back with Naylas's mom. Nayla looked the doctor up and down. She seemed tired more than anything else. Her silver hair was up in a ponytail and her coat was ruffled. She took a glance around the room and sighed. Nayla braced herself for the bad news that she knew was coming. "I know you guys want to get out of here, but I can't release Asad right now. His vitals are unstable and we need to monitor him for the next couple of days. I'm sorry." The doctor shook her head again and left the room.

Nayla looked at her family. Khalid started pacing, Radwa had silent tears coming down her face, and Fahad and Salma were obliviously watching T.V. She looked to her parents, who looked like they were having a silent, but very heated, discussion. Her mom emerged victoriously and turned to face them. "Ok, you guys and your dad will go home and I'll stay here."

"No way. I'm staying," said Radwa, jumping up from her seat.

"Me too," said Khalid, standing beside her with his arms crossed.

Nayla looked from her parents to her siblings. This was going to be a long night.