"Where were you on Friday?" I demanded, placing both hands on my hips and glaring up at Damian. He was blocking my locker once again, scrolling through his phone. His brows were puckered, and his hair had that whole "just rolled out of bed" look. In fact, on further inspection, he seemed...troubled.

Damian glanced up at me, his green eyed gaze smouldering. "None of your business," he muttered bitterly, pocketing his phone and walking away, leaving me mystified to his sudden moodiness.

First period was due to start in ten minutes, and I had yet to grab my books and unload my bag. I decided to investigate his absence in physics, which was an hour away, an hour too long. I was brimming with questions and curiosity as to why Damian would just ditch like that, when he had been coming to school every other day. Plus, he had walked away without a single smartass remark or cocky comment, which was very unlike him.

"Salamu Alaykum, my beautiful friend," Yasmine tapped me on the back, grinning. I noticed she had abstained from the excessive layers of makeup she usually wore, instead going for a more natural look, with only the slightest tinge of pink in her lips, her eyes lit with her morning cheerfulness.

"Wa Alaykumu Salaam. You look radiant today, masha'allah," I complimented.

Yasmine beamed back, opening her locker and shoving her bag in. "That's because I prayed Fajr this morning, Mariam," she replied. "And it felt so good to pray while the sun was still barely rising. I hadn't prayed Fajr in weeks!"

"I'm guessing it's because you are a heavy sleeper," I chuckled. "But I know for a fact it's because you're lazy."

"Well, lazy Yaz is no more! I feel more energetic knowing I prayed, as if nothing can stop me," Yasmine babbled on, shutting her locker simultaneously with me. We were in sync like that.

"It's like the hadeeth of the Prophet peace be upon him: whoever prays Fajr will be under the protection of Allah," I recited as we headed down the corridor. We got the usual strange looks from our fellow students in Year Twelve but as usual, we ignored them. Yasmine and I were in our own little bubble that couldn't be penetrated by anything, except...

"Aidan," Yasmine blurted out his name as soon as he stepped into our path, an obstacle out of the blue.

"Yaz, can I talk to you for a sec?" Aidan asked, looking sincere. He glanced at me briefly, as if asking permission, and Yasmine bit her lip, also looking to me, so for some reason, I obliged.

"I'll see you at recess, Yaz," I waved to her, leaving them to their privacy, but I wished I could be a fly on the wall for their conversation. I knew Yasmine would tell me all the details later anyway, so I headed off to English, glancing over my shoulder one last time at the two of them standing in the middle of the hallway. By the looks of it Aidan was just talking, and Yasmine was still chewing her lip, listening to him. If Yasmine kept chewing her lip like that, she was going to end up lipless at the end of the year.

***

"Yes, the rumours are true, we will be going to Luna Park later this term in order to explore the effects of gravity," Mr Newton barely got past 'Luna Park' before the whole class erupted into squeals of excitement. I turned to Denise, sharing a look of pure delight.

"This is why I took physics," Russell crowed, looking like a little kid on Eid morning.

"Just to go to Luna Park?" I smirked. Russell was an average student, so I was a bit surprised to find him doing physics last year, but he proved me wrong with his advanced knowledge of electric circuits and light.

"Well, it was what appealed to me the most," Russell shrugged.

"I gotta admit, I signed up for physics for the same reason," Denise admitted, grinning at me. "And it's so worth it!"

"Okay, class, settle down, it's still five weeks away so don't get too excited yet," Mr Newton had to be the buzzkill as usual. Every now and then I'd exchange a wide smile with Denise whenever I remembered it. For someone who had never been to Luna Park (hey, it wasn't my fault my parents didn't take us anywhere fun, other than the beach and that one time at the Melbourne Show), I was certainly looking forward to it. Unlike Russell and Denise, I chose this subject simply because it intrigued me, and not just because of the promise of a whole day of rides.

As Mr Newton handed out a diagram on the mapping of earth's gravitational field, I couldn't help glancing over at Aidan on the other table, wondering what he had said to Yasmine that morning. To his right sat Damian. I hadn't heard him speak this entire class, and it made me curious as to what was going on with him, but more importantly, why he was a no-show on Friday. He hadn't even looked that happy when Mr Newton announced our excursion, which was odd because he of all people would be elated at the idea of skipping school to go to a theme park.

