Chapter 9

“Get back in here, now!” Shoug said walking after me

“Or what?” I said

“Don’t test my temper, Deema” She said “God, youre so childish. You walk out of the house every single time we argue. Such a drama queen, tara wayd t7ben elshow entay”

“The only problem I have is you. Ou etha ana childish entay shnu? You lied about Fahad being your boyfriend then you lied to Fahad and I just so I cant go out with him, who the hell does that? You need therapy!” I said rolling my eyes

“That’s so unfair, it was a tiny lie. Beside youre still going to go out with him” She said

“A lie is a lie” I said

“For gods sake, can you stop walking so fast for just a minute, t3abt ou ryule gam t3wrne” Shoug said

“Wallah ma7ad galech l7gene, lesh ma g3dtay belbait” I said and started walking even faster

I was tired myself but I cant stop 3shan ma tru7 elhaiba ou chethe::

“Wain ray7a?” Shoug said “e7na a9lan wain?” She said looking around

“That’s a very good question..” I said, ana makent adre wen ray7a bas magdar agul ham 3ashan elhaiba::

I looked around for hints that could show me where we are, bas maku! So I kept walking shasawe ba3ad

“Deemah wallah jad tara awal mara ashuf hal share3” She said

“Abaih mn9jch? I come here almost everyday, its amazing here! So beautiful and peaceful..” I said, arage3 7ag nafse wla the place was nowhere near beautiful and peaceful, elmukan shuftah bas tyeb elham

“Shnu elamazing feh, it’s a tiny ally filled with crappy apartments” She said

I give up. Jad madre e7na wain, wla adre wen ray7en, ou elwath3 ykhare3.

“Umm Shoug? Tethakrain e7na mn wain yeena?” I asked

“ha? La laish?... OH MY GOD. WE ARE LOST. WE ARE, ARENT WE? SHIT SHIT SHIT WHY DID I EVER FOLLOW YOU. WE’RE ALONE AND LOST IN A CREEPY ALLY AND WE’RE GONNA DIE. ALLAH YAKHTHECH OU YAKHTHNE WEYACH LAANE SMA3T KALAMECH” Shoug started panicking

“Oula oula shd3wa shfech, 3ade, we’ll find a way to get back. W tgulen ana ele a7b elshow ou ana drama queen, shufay nafsch belawal” I rolled my eyes

“CHAB ENTAY WLA KELMA, KELAA MENECH. FE WA7DA TAMSHE OU MATADRE EHYA WAIN RAY7A?” she shouted at me

“Shh la t9arkhen mu nag9en y6l3unlna nas, w ana shdrane knt mndamja weyach entay mnrfztne ou lesh ma entay rakaztay? Shlon tl7gen wa7da ou matshufen e7na wain ou mn wain yaina. Don’t blame it all on me!” I said

“Ymkn etha mshaina ba3ad shwy ra7 nru7 mukan n3rfa aw shay chethe?” I suggested

“la la 7abebte 3ashan nba3ed akthar mn chethe? Beside ana 3gub elyom mara7 asma3 kalamech law shnu” She said crossing her arms

“Enzain do you have your phone? We can try calling someone?” I asked

“La, 6la3t bsr3a 3ashan al7g 3alech. Biggest mistake of my life” She said

“Didn’t you take yours?” She asked

“Embala bas mafeh sha7an” I said

“Ma menech fayda wallah bas tyebele elmashakel ou 3war elras, ou now im gonna die because of you” She complained

“sktay bas sktay. Okay ana agulch, nkml seeda lema nlage a café wla ay shay ou nguluhm nabe charger. Ou etha ma lgaina nred hne, shraych?” I suggested

“La la ana agul khalena hne leen allah yfrjha ou nshuf a7ad ygdar yrdna elbait” She said

“Wentay bay3a nafsch btrkben weya ay a7ad tlgenah belshar3? Ou etha ma ya a7ad a9lan? Bng3ad hne le meta? Shdrach ena hal apartments mu mahjuren? Btg3den, ge3day bru7ch ana baru7 adwr charger” I said

“Testhblain? Shaku mahjuren?” She said

“shayfa a7ad hne? 9arlne like 15 minutes hne ou wla a7ad mar wla ay shay! elmuhim ana baru7 wentay bel6agag g3day ou shufay shbe9er fech” I started walking

“Hayy laa, we should stick together. Two is better than one, 9a7?” She said

“B9ra7a? ana mu farga weyay, you wouldn’t be much help if anything happened anyway” I said

“Oh my god, what if we never find anything and we end up dying on the streets because of dehydration? That is not how I want to die!” She said

“l7mdela welsheker tara we’re lost in London mu b ne9 el9a7ra, we’ll probably find a starbucks within the next 5 minutes, magul ela allah ykmlch b 3glch” I said

And we did.

After 5-10 minutes of walking we found a café, not starbucks but still, they all make coffee.

“Hi! I don’t want to sound weird or creepy but you have an iPhone right? Yes you do. Can I please use your charger?” I said to the girl working at the counter. Dasha b quwa, huh? 7atan ma khalaitha ttkalam::

“How the hell did you know I have an iphone?” The counter girl said looking creeped out

“Saw you using it when we walked in” I said

“Oh. Well you can use it only if you buy something first” She said

“Fair enough, I want one caramel mochiatto and.. Shoug shnu taben” I said

“ayshay 3ade. Umm, 3ndch flus?” Shoug asked

I checked my pockets and.. shit

“La, entay 3ndch?” I said

“LAA!” She yelled which made everyone turn to look at us

“ftha7tenah! Khala9 ana ra7 at9araf” I said

“Bashuf shbtsawen” She said

“Hey wanna hear a little funny, a bit sad story?” I said to the girl at the counter and quickly continued on before she spoke “Sure you do. There were two girls…” And I told her about what happened.

