...

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: ...

Hey, fam. It's been a while since I last heard from you. You didn't respond to me either on Whatsapp or Messenger. I'm starting to get worried. Are you okay, Salman? You seemed okay in your last Facebook photo. But I'm not. At all.

Please call me.

~Malika

Malika let out a deep sigh as she stared at the latest email she sent to her brother. She scrolled down the thread, every single message sent in the near past was from her.

She let out a sigh, lowered her phone and looked at her surroundings again. Malika was in the parking lot of York Academy waiting for her family car to pick her up. The area was significantly less crowded. She purposely requested for her ride to arrive a little later, just so she could avoid running into the majority of the student body.

A warm wind blew past her. Malika looked up at the clear sky. There was no hint of it, yet, she knew it was going to rain sometime this day. She could always smell rain in the air.

A familiar voice reached her from a distance. Malika froze in place. She whipped her head so fast to look in his direction that a sharp pain pierced her neck. She saw Imran step out of the school building, a couple of his buddies in toe. They were in the middle of an intense discussion.

Malika's first instinct was to hide. Her heart raced with fear as she looked around for a place to conceal herself. But she realized there was nowhere to go. She recalled the measures she had taken to avoid this moment, yet, it was unfolding. Malika couldn't believe her luck at times.

Imran's eyes had landed and locked on her. That ugly, malicious grin made its way on his face.

Malika kept her gaze elsewhere, hoping if she didn't give him attention he would leave. But she had learned a long time ago that life doesn't work like that.

Sharp whistles pierced the air, followed by perverted jeers.

"Look who it is, boys, our favorite whore," Imran said to them.

Terror captured her heart. She could feel them taking slow steps towards her, their violating eyes roaming all over her body. But these boys would be damned if she let them see her weakness. Malika kept her head high and face neutral, refusing to let them see her afraid.

"Who are you waiting for, honey?" one of the boys asked in a mocking tone. "Your next client?"

Cruel laughter and cheers elicited the air. Imran was now dangerously close to her, one more step and his body would be touching hers.

The thought made Malika sick to her stomach. Just his presence was starting to make her ill. Yet, she didn't dare move from her place.

Malika's heart threatened to leap out of her chest. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't control the loud thumping of her heart. Imran picked up the way her breathing was coming out ragged. She hated that he could see the effect he had on her. That sleazy smile on his face widened. He lowered his face to bring it closer to hers.

"What did I ever see in you?" he spat. "You're filthy."

The consistent numb pain that never really left her chest these days, bloomed at his words. Malika turned her head to face him, to look straight into those inhumane eyes she'd somehow mistaken to read.

Imran chased her for a year, persistently and lovingly. He uttered every sweet word her heart yearned to hear and sent her every flower a girl could dream of - before Malika relented her will and agreed to go out with him. For the years they were together, Malika could bring herself to believe she loved him too.

But as she stared into his eyes now, she saw nothing but cruelty looking back into hers.

She wanted to tell him to step back. She was starting to feel that pressure of suffocation again. But Malika didn't dare open her mouth. His friends had somehow managed to surround her.

At a distance, Dahlia Ahmad strode to her car after her brother. Ibrahim was walking with two of his friends, nonstop chattering about the football match they had next week.

The sky grumbled overhead. Dahlia looked up and scowled. It was sunny even minutes ago and now it looked like it was going to rain. She despised rain.

A sharp jeer reached her ears. Dahlia narrowed her eyes and whipped her head in that direction. Bile rose to her throat when she saw the scene in front of her.  A few feet away, Malika was standing in the parking lot, Imran and his friends had her surrounded. She was clearly outnumbered and terrified.

"Oh my God," Dahlia breathed out. "I think he's going to hurt her."

Ibrahim Ahmad noticed the event as well, but before he could decide what to make of it, he found his sister sprinting towards those people. His jaw dropped open.

He watched stunned as Dahlia ran to the scene. "Malika!" she cried out.

Her voice drew their attention. As Dahlia stepped into the scene, surprise flickered in all pairs of eyes. The confidence Dahlia ran in with melted like wax under the heated gaze of the boys. She swallowed her fear and held Malika's hand, the girls huddling closer to each other.

Imran's eyes widened with amusement. "You're friends with her now?" The boys let out a boisterous laugh, eyes coating with disbelief. Dahlia gritted her teeth in anger.

