"Yes, baby, the camera loves you! Now move your head a little to the left and smile like it's Christmas morning."

Denise had been saying all sorts of ludicrous things as she took our pictures, because that's apparently what "real photographers" did. She even had a black beret perched on her ginger curls and she wore a white t-shirt and black pants with red suspenders. All in all, she was really getting into the photographer vibe, though she looked more like a French cartoon.

"We don't celebrate Christmas," Yasmine reminded Denise as she leaned against the tree, arms crossed. She was wearing a denim blouse rolled up at the sleeves and a long caramel brown skirt and a leopard print hijab. We were in Denise's backyard which provided a beautiful backdrop for the photos.

"Oh, yeah, that's right, my bad," Denise smiled sheepishly.

"You know what does get us smiling?" I said, a grin already spreading across my face. I turned to Yasmine, and she had that same smile, and we both exclaimed, "EID!"

Denise laughed, "That's right, you guys have Eid, I totally forgot!" she lifted her black Nikon camera back, obscuring most of her face and saying, "Smile like it's Eid morning!"

And so we did, shoulder to shoulder, our outfits complimenting each other (I was wearing a coral hijab, aqua blue tight top, a brown leather belt around my waist and a long coral skirt), and as soon as we were done taking the photos for Denise's media assignment, we retired inside her house for a bit. On the way in Denise's cat Skittles rubbed its speckled fur against my leg as it slipped into the backyard. I was glad none of my friends owned dogs, otherwise going to their house would've been a problem. Theo used to have a dog when he was a kid but it died when he was ten, so since then the only pet he had was a cockatoo that ended up flying away after three years of being caged.

"Skittles is so cute," Yasmine cooed as she watched it lick its paw on the lawn outside the screen door.

Denise chuckled. "She used to be, but now she can get annoying," she said as she opened the fridge. We both joined her at the kitchen bench as Denise poured us some lemonade Denise's mum had made the day before, so it was still fresh, and it tasted amazing.

"How can a cat get annoying?" I asked as I exhaled, setting my glass down on the marble bench.

"She's shedding her fur everywhere and she cries every morning," Denise explained with a roll of her eyes, removing the beret from her head and running a hand through her hair. "The only reason we keep her is because Amanda loves her so much."

At the mention of Denise's younger sister, the girl herself skipped in, a mini version of Denise with her pale skin and red hair, bright blue eyes sparkling as she greeted us again. Amanda loved saying hello, even if she only saw you five minutes before.

"Can I have some lemonade too?" Amanda asked sweetly to her sister.

"Fine," Denise sighed and got out an extra glass for her. Amanda was nine years old and though Denise complained about her sometimes, I knew she had a special place in her heart for her younger sister, just like I had a place for Zeinab, and even Nasr.

"Are you finished taking photos?" Amanda asked as she sipped from her glass with both hands. She was quite short, her head only just popping up from over the benchtop, and Denise leaned her elbows on the benchtop, regarding her sister with amusement.

"Yeah, we're all done. In fact, we were thinking of going to the park now," Denise said in that voice reserved for little kids. We all had that strange tone we used, like a sing-song lilt to our words to make ourselves sound happy and appealing to children, the same tone the adults on Playschool used that I found a little creepy.

Amanda's eyes lit up. "Can I come?"

"Of course you can come," Yasmine beamed at the little girl.

Amanda began jumping up and down, but not before putting her cup on the bench. "Yay!"

The park wasn't too far from Denise's house, so we all set out into the autumn afternoon sunshine, Amanda skipping along the path, her red hair bouncing up and down as the three of us walked calmly behind her.

"I haven't been to the park in ages," Yasmine said as we crossed the grass, letting Amanda run free to the playground. I watched her with a hint of nostalgia. I missed being a carefree kid, swinging on the swings and sliding down the slide.

"We should go on the playground too," Denise suggested cheekily, eyes glittering as she approached it. She was still wearing her ridiculous photographer getup, without her beret, though, because that was apparently overdoing it, when the suspenders were enough. But it looked good on her, and as she climbed the bridge, beckoning for us to follow, I exchanged a shrug with Yasmine and obeyed.

