The sun was peering through my curtain. I just wanted to sleep but the sun wouldn't let me! I groan then look down at the digital watch on my night table and the time was 2:37. I must have slept in. Just then I hear a knock on my door. I rush to open the door. It's Tala and Ahmed. They have sad expresions on their faces. "Aw what's wrong guys?" I ask them rubbing their cute little cheeks. Mashallah they're so cute! "We're bored. Can you please take us to the park?" Asked Tala. "Yea we wanna make new friends." Added Ahmed. Oh how could I not?! "Ok i'll take you guys. I'll take you to the neighborhood park so that you can make friends in our neighborhood so that if you make local friends, you can go on playdates all the time cuz' our houses are close. Now go get dressed and have breakfast kay?" I explained to them. I went to the washroom, did my thing, and washed up so that I can pray." I went downstairs and saw my mom in the living room, watching the news. I gave her my salams and told her that I was taking Tala and Ahmed to the park and she said I could as long as I was careful. I get a prayer mat, slip my thobe on and say, "Allahuakbar," to start to pray Subuh 'One of the prayers of the day'. After I finnish praying, I make Tala and Ahmed both tuna fish sandwitches. I make myself a cream cheese bagel. I do NOT like tuna. "Hey Mariam! Where ya going?" Mohamed asks. "To the park with Ahmed and Tala. Wanna come?" I ask him. "No thanks. I'm going with Baba to get school supplies for Tala, you, May and I. By the way, bring your phone with you so that we can video call you to ask what you want." He tells me. I nod and call Tala and Ahmed. They jump up and down, excited to go to the park. When we get there, they head straight to the swings where they see a girl and a boy, twins actually. The boy's name was Khaled and the girl's name was Kanz. They were both 6 years old, so in between Tala and Ahmed. For ten minutes they were playing, peacefully when Ahmed fell and scraped his knee. He started crying out loud. When I heard the scream, I rushed over to him. "Mariam owww! MariamI..hmph..I..hmph..I felllllll! Owyyyyyy!" Just then, three girls in hijab came rushing and helped Ahmed up. One of them, named Dalia, said that she had a mini first aid kit in her fanny pack. She helped me clean Ahmed's cut with spraying alchohol. 'Beeeeeeep! Beeeeep!' My phone rang. It was Mohamed. I picked up. "Hey Mo! Make it quick please! Ahmed fell but he's ok." I told him. In the end I ended up picking a pack of Crazy-Art markers, some gel pens, pencils, ballpoint pens, two binders, a pack of fifty pencil crayons, an Oxford math kit and so much more! I was going to grade ten tomorrow so I'd better be prepared!