"What's up with Damian?" I whispered to Denise as Mr Newton began explaining what was on the diagram.

Denise shrugged. "I dunno. He's been looking glum all morning. Maybe he's on his period?"

I chuckled under my breath. "Yeah, because that's physically possible," I murmured dryly.

Denise shot me a sly grin. "Who knows?"

Only Denise would let her mind wander to that vicinity. She was also in my biology class, and she had a tendency to flip through the textbook and show me the most gruesome photos of different diseases and deformities. Denise had a sick appreciation for those types of things.

Mr Newton assigned us textbook questions because he was so nice like that and let us work on them for the rest of the period. The bell rang, and I had only completed ten questions out of the twenty (see how kind Mr Newton was? Twenty questions on a Monday, how considerate - note the sarcasm). I gathered my books and was halfway across the room when suddenly, from my left, Damian shoved into me, causing my pencil case to fall to the floor. And the guy didn't even apologize.

"Watch it!" I cried, shooting him a glare as I bent down to pick it up.

Damian just strode out of that classroom briskly, and Denise came to my side, grinding her teeth as I rose from the ground, pencil case in hand.

"The nerve of that guy! Mariam, are you okay?" Denise touched my arm, blue eyes oozing with concern.

I nodded as we headed out the door. "I'm okay, but he sure isn't. There's something up with him."

"You mean other than the pole up his arse that makes him think he's too good to even apologize to you?" Denise fumed. I had to crack a smile at that. My friend always seemed to get angry for me, which was so touching. I didn't like to get angry, especially as anger was brought on by the Shaytaan, and it usually made people blind to logic.

"Well, yeah, other than that, he's been pretty moody so far," I remarked. "I have a feeling something happened on Friday, the day he was absent, that made him like this."

"Maybe he got rejected by a girl and he's feeling a little butt hurt about it," Denise suggested mockingly.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm pretty sure a little rejection wouldn't do much to diminish his inflated ego. Plus, I've rejected him on many occasions, and so have you."

"That's because we don't fall in his league of blonde bimbos," Denise reminded me bitterly. "Grr, I hate people like him!"

"Hate is a very strong emotion, Denise. Don't waste your hatred on him," I said calmly as we entered the senior locker corridor.

"How can you be so chill about this? This means war!" Denise raged, blue eyes looking a tad bit wild.

"Denise, darling, even if we did declare war, we would never win," I told her as we stopped at her locker. I lingered for just a bit until Denise closed her eyes, soothing herself with meditative breaths.

"Okay, you're right. I'm just so sick of seeing him treat everyone like trash, especially you," Denise sighed.

"Don't worry about me, I'm used to it," I said sadly. "I'll meet you at the canteen, alright?"

Denise nodded, and I continued on to my locker, which was occupied by the devil himself - Damian. He was slinging his bag onto his shoulder and kicking his locker shut, locking it with one hand. I approached with caution, as I could see Damian's jaw clenched and a dark look in his eyes that could almost be confused with grief.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked in pure curiosity. I was no longer mad that he had shoved me out of the way while exiting the physics classroom - he'd done far worse to me than causing my pencil case to drop.

Damian met my eyes with disdain. "What's it to you? Just leave me alone."

Well, there's a shocker. I remembered clearly when I myself had said those exact words to him, and now the tables had turned. "Not until you give me a good reason for bailing on the presentation on Friday," I demanded firmly, not budging from my position in front of him. I was blocking his way of escape, and I could tell by the bag he carried that he was going to skive off school again.

"Screw the bloody presentation! There are more important things in this fucking world than that shit," Damian cursed, stepping forward. I didn't like the fact that our bodies were only inches apart, so out of fear for myself, I stepped back.

"Well, thanks to you, I got a B+, and that may not be important to you but I had to suffer because of your selfishness," I said adamantly.

Damian's lip curled. "Suffer? You call that suffering?" he laughed mirthlessly. "You don't know a thing about suffering, Mariam. So you want to know why I wasn't here on Friday. Well, call me selfish but my mother has fucking cancer! Did you think I'd give a shit about the presentation when my mother's in hospital for coughing up blood? How's that for being selfish?"