The little kids at the park were giving us strange looks as we slid down the slide as giant seventeen year olds, laughing our heads off on the seesaw and soaring high on the swings, which we hogged for a good ten minutes before kids began whining, so we got off, feeling like kids again.

"Watch me do a cartwheel!" Amanda got our attention as she lifted her hands into the air and did what she promised, so the three of us applauded, grinning.

"That was impressive," I commented.

"I can do a handstand too!" Amanda crowed, and she did. As she landed on her feet and we applauded her once again (she did gymnastics, so she was always showing off her new tricks) the tinkling melody of an ice cream reached our ears, and Denise, Yasmine and I exchanged wide-eyed looks.

"Ice cream!" Amanda screamed.

"Good thing I brought money," Denise said, digging her pockets. I had to, just in case, as Mama always made sure I had an emergency ten dollars with me.

Amanda beat us to the truck, which pulled up in the parking lot, swarming with kids dragging along their parents. Denise went ahead to catch up to Amanda and buy her ice-cream, while I walked with Yasmine at a slower pace, taking the opportunity to talk about what I wanted to talk about without Denise hearing.

"Her birthday's coming up," I hissed.

"Whose? Amanda's?" Yasmine asked.

"No, silly, Denise's birthday. Her eighteenth, remember?" Yasmine could be so forgetful sometimes.

"Oh, yeah! April fourth, right?"

"Right. Which is in, like, six days. And we need to organize something for her," I planned.

"Like what, though? A party?" Yasmine suggested, though I saw the flicker of a dark expression cross her features at a party. The last party she went to didn't end too well for her, so I could understand her hesitance at throwing one.

"I mean, it could just be a small gathering of just her friends..." I trailed off as we queued up for ice cream, since it was the school holidays and there were a lot of kids at the park.

"We gotta get Theo involved," Yasmine whispered as Denise got a double scoop waffle cone of vanilla and chocolate for Amanda, who squealed with delight at the sight of her dessert.

"Well, obviously, he has to come," I said. "Maybe we should just stick to it being the four of us."

"Yeah," Yasmine agreed. "Could we go bowling again? It was really fun last time."

"It was, but Denise is turning eighteen. We should make it more memorable," I suggested. "How about we do something that shows how much we love her? Like we make a collage of all our photos from our five years of friendship, and we get her a massive cake, and then we get a band to sing for her –"

"Maybe not a band, but otherwise, it sounds good," Yasmine said before going up to the ice cream man to order the butterscotch waffle cone. I ordered cookies and cream and we both walked back to where Denise and Amanda sat, licking their ice creams.

"I'll text Theo and let him know tonight," Yasmine said as she nibbled on her scoop. "You can work on the collage."

"I can't do it by myself, I need your help too," I moaned, nudging her. "Come over tomorrow and we'll work on it."

"Okay, fine," Yasmine sighed, pretending to sound aggravated about it, but I knew she was excited to work on the collage. After all, arts and crafts was more her thing. "Hey, speaking of Theo, have you noticed –"

"I got a double scoop!" Amanda boasted, interrupting Yasmine from whatever she was going to say. I smiled at the way she showed off in front of Yaz and I. Every time we came over, Amanda was always trying to show us something, whether it was her cool collection of smooth pebbles or what she had learned, Amanda was always so bright and bubbly.

"That's amazing!" I said in that sing-song voice, trying not to sound sarcastic because if you didn't do it right you end up sounding sarcastic.

"I know, right?" Amanda licked the chocolate scoop, getting some on her nose, so Denise had to dab it away with a napkin.

As we sat on the park bench, devouring our ice creams, my mind wandered back to last Thursday night, when Damian had surprised us all by showing up at the mosque. But what surprised me more was that he stayed, and he even spoke with Hassan, and from afar I could tell the conversation went well because Hassan was smiling and Damian had a perplexed look on his face, which I realized now meant that his brain was thinking and he was intrigued. Whatever Hassan told him must have had an effect on him because Damian walked out of the mosque with that same mystified expression, his phone buzzing in his hand, but he didn't pick up.

"So that's the infamous Damian Brewer you were speaking about!" Fatima had exclaimed as we huddled by the doorway with Yasmine and Zeinab, finally able to speak to each other after an hour of silence.

"Yeah, what a guy," I said sarcastically.