"Imagine that, the freak hijabi and the slu-"

"Hey!" Ibrahim cried out. Imran's eyes landed on him, tension sizzled in the air.

The boys' postures changed. Aryan and Zakariya were running to join the crowd as well. They took their places on either side of Ibrahim. The two groups eyed each other.

Dahlia took the opportunity to quietly slip away from the scene, dragging Malika along with her. The girl still looked pale, her heart thumping so loudly she could hear it from outside.

Dahlia strode without looking back, heading straight for their car, not caring the least about what was about to go down between the boys.

"What's your problem?" Imran asked in a clipped tone. His sole attention bad been diverted to Ibrahim, looking him up and down with furrowed eyebrows. He was familiar with the big guy - he had seen him in classes and the pitch during football practice, but they didn't have any close interactions in all these months.

"You shouldn't have talked to the girls the way you did," Ibrahim responded.

Imran cocked his head to one side. There was a mocking grin curling up one end of his lips. "You've been here for a minute and you're already telling me what to do. Who do you think you are, dude?"

Ibrahim parted his lips for a response, but he was swiftly interjected by Aryan. "On good days he's just a prick who gets on my nerves, on bad days he's your worst nightmare. I also think he'd be a pretty mean Taekwondo master if he actually let me give him lessons."

Ibrahim gazed at Aryan with a pointed look. "Really?"

"What?" The guy shrugged. "You needed a good introduction."

Confusion clouded Imran's eyes. He flitted his gaze towards the other two boys, noticing them for the first time. "You're with Aryan Malik and this idiot," he said, ending the statement by giving Zakariya a condescending look. "This keeps getting worse."

The bespectacled boy's face darkened. Aryan narrowed his eyes as Ibrahim's face hardened. He took a step forward. "Listen, dude," Ibrahim started. "I'll tell you this nicely, stay away from my friends and sister," he warned. "I don't want to see you even looking at them the wrong way again. If you fail to abide by, I won't be nice next time."

His voice was steady, yet assertive. The calm determination in Ibrahim's eyes irked him. The glower in Imran's eyes intensified, if possible. He seethed, "You have the nerve-"

"He does," Zakariya interrupted. "If you know what's best for you then you'll do as he says and stay away from us." Every pair of eyes sparkled with surprise.

It took Imran a moment to recover. Then he burst out laughing. "I hear a lot of big threats with very little substance. So tell me, what exactly do you plan to do if I step a toe out of line?" he challenged. "Hit me in the head with your heaviest book?"

Ibrahim expected Zakariya to merely stare back with hardened eyes and his lips to start quivering, like it often did when Aryan and Shahriar disregarded his warnings and broke school rules just to spite him.

However, the boy maintained his zeal. He retorted, "yeah, I will. I also know you stole and copied that Hussain girl's Chemistry assignments for the better part of the year. If I report you then you'll automatically fail the class due to lack of credits. You'll be thrown out of the football team and be held back from sitting for your A 'Levels."

The shock was clear on Imran's face. There was an angry murmur amongst his friends. The look on his face had turned nasty. He scrutinized Zakariya carefully, seeing him in a new light.

Imran took a step back. Ibrahim would have thought he was admitting defeat, but the simmering rage on the guy's face told a different story. "You guys have no idea what you brought upon yourselves," he whispered harshly. Then he beckoned to his boys and walked past them, roughly brushing against Zakariya's shoulder.

The tension died down. Aryan whipped his head towards the bespectacled boy. He almost looked impressed.

"Dude, where did that come from?"

The bespectacled guy looked slightly dazed, as if he was still recovering from the confrontation. "Oh my God," he cried softly. "I just got into my first fight. Ever." Then he cast Aryan a look, a scowl appearing on his face. "You are a horrible influence!"

A slow grin spread on his face in response. "Welcome to the dark side, Azad. I promise you won't regret it."

Ibrahim let out a sigh as his friends bickered. Then finding his cousin and her friend on the other side of the parking lot, he strode towards them with the boys in toe.

A/N: Friends, I hate to do this but the last couple of chapters of this book is at an all time low in terms of comments. I really don't want my readers to feel pressurized to comment when they read, and I know I have complained in the past about heedless comments, but it can be a little disheartening to put a lot of effort behind each chapter only to receive little to no comments. I actually enjoy reading your thoughts on the plot or the characters. I promise it doesn't have to be elaborate, even a little emoji at the end of chapter can brighten up my day.