I was stunned. I couldn't move, couldn't speak. Damian's mother was in hospital? Out of all possible reasons I had concocted for his absence, I had never considered something as critical as that.

"Now get the hell out of my way!" Damian's sudden outburst caused my feet to submit to his demand, and I moved to the side, clutching my books tightly and watching him storm down the hall, not even acknowledging his friends who were calling his name.

It wasn't until Yasmine walked up to me that I snapped out of my daze, and I finally opened my locker.

"Did you see Damian? He looked so moody," Yasmine said with wide eyes as she too grabbed her snacks.

"His mother has cancer," I blurted, and Yasmine's wide eyes became like saucers.

"Cancer?" she yelped, and I had to clamp my palm over her mouth, glancing around anxiously. I had a feeling Damian didn't want people knowing. I knew I wouldn't if I were in his position, God forbid.

I nodded, slowly removing my hand. "Yes, Yasmine, that's why he wasn't here on Friday."

Yasmine took this all in as we made our way down the corridor, meeting up with Theo and Denise in the canteen. Before we reached them I said, "Don't mention it to Denise and Theo."

"Why not?"

"Just don't. I think it's best no one finds out yet," I hissed while simultaneously fixing a bright smile as I greeted Theo and Denise again.

"Do you care about him or something?" Yasmine joked.

I recoiled at the mere idea. "Of course not! I'm just doing what any civil person would do - keep their mouth shut."

Yasmine didn't look convinced, though, as she sat down, tearing back her yoghurt lid and licking it. I sunk my teeth into my yellow nectarine, occasionally contributing to the conversation while also slightly distracted by what Damian had just told me. I felt a bit bad about complaining about getting a B plus when there were "more important things in this f***ing world," according to Damian. Alhamdulillah both my parents were healthy and I came home with the assurance that there would always be a hot meal to eat and a bed to sleep in. I didn't take things for granted, as a Muslim it was my duty to thank Allah every morning for even waking up alive, but I could only imagine what Damian was going through.

"Hey, Mims? You seem distracted," Theo waved a hand in front of my face, and I blinked, realizing I had zoned out.

From the corner of my eye I could see Yasmine struggling to contain the secret I had spilled to her. She scraped the bottom of her yoghurt tub, trying hard to keep silent. Yasmine was never one to keep things bottled up.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just thinking about Luna Park," I lied.

Denise's eyes lit up at the mere mention of the place. "Oh, yeah, we're going at the end of the term for physics."

Theo's jaw dropped. "Are you kidding me? Now I wish I did physics," he sounded so disappointed, it was comical.

"What about the rest of the subject?" Denise asked.

Theo shrugged. "I'd still do it. It can't be that hard, can it?"

I shared a look with Denise. "You have no idea, Theo."

"Just stick to maths, Theo," Denise advised as the bell rang.

As we stood up, I realized Yasmine hadn't told us about Aidan, so I interrogated her on it. "I thought you were going to tell us what he said to you?" I hissed as we headed towards the staircase.

"At lunch, In Sha Allah," she replied, and I was satisfied with that answer, even though I was itching to know what he said. In physics he didn't send me those dirty looks anymore, in fact, when I glanced at him, he offered me the hint of a smile, and I had been too shocked to offer one back.

By the time lunch had swung around, I couldn't hold back any more. After we finished praying Zuhr, I bid farewell to Zeinab and turned immediately to Yasmine. "Speak. Now."

Yasmine shook her head as our footsteps echoed down the corridor. "I'll tell you with Denise and Theo."

"Must you test my patience like this?" I groaned.

Yasmine smirked amusingly. "Well, so far, you're failing," she chuckled.

As soon as we joined Theo and Denise, I stared at Yasmine expectantly. "Go on," I urged.

"What's this about?" Denise asked, catching on.

Yasmine sighed, opening her container. She had tabouli and a chunk of garlic bread, and I remembered when Aidan first joined us, and their plan to go out and eat tabouli. Yasmine and Aidan had been out a couple times, and they had had good chemistry, but I was glad Yasmine realized sooner rather than later the downside to dating. I believed in learning the hard way, however hard it got, because at least one's own experiences would help teach them to stay upright and avoid it next time.

"Aidan confronted me this morning," Yasmine finally disclosed. Theo exchanged a look with Denise and I, raising his eyebrows. "Don't worry, nothing bad happened. He just wanted to apologize."