Fatima smirked. "He's not bad looking, if I do say so myself, but astaghfurullah just in case," Fatima glanced up to the ceiling, brows knitted together ruefully, and I had to laugh at her antics.

"Don't be fooled by his looks, Fatima," Yasmine warned. "He sure can be a pain sometimes."

"But he's definitely changed," I remarked. "There's something about him that's less...him."

"Yeah, that totally makes sense, Mariam!" Zeinab laughed at my loss for words. I just couldn't explain it, the way Damian was less grounded. Sometimes I'd catch a sad look in his eyes, or the pensive puckered brow, and I'd know that inside he was struggling, but those minor hints were all I got for when he spoke to me most of the time he was back to his usual cocky ways, and I hadn't minded that. Weirdly, I had gotten used to them, and since I loved spitting back fiery comebacks it had become a little game of ours.

Now that it was the holidays I didn't have to see Damian or Aidan or any of my classmates everyday, and I was glad because honestly, I needed a break. But I definitely didn't get sick of seeing Yasmine and Denise, or Theo, who I still had to meet up with for the training sessions. In fact, we had met up just two days ago at this exact park so we could do some more jogging and aerobics. Samantha came too, and the three of us girls found that running the five laps around the park wasn't as tiring as it first had been, and strangely enough, I was getting along with Samantha. We had never had any reason to be friends before, since she hung out with a totally different crowd, but exercising with her, along with Denise and Theo, wasn't too bad. Except for the fact that by the end of it I was drenched with sweat under my hijab, but the reward was I got to lose some weight, every girl's goal at some point in their life.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, snapping me out of my reverie, and I pulled it out to see Nasr's number on the screen with a rare photo of him smiling. I accepted the call, pressing the screen to my ear – or the general area where my ear was under my hijab.

"Salam, bro, whassup?" Sometimes I liked to answer the phone like a hijabi gangster, because I was so cool like that.

"Mama wants you to come home," Nasr said, getting straight to business. There was no small talk with him on the phone. When he called, it was always for a reason.

"Aw, but I'm having so much fun!" I whined like a little girl. With Zeinab I had to be the mature responsible older sibling but with Nasr I could be as childish as I wanted because it was his job to be mature and responsible. And I enjoyed annoying him.

"Mariam, you've been out for four hours, I think you've had enough fun. Plus, you'll miss Zuhr at this rate," Nasr chided, and I sighed, knowing he had a point. I had almost forgotten I was neglecting my prayers!

"Okay, I'll be home soon, In Sha Allah, I just gotta finish my ice-cream cone," I gloated, crunching into the waffle, my favourite part of the ice cream experience.

"You got ice cream?" Nasr's voice rose a little incredulously, and I chuckled at his childishness. In the background I could hear Zeinab faintly, crying, "Who got ice cream?"

I laughed, knowing Zeinab would've loved to come with me if she knew there was ice cream available. What can I say? She loved food.

"Anyway, I can walk home from here, I'm at the park, and there was an ice cream truck, so we got ice cream," I said, trying to ignore Yasmine who was mouthing words and nudging me. When I couldn't take it anymore, I turned to her, hissing, "What?" and she batted her eyelashes at me sweetly, whispering, "Say Salam to Nasr for me."

I rolled my eyes, nonetheless telling Nasr, "Yaz says Salam," to which he replied, "Tell her Wa Alaykum." Wow, my brother was so lazy he couldn't be bothered adding 'musalaam' at the end of that, and after I hung up on him, I told Yaz his reply, to which she just giggled.

"What's wrong with you?" I questioned as I popped the last bit of the cone in my mouth. Amanda and Denise had stood up and put the remainder of their ice creams in the bin, so Yasmine and I did the same.

"Nothing, it's just your brother is so cool," Yasmine shrugged, biting back a smile.

"Yeah, he's so cool he's a penguin," I said sarcastically, laughing. We joined Denise and her sister, who was begging her for a piggy back, but Denise was refusing because Amanda may be small but she sure was heavy, apparently.

"I gotta go now, Denise," I told her, giving her a small hug. Denise rubbed my back, saying, "Thanks so much for being my model today, Mims." She turned to Yaz, also giving her a hug. "You too, Yaz. I'll send you the final pictures on email."