Once Ahmed calmed down a bit we all headed home. The girl that cleaned Ahmed's cut's name was Dalia. I felt she was really vigilant. She was also very pretty. Another girl's name was Kareema. She loved art, fashion and was very talkative. Khaled and Kanz were Kareema's little brother and sister. And the last girl's name was Raya. Raya was very kind and sweet. But at times she was shy. We got to know eachother much better as we aproached to my house. We lived in the same neighborhood which was pretty nice. The nice thing is that we were all in the same grade and were all 15 turning 16. I asked them if they wanted to come over for dinner and they said yes! I finally had new friends! I knocked on the door. My mom opened it and hugged Ahmed tightly. She greeted my friends and said that they are more than welcome to stay for dinner and she asked them about their moms. Kareema stayed quiet while Raya and Dalia talked their heads off! Mama! You're embarassing me! I thought and flushed a little. My mom noticed and she told them to head up to my room with me. We went to my room and Raya flopped onto my bed while the other girls sat on the floor, happily. "Your bed's so cozy!" Raya exclaimed. The girls took their Hijabs off, because we were only girls in the room. I took mine off as well. I went to my closet and took out my nail polish box and Kareema's face instantly lit up. She was excited to paint her nails and I could tell. We sat around the nail polish box, picking out our colors. I picked out a dark purple. I think it matches best with my completion. As we painted our nails, we played games and talked about a bunch of things for hours like our hobbies, favorite food and where we were from. Dalia was from Yemen and Raya and Kareema were from Egypt. We also exchanged socials and Raya made a group chat called Girlies for us.We were going to be good friends. And I knew it. "I am glad I found great friends like you." Kareema said. We all agreed. Just then, Ahmed, Khaled, Kanz and Tala burst into my room and Tala screamed, "Mama said come down for dinner!" Kareema gave her siblings a scolding and I gave mine a scolding too. "I'm used to it anyway." She started. I raised a furrowing brow. "Taking care of my siblings...Since my- Never mind." She concluded, sadly. I went over and gave her a hug, knowing what she meant: Her parents had died. Allah yarhamum 'May Allah forgive them.' "Oh you guys wait here. I'll go make sure if my brother or dad is here incase you guys need to put your Hijab on." I told them. They nodded in agreement. I ran down the stairs, my curls bouncing around. I was excited! I made new friends on the second day here in Canada! There was no sign of my dad or brother. "Alsalamualakum," 'Peace be opon you' I started. "Mama can you please let Baba and Mohamed know that my friends are over so if they could knock before coming in that would be great." I concluded. My mom nodded. "By the way, Baba told me to let you know that you're going to Oakville. Oakville High School." My mom told me. I squealed and headed back upstairs. I opend the door, wide eyed. The girls were surprised and laughed a little. "Hey what school are you guys going to?" I asked. "Oakville High School." The girls said, surprisingly in unison. "That means we're going to the same school!" I exclaimed. They exchanged faces then squealed with me. We all joined in a group hug. "Put your Hijabs on guys! This calls for a group pic!" Dalia exclaimed. Kareema took her phone out and posted a picture on Instagram of us in a group hug and captioned it: Hanging out with my girlzzzz! "We should really hed downstairs for dinner. Your mom called us like seven minutes ago." Raya chuckled. We headed downstairs and the scent of rice and chicken wafted through our noses. "Mmmm. Thank you auntie." Kareema said. "Your welcome. Enjoy the food dears." My mom chuckled. We gathered around the table and started eating the rice and chicken. It was delicious! We even started saying things like, "Wow! You've outdone yourself!" And "Oh this is awesome! Mashallah." Just as we started finnishing our dinner up, we heard a knock on the door. "Are you guys all covered up?" I asked. They nodded. I opened the door and Mohamed and my dad showed up carrying heavy bags. I helped carry them to the kitchen. "May! Can you please come help out?!" I screamed to her. She came rushing down the stairs. "Who are they?" She asked me, pointing to my friends. "They're my friends, Dalia, Raya and Kareema. They live around the neighborhood." I answered her. "YOU made FRIENDS on the FIRST day?" She asked, wide eyed. I nodded proudly and said, "YES I made FRIENDS on the FIRST day." Mocking her tone. My dad gave us a stern yet gentle look. I could tell that he didn't want to embarass me enfront of my friends and make a fool out of May (Although she already is a fool). After we finnished putting the bags, I appologized to Raya, Kareema and Dalia for the inturuptions. "We should probably get going." Dalia said taking a look on her watch. "Yes thank you for everything auntie." Raya quietly said. "Well i'll see you guys at school tomorrow." I told them. "Inshallah." Said Dalia. And with that, Kareema held her brother and sister's hand while Raya and Dalia walked away with her and they left the house. I noticed one thing: Mohamed didn't leave his gaze off of Dalia. "Hey Mo come with me." I told him. We headed upstairs and I opened the door to his room. We sat down on his carpet and he handed me a controler while I turned the X Box on. I slapped his hand. He winced. "You were keeping your gaze on Dalia," I started, sing songing. "Why?" I asked sternly. He instantly flushed. I burst into laughter. "Ha...You...No..Haha..WAY!!!" I exclaimed. He slapped me back, on the hand. "What was I supposed to do?! She's just really, really REALLY pretty and polite, ok." He responded. "Just lower your gaze next time kay?" I told him and he nodded. "Now you ready to get beat at Fifa?" He told me competitively. I snickered. Oh it is ON MO! I thought. "Nobody's going to get ready to be beat because Baba said get to bed. We got school tomorrow." May interupted us. "It's only 8:12!" Mohamed whined. "Yea PM. Now hit the sack before I hit YOU." May said. So bossy! I went to the washroom, did my thing then got changed into my PJs. "Goodnight Mama, Baba, Mohamed, Tala, Ahmed and May! I love you all!" They all said goodnight back. 'Beep! beep!' It was my phone. It was Mo texting me.

Lil' Bean Mo

Li'l Bean Mo: Dang! You forgot to get CD's! I bought you Disney Channel ones...Ur WELCOME they're outside ur room in a plastic bag.

I chuckle and turn my phone off. I LOVE you Mo!

- Hey guys! It's me again, MuslimPapi! I hope y'all r enjoying the book! Just letting y'all know that I will be giving mini shoutouts every now and then! First one goes out 2 my sis, ! I loveeee u and thank you sooo much for all your support! Thank you for everybody who's taking the time to read my book too! Love you bebs!