Chapter Seven, Part Three: A Perfect Soul
~Armando Felix Gutierrez Martinez-Hassan~
All I could think about was Hana. Seeing her all vulnerable and just open like that ... I never felt like someone needed me as much as she did in that moment. To just see her turn away from me, to turn on me like that was a killer.
' I want you to terminate your membership here after this month,' she had said to me, easily, emotionlessly. The one thing that gave me solace, and a feeling of potential atonement was that the month had just started. I had nearly thirty days to make it right and I wasn't going to mess up.
Fully torn between finding a resolution to the Hana situation and practice, I kept wavering in between both, vacillating here and there until Angela caught me in the wake of heading to my car, this time for good.
"Aren't you walking the wrong way?"
"No. I'm skipping practice so ... just tell coach I'm sick or something." I barked out orders in between chomping on gum. It was actually half a piece of gum ... that Fruit Sensations crap that kept me from having hunger cravings.
"Are you trying to get kicked off the team?" She questioned, fiddling with some cards in her hands that she had pulled out when I looked away ... or maybe I just hadn't noticed?
"I'm more than just a football player. I have a life." I answered back angrily.
"Since when?" Angela wondered as I scowled. She quickly changed her tone. "Not trying to be all stalkerish but ... pick a card." She stared at me intensely, watching my every move. I bet she even noticed when my jaw tensed up.
"I don't have time for--"
"Just one." She urged, with so much persistence that it was overly sedulous. I gave in, picking one randomly and as quickly as I could. I kept walking as she continued to yell behind me, "... Someone will die ..."
I shook my head at her firmly. All the more reason to get to Hana as soon as I could.
~ Leila Bai~
"Look, Sean if you're hearing this ... I'm sorry I couldn't call you earlier." I started to explain over Danny's cell phone. He was driving me over to Sean's workplace, but I thought the whole thing would be futile.
Cameron wouldn't be there and even if he was, my face would be the one that he would be least enthused to see me. "Stupid!" I yelled, tossed the phone back to Danny.
"Hey, hey ... that's an iPhone Leila."
"Like you care Danny. Your dad is two steps from being the new mayor. He'd buy you a new one in a heartbeat--"
"Says the daughter of a neurosurgeon." He joked back.
"Sorry. My mind is racing about everything and not having a cell phone makes me feel so disconnected. I can't even get on the Internet, chat rooms, e-mail … it sucks."
"Who are you chatting with any way?"
"I'm not like that anymore." I protested even though my preoccupation with Sean was definitely making the act like the old Leila. "I swear," I added with the whisper. You can't corrupt what's already been adulterated.
"Thanks," I said as I left the car. "I owe you one Danny." I added, giving him a quick kiss on the lips for fun. Mia not liking us being friends made me want to do things just to get under her skin.
"Leila…" Danny called after me shaking his head as I laughed. He got it. Innocent fun. Totally. Within moments, the ambiance went from carefree and aplomb to seriously dreadful.
I stood for a while in front of the building contemplating my next move. I knew that I had to be strategic about what I was going to say, after all I did stand him up and never called to explain, a fault not my own, but still the reality nonetheless.
"Here goes nothing." I whispered to myself with a sigh. At least I looked amazing today. I just hoped that was enough to distract from the real problem, my face which was scattered with scars from my mom's rampage. This was disguised by a cute hat that I had found… I just couldn't wait to be done with high school so I'd never have to deal with her again, or Kai.
"I'm looking for someone," I yelled out to a practically empty building in my voice echoed scaring me half to death. "Hello!? Is anybody --"
"Yo, I heard you. Everybody heard you."
I let out a deep breath of relief. "Good," I said cheerfully, sitting down on one of the many empty bar stools. "I'd like the martini straight up."
"We're closed." The guy responded annoyed. "What do you want kid?"
"Where's Cameron? Sean Cameron." I crossed my legs, tilted my head to the side, and traced the top edge of my tube top seductively in order to get what I wanted which was Sean. "Don't make me beg." My voice dropped and I bit my lip suggestively.
"He's not here, jail bait."
"Then where the hell is he?" I nearly shouted disgusted that I had wasted so much time on this loser.
"Probably at the park. That's like his second home." The guy grinned as though he knew something that I did not. As I walked away, I could feel half of my breast starting to fall from the top. Please. Was that all it took to get a grin from that dude. He was way too damn easy.
"Wait. Which park… Can you give me a ride?" I lifted up one eyebrow as it's tempting him to deny me of what I wanted, which he didn't. Like I said easy.
~Alli~
Being dark is a disadvantage, a plague, a sin and I don't regret trying to get rid of the problem. But having to go to school that day was torture. Picture me, Alli-bear- it-all Bhandari clothed in full hijab. Claire was the first to approach me about it.
"Alli ... whoa, is that you?" Claire wondered in complete amazement. Apparently my plan to skip out on class and hang out in the nurse's office had backfired. I had forgotten about Ms. Edwards. Even though she was supposed to be mad at me or something, here she was talking to me.
"Yeah, who else would it be?" I wondered, clutching the scarf that was now the only thing protecting me from a lifetime of embarrassment.
"Are you ... avoiding me?"
"No ... well ... you haven't been talking to me since that football game, before that even. I'm sorry I dragged you to that stupid club, but that's no reason to act like this." I projected my feelings onto Claire, hoping that it would perplex her enough that she wouldn't notice if I slipped away. That was the plan. If Claire started to ask questions, especially the right ones, like she was known for, I'd be forced to tell her the truth. I could keep things from her for a bit, but she always found a way to whidle them out of me. Always.
"Alli, what are you talking about? I'm starting to worry about you. "So I guess your mom found your hidden stash."
"No actually… This is my choice. I want to know what it's like for other Muslim women." I lied smoothly. See? It was a lot easier to tell people what they wanted to hear than the truth. "Wait ... you're not mad at me?" I loosened my grip on the scarf.
"Not hardly. I mean, not anymore. I was kind of hoping that you'd give me a little advice on KC."
"Oh." I nodded profusely. I was so happy that the conversation had moved away from me that I let go of the scarf completely."SO, WHAT'S YOUR QUESTION?" I practically screamed, antsy and ready to get out of there immediately.
"How do you know ... I mean how would I know if KC was into me? And should I wait for him to say something or should I do--"
"Totally. You should do the proactive thing and approach him first." I started, glad that it was just us. My luck started to run out as the fourth period bell rang. School was out for the day, which was bad news for me at this moment. Even worse, Mohammed and the Indian Cultural Exchange crew were coming my way.
I could just hear them making fun of me now…
"So just go up to him and tell him how I feel?" Claire wondered as I tried to plan a quick, yet non-suspicious get-away.
"Yeah. March right up to him and say. 'KC I like you.'"
"That's it?" Claire wrinkled up her forehead. "Don't you think that's a little too blunt? And then what should I say after that?" I looked back behind Claire, panicked. They were approaching us and fast!
"You get his attention. Take his shoulders even. Tell him clearly and slowly and then walk away before he can respond."
"Alli are you--" The rest of Claire's sentence was cut off once I ducked into the girls' washroom behind us.
(A/N: Is anybody reading? If you are, send me a short review. I'm writing about 10 or more stories at once so I'll add more as soon as I can. Luv. –NL)