"After you Photoshop them, of course," Yasmine chuckled. "Make me look as flawless as the cover girl of Vogue."

"Trust me, Yaz, you're already flawless," Denise winked, and we all laughed.

"Are you leaving now?" Amanda pouted, and I ruffled her hair with a rueful smile.

"Yeah, I am, but I'll definitely see you soon, okay?"

Amanda nodded, squeezing me into a hug. "Definitely."

Yasmine glanced at her phone, a slight frown in her brow. "I better go too. I have four missed calls from my mum, which means it'll be world war three if I don't leave soon," she said with a sigh.

"Okay, I guess I'll see you guys soon?" Denise said hopefully.

"Of course, it's your birthday next week, remember?" I reminded her, and Denise laughed, smacking a palm to her forehead.

"Of course! How could I forget my own birthday?"

"Are you planning anything or...?" I left the question open, and Denise tapped her chin in thought.

"I mean, I was hoping to just keep it casual, and maybe have a little get together with you guys, and Theo..." A little colour spotted Denise's cheeks, and Yasmine exchanged a look with me that proved my suspicions.

"We could go somewhere, maybe bowling...?" Yasmine really wanted to go bowling, didn't she?

"Bowling sounds fun," Denise agreed, and Yasmine pumped her fist in the air, doing a little celebration dance.

"Yes! I am so excited. Let's go bowling!"

"Can I come?" Amanda's trademark catchphrase. Denise smiled down at her, saying, "I'm sorry, Mandy, but I'd rather just go with my friends."

Amanda's face fell. "Oh. Okay."

"Denise, be nice. We can invite her, can't we?" I forced a smile, but Denise shook her head.

"I want to spend it with you guys, and besides, I see enough of Mandy at home. I need a break," Denise replied, and Amanda scrunched up her face, looking slightly offended.

"Hey!"

"I'm just kidding, Mandy, I love you," Denise put an arm around her shoulders, and I noticed a glint in Amanda's eyes, a mischievous glint.

"If you love me, will you give me a piggy back ride?"

"If I give you a piggy back ride, will you be okay not going bowling with us?" Denise asked, looking a little guilty. I could understand why she wouldn't want her nine year old sister tagging along. Even I didn't take Zeinab everywhere I went.

"Yes!" Amanda replied, looking ecstatic at getting a piggy back for such a small exchange, and I had to laugh at her sweet innocence. Denise crouched down and Amanda climbed on, looping her arms around Denise's neck. It was there that we said our final goodbyes, waving to each other as Yasmine and I headed down the winding path that led us home.

***

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," I said as I saw none other than Aidan, Felix, Toby and Damian walk into the bowling alley. We were still putting our bowling shoes on, and at my words Theo, Denise and Yasmine looked up, following my gaze.

"Who invited them?" Denise muttered.

"I don't think they were invited," Theo said in a low voice as they scanned the place.

"So it's a coincidence?" Yasmine deduced, standing up.

"Out of all the days to go bowling, they had to choose today?" Denise said exasperatingly.

"It's not like they're stopping us from having fun," I said optimistically, grabbing a blue ball that must weigh over five kilograms. "Let's just pretend they're not here."

"Kind of hard to pretend when they're coming right for us," Denise pointed out, and sure enough, since the only alley available was right beside us, they approached. Felix picked up a bowling ball, using it like a weight and pumping his biceps, while Aidan and Toby laughed.

"Hey, dudes!" Theo greeted them, since he was friends with them after all, like most guys were friends with each other, and Damian raised his eyebrows, but there was a smile on his lips at seeing Theo. The smile faded when he noticed the rest of us, Yasmine, Denise and me, standing behind Theo, gawking at him.

"Hey, man, whatcha doing here?" Damian fist bumped Theo, while Felix, Toby and Aidan had stopped messing about with the bowling balls and were looking slightly stunned. Felix was the first to break out of his paralysis, a wide grin spreading across his face as he clasped hands with Theo and slapped him on the back.

"It's Denise's birthday," Theo replied to Damian. His eyes slid over to Aidan, who regarded him cautiously, though they exchanged a small head nod of acknowledgement. There was still some tension between Aidan and Theo since the party. You'd think it would've all dissipated since it had been a month and a half, but Theo wasn't one to let things go easily.