I slid my phone into my purse, finally taking a step out of my car. I opened the trunk and grabbed two of the reusable bags, hanging them on my arms as Badr approached the car. He walked over and took the other two bags into his hands, closing the trunk. "So, you said you were making pancakes, but... this is way more than just pancake ingredients."

I laughed softly, "Obviously. I also got some eggs to make and ingredients for some parathe. And, ingredients for french toast."

"That is... a lot of breakfast for six people." Badr hummed as we walked up to the dorms.

"Yeah, but Aileen, Estrella, and Reina all eat a lot." I shrugged. "Make that five, by the way."

Badr seemed to glance over at me out of instinct. "What do you mean? Did you already have breakfast?"

"No." I said as we reached the door to my dorm.

"Breakfast is important, Salah. At least eat a little bit?" He opened the door for me, quieting down once we entered.

"Okay, but only a little." I placed the bags in the kitchen, beginning to unpack them.

"Anything I can help with?" Badr asked, probably itching to so something while I unpacked the groceries.

"Do you know how to make pancake batter?" I asked, setting aside enough ingredients for six people.

"Yup! I used to make it for my sisters all the time." He entered the kitchen. I handed him a bowl and whisk.

"Well, there ya go then." I smiled. "You can help by making the pancakes."

He began to mix the ingredients while I fried a couple eggs. "So, you still owe me a life story."

I groaned softly. "You're cashing that in already?"

"Yep." He popped the 'p' and bit his lip. "Can't blame me for being curious."

"No, that I cannot." I hummed, beginning to make the parathe. "Okay, well, where should I begin?"

"I dunno." He shrugged. "Anywhere, I guess. Whatever is easiest for you."

"Ehm, okay." I rolled out some dough. "I'll tell you some family history right now, but I doubt I'll have enough time to tell you my entire life story."

"That's fine." Badr responded. "I'll just bug you about it over text."

I felt like, if he could, he would have winked and laughed at that moment. "Haha, very funny."

"You think I'm joking." He smirked as he walked over to the stove, pouring pancake batter into a pan.

I rolled my eyes playfully. "Okay, okay. Whatever. I'll start with who I have in my family. There's my parents, of course, then my
Older brother and my younger brother."

"So, you're the middle child." He nodded. "Interesting." He prolonged the 'in' in interesting.

I laughed softly. "Yes, I am." I leaned against the counter as I added ghee to the dough. "My parents are normal immigrant parents. They came to the USA after getting married because they wanted their children to have a better life, but it took place a little different than most people." I added. "My dad's family had already immigrated to the US, but my mom's had not. So my dad brought my mom over and since they were all new immigrants, they all lived together."

"Oh, okay. So your parents had to live with a huge family in a cramped space, didn't they?" He asked, glancing over at me.

I nodded. "Yep. But at this point, my mom already had my older brother, so it was their tiny family plus my aunt and uncles small families all in one small apartment."

"How many aunt and uncles do you have?" He asked, curiosity wandering about in his voice.

"From my dad's side, six; four uncles and two aunts. From my mom's side, nine; seven uncles and two aunts." I flipped the first paratha into a plate.

"Wow, that's a big family." His voice held both admiration and shock.

"Mashallah se." I smiled a bit. "Well, basically, after my parents finally separated and had me, we were a small family of four that didn't think it would grow any more. My older brother was a little genius, smart and with the best grades."

"Ayyyy," He pointed his thumbs at himself, jokingly. "Like me!"

"Don't be so sure about that." I laughed. "A couple months after I turned seven, my parents had my little brother, Amir. I didn't realize it at the time, but the arguments between my older brother and my parents were going to get worse. Much, much worse." I sighed quietly. "Amir was born with Down Syndrome and he had... a lot of issues. I was too young to understand them then, but I do now. The stress from Amir plus my older brother beginning to 'act out' started making them more irritable."

"I don't like where this is going." Badr seemed to frown, flipping a pancake.

I put aside the parathe and started making the french toast. "I don't either." I laughed a bit. "My brother stopped trying in school, he started failing classes and hanging out with the wrong people." I sighed. "He became very... distant from us and from Islam. But school and grades kept causing arguments at home. Sometimes they would last all night."

"What about you? You've been talking so much about your brothers, you haven't even brought up what you were going through because of all this." His words made me stop in my tracks. I had told my "life story" a hundred times over and I had always told it the same way. I didn't matter, I never had. I used to always want someone to ask me that, say those exact words... but I gave up that hope when I realized that no one cared.

"M-Me?" I took a breath, "I hated it. I spent nights struggling to sleep while listening to their screaming and shouting downstairs. I was always such of an afterthought that I had to learn everything on my own." I laughed bitterly, biting my lip. "My parents always say proudly that I was able to do everything on my own, but they never realize that I wasn't. I needed them. I needed someone. But I had no one. I had myself, Allah, Amir, and that was it."

"You felt alone." He whispered. "I get that."

I nodded slowly. "I'm not saying I had a bad childhood or anything. My parents were great and I love both my brothers, but... I've always been alone. No matter how sociable or extroverted I am... I'm just..." My voice fell to a whisper. "Lonely..."

A loud yawn came from the living room, "Something smells good!" Reina sat up, waking Aileen up as well. The two looked over at us with questioning gazes, so I just shot a smile

I grabbed a tray and started leaving the kitchen. "Hey, Salah." Badr stopped me. "I don't want you to feel lonely anymore. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you see you're not alone. Not anymore." He let out a breath. "Even if that sounds hella cringey, I mean it. And I want to hear the rest of your story."

I dropped my head slightly. A smile worked its ways onto my lips, "Okay, Badr. Don't worry, you'll hear the rest."

Words:
-Parathe: A flatbread, fried dough food. Eaten usually by Desi people.
-Ghee: Clarified butter.
-Mashallah se: To say something has/is mashallah.