"After a whole week?" Theo said incredulously, looking a little furious. "He could've apologized a long time ago."

"Better late than never," I put in, and Yasmine shot me a grateful smile. I had a feeling Aidan's apology gave her some sort of closure over the whole ordeal, and now she could fully move on.

"He also asked about my hijab, so I told him the reason for my decision," Yasmine continued. "How in Islam it is about preserving the purity and modesty of a woman. I also apologized for leading him on, in a way, and he seemed really understanding about it."

"So are you guys on good terms now?" Denise asked for confirmation.

Yasmine nodded. "Pretty much, I guess. He agreed to be just friends, since we can't date."

"Well, I guess your dating days are over, then," Theo said, stretching his arms behind his head and leaning back in his seat. "How does it feel to be a single woman, Yasmine?" he held his fist in front of Yasmine's face like a microphone, and Yasmine spoke into it, screwing her brow up in seriousness.

"It is very liberating, Theo, I couldn't be happier."

Theo switched the fist/mic to Denise, asking her, "So when will you start dating, Denise?"

Denise didn't like being put on the spot, so she stammered, "Uh, d-dating? I don't know, actually..."

Theo adopted a deep host-like voice, keeping us entertained and interviewing Denise further. "What happened to the mystery kisser from the party? Or will he forever remain...a mystery?"

"I know who he is," Denise said suddenly, and Theo held his fake mic to her face, eagerly waiting for her to continue.

"Who?" Yasmine and I were left on the edge of our seats, the live studio audience of the Theo show.

Denise looked embarrassed. "Felix."

"Now THAT'S what I call a plot twist, folks!" Theo exclaimed to an invisible camera. Then he set down the mic and was back to being himself, which wasn't that far of a stretch. "Felix? As in the same Felix you beat in the chugging contest?"

Denise shrugged. "Well, yeah. But I doubt he remembers anything. And besides, it's Felix - loudmouth and show off. I don't even like him."

"Okay, how about this - whatever happened at Aidan's party, stays in the past, deal?" Yasmine stuck out her arm, and I was the first to place my palm over hers, followed by Denise. We all turned to Theo, who looked indecisive.

"Okay, fine, deal," Theo gave in eventually, placing his broad hand over our small dainty hands.

"Here's to moving on," Yasmine declared, and we all ended up lifting our hands up in a petty cheer. "One, two, three, moving on!"

Now let's really move on to afterschool. Yasmine caught the tram, Denise rode her bicycle, and Theo and I, along with Zeinab, caught a ride with our brothers. We crossed the parking lot, waving to Denise, who rung her bell for us as she whizzed past. Yasmine joined us on her way to the tram stop, and we waited for Nasr and Alex to arrive in Nasr's red Honda Civic. Nasr drove up to the curb in the no standing zone (he was such a rebel) and Alex rolled down the window in the passenger seat, hollering, "Get in, kiddies!"

Yasmine waved at us as we buckled our seat belts, and Nasr tooted the horn as he drove us off. "I didn't know Yaz wore a hijab," Alex remarked as he fiddled with the air conditioner, dialling it up high so I was figuratively growing icicles from my nose.

"Yeah, she started wearing it last week," Theo replied.

"I think it really suits her, don't ya think?" Zeinab adjusted her hijab beside me. This time she was in the middle for once, and I sat on the left behind shot gun.

"Yeah, she looks respectable," Nasr murmured, turning up the volume on a song. I didn't recognize it; probably one of the most recent hits. I didn't follow music anymore, and it was refreshing in a way, except afterschool in the car Nasr just had to play a few songs to keep the drive 'interesting.'

"Wasn't Yaz at that party last year that I went to with you, Theo?' Alex asked his brother over his shoulder.

"Um, yeah, she was there," he answered. "Yaz was at every party."

"It's funny how wild and crazy she was, and now she's all proper and covered up," Alex mused. "Potential wife for you, Nasr?"

"What?" Nasr seemed distracted as the light turned green and he shot us forward, weaving through traffic. It took a few seconds for Alex's words to register for Nasr, and I saw his profile clench up into a frown. "No, what are you on about, Alex?"

Alex laughed. "I love it when you get all defensive, it's hilarious."