Chapter One

On December 1998, my parents welcomed a long awaited baby girl, Leena.

On December 2004, my parents surprised me with the biggest princess birthday party I could've imagined, it even had a bouncy castle.

On December 2014, I had the most cliché sweet 16 you could imagine.

On December 2015, instead of surprising me with a birthday party, this happened...

The argument between my mom and I didn't go as well as she expected. To her, it was the best news she could deliver, on the other hand, it was the worst news I could get on my birthday, or any other day for that matter. 

——

Everyone has that special person who knows all their secrets, inside jokes, and would accept all their flaws,  but I have two. 

Alia and Nouf have extremely different personalities, but somehow, we manage to get along pretty well, to the point where if you would tell me we were sisters who were separated at birth, I wouldn't blink twice. Alia is the kind of person who would easily get along with people, and she has many connections, she simply handles life like its a piece of cake. While Nouf is the worrier in our group, she makes a big deal about every little thing that is going on, she is more of a wallflower. 

I woke up to my usual routine, the maids had already made my breakfast and left it on the huge table in the dinning hall, which we don't use anymore because neither of my parents are ever around or have company. Because I have no siblings, the house is always quiet. But, that also has its benefits, because being an only child means you get extremely spoiled. Thankfully, my friends are always around to keep me company. 

School wasn't interesting, nothing other than long naps in periods and constant arguing happened. When I got home I went straight to my room, prayed, then took a quick shower and slipped into this:

I left my short brown hair to air dry and form into its natural weaves, then stumbled down to the kitchen with my laptop in hand. I had an essay to write so I made my self a cup of coffee and typed away. In the middle of writing, Alia called. We argued back and forth because she wanted me to write her essay, but I obviously refused, so she ended up telling how Nouf is a better friend, classic 3alia.

After a long time of writing, I ended up with a fair amount of words and paragraphs, so I decided to just end it.
I looked all around the house for my mom, but she wasn't there, so I went back to my room and decided to watch another episode of Friends.

-7:30pm-

As I was finishing the last episode of Friends I'm gonna watch for the night, my mom came in.
Me: Ahlen
Mama: Ahlan, keif el madrasa?
Me: Kwaisa, kan 3ndi essay 6weel shwy bs 5ala9ta.
Mama: el7amdella, 6yb um, fa'6ia al7en?
Me: Eee, y3ni ga3da atfrj 3ala shy bs esh fe?
Mama: 6yb e4a 5l9ti abek b '3rfti
Me: Um, okay.

I'm not gonna lie, I got a bit worried. I just started getting flashbacks of what I did wrong since as long as I could remember, but nothing extreme came up.

After finishing the few minutes left of the episode, I went to my mother's room.
As I was walking to her room, 3alia called.
Me: Alo?
Alia: Leena, yalla elbasi 3baytk w tjhzi al7en bnmrk ana w Nouf.
Me: Faj2a? Lesh?
Alia: N'3yer jw, w mnzman ma 6l3na m3 b3'6 w ketha.
Me: Umm, 6yb.
Alia: 5 minutes w nkon 3ndk.
Me: Okay

I hung up then ran to my mom's room...
Me: Mama, 3adi n5leha wgt thani? b6l3 m3 3alia w Nouf.
Mama: Okay, 5la9 lma trj3en.
Me: Shukran, bye.

I ran back to my room then wore my abaya and went downstairs then waited in the living room. A few minutes later, 3alia called and told me she is here.

Alia: Ahlan Ahlan
Me: Ahlen
Nouf: Keifk?
Me: Kwaisa, bs esh 4el 6al3a eli faj2a jt?
Nouf: t'3yer jw
Me: Okay?
Alia: A76 music?
Nouf: Eeee

As they were talking and having fun, I couldn't really concentrate, I was too busy thinking about what my mom wanted to tell me.

Alia: Leena? wsh feek?
Me: Wala shy
Nouf: k2nk shayla hm el dnya, esh 9ar?
Me: Wsh d3wa ma 9ar shy
Alia: Leena, 5ala9 la t9eren ke4a, loosen up a bit.
Me: Ma feni shy ya naas.
Alia and Nouf looked at each other, I knew they could tell that there was something going on.
Alia: esm3o, wsh raykm nswi shy jdeed?
Nouf: Keif y3ni?
Alia: Y3ni shy fun, ma gd swenah.

As they were talking, one thing led to another, we got into a car accident, great. Both Nouf's driver and the guy that bumped into us got out of the their cars and tried to work things out.

Nouf: Tara shkla mo 9a7i elwld...
Me: Lesh?
Nouf: Shofi keif ga3d yt9rf...
Me: 9dg, ttwg3en y3ni high wela esh?
Nouf: Shakla
Me: 3alia, tshofen?

Alia didn't even bother to look at me.

Me: Alia?
Alia: 5la9 eskto shwy

Nouf and I looked at each other out of confusion. The guy turned to face us, then told the driver to just leave and that he'll take care of everything.

Nouf: Marra creepy el wld.
Me: Marraa
Nouf: 3alia wsh fek?
Alia: ya Nouf 5la9 ma feni shy
Nouf: Wsh fekm entom elyoum?
Me: Ana glt ma feni shy.

Alia didn't talk the whole way back, they dropped me off then left. As soon as I got home, I went to mama's room.
Me: ha mama esh knti btgolen?




— cliffhanger —