7awalt aksr kha6rha b ayshay, agulaha ena we’re lost, ou our parents are 7-8 hours away by plane, ou how we’re constantly arguing ou mn hal kalam elfathe..

laman khala9t the girl was looking at me like ‘shtaben y3ne’

“That was a really long story” she said

“I know right?” I said

“Look, its been a really long day for me. I worked for 4 hours and im tired as fuck. So please make this easier for both me and you and tell me what the hell do you want from me?” The girl at the counter said

“Yes, Deemah. Tell her what you want” Shoug said

“Exactly. Its been such a long, tiring day. And guess what? The girls from the story are her and I. I’m the beautiful smart girl, and shes the ugly stupid one, obviously. So PLEASE PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR CHARGER FOR JUST 5 MINUTES I PROMISE ILL GIVE IT BACK. I JUST WANT TO GO HOME. AND DON’T TELL ME TO BUY SOMETHING BECAUSE WE’RE BOTH BROKE AS SHIT” I desperately said.

Never thought id beg someone like this for a charger

“Ill give you the charger” She said

“THANK YOU SO MUCH JAD ALLAH YKHALECH L AHLECH OU YWAFGECH B DNYTCH” I said

“Ma tfham 3arabe ya ghbya” Shoug said

“BUT in return, I want her bracelet” Counter girl said

“Done” I said the same time shoug said “No way”

“Haaaa? Embalaa yala chab ou 3a6eha eyah, its hers now khala9” I said

“No way. No! Just no! It’s a cartier bracelet. Im not just going to hand it to her in exchange for a cheap 5 dollar charger” Shoug shook her head

“yalla 3ad shoug la t9eren sakhefa. Im tired and I want to go home, beside, Im going out later, y3ne mta yamdene albs ou chethe?” I said

“Hey” a guy said

athnaina tana7na. mu waktah keleeshhh. Yay yabe ysulf! Fathee wallahh

“I don’t mean to sound creepy but I accidently overheard you guys talking. I have a charger that you can use, if you want” He said ou jad I felt so guilty thlamtah elmasken yabe ysa3eed

“OH MY GOD YEES PLEASEE” Shoug said

“Here” he said and handed us the charger

“AMBEE FINALLY WAY THANKYOU SO MUCH. SHOFAYY ELNAS ELSAN3A A7SAN MNCH G6E3A TTSHARA6” She said to the counter girl

“7ayach, deraw balkm elmara elyaya” He said

ana ou shoug tana7na. FASHLAAAAA 6LAA3 KUWAITI FHAAM KLAMNAAA

“Umm.. jdjdn” Shoug mumbled madre shkharbe6at she was just as shocked as me. SHAKLA KLSH MU KUWAITI

After my phone charged, I called Lama

“GHEBYA ENTAY? SHLON TTHE3EN? ENZAIN ENTAY WAIN AL7EN?” Lama yelled at me over the phone

“Umm madre” I said

“YARABE 3ALAICH BTYANENENE WALAH” She yelled more

“Shasawe ya3ne! shdrane ana wain! Law adre chan ma dgait 3alaich!” I said

“Khala9 dzele el location bel whatsapp ou al7en ayee” She said

“Youre a life-saver I love you wallah” I said

“Gha9ben 3anch a9lan” she said and hung up the phone 

Chapter 8

“WAKE UP” A voice yelled at me, but I ignored it

“DEEMA YALLA WAKE UP”

“GET THE HELL OUT, SHOUG” I yelled from under my blanket

“STOP BEING SO LAZY AND GET UP” Shoug yelled at me

“NO” I yelled back

“La t9eren de3la yalla gumay khal9ene!”

“Mabe, I want to spend the whole day in bed away from everyone” I said

“Except for me, right?” she said

“ESPECIALLY YOU NOW GET OUT OF MY ROOM” I yelled at her

“we3 youre the worst sister ever. Allah belane fech” She said

“I can live with being that” I said

“yalla 3ad, gumay” she whined

“lesh shtaben fene?”I said finally removing the blanket and looking at her

“Abe a6la3” she said

“Enzain? 6l3ay ana shaku?” I said rolling my eyes at her

“Maa7b a6la3 bru7e” she said

“Ou khl9aw elawadm? Maku ghere eb London kelha? Dawrelech ay a7ad yru7 weyach” I said

“9adgene mu 7uban fech, bas everyones busy. Yalla please. Beside you haven’t been outside the house in so long you probably miss being outside, since you were grounded and all” Shoug said

“Yeah sure” I said and got out of bed and with a sigh I asked, “Where are we going to?”

--

“Selfridges? Really? Sa3a t7nen ou t6ren akher shay Selfridges? 3bale 3ndch salfa btwadene mukan b3eed. Wallah law yaya bru7ch wayd abrak” I huffed

“Deema chub. Seriously just keep your mouth shut the whole time we’re in there, okay? tara yaybtch bas laana ma7b aru7 bru7e wallah”

“3shtw, mat7b tru7 bru7ha, shbe9er y3ne?” I rolled my eyes at her

“Mara7 ard 3lech” shoug said not looking at me “a7san” I said

And that was how it went, we were arguing the whole time we were in Selfridges. And Shoug kept promising that she wont go out with me ever again

“Youre so embarrassing!” She said

“Okay 3yal la takhthene weyach mara thanya” I said

“Hahahaa mengal ene bakhthch?” She fake laughed

“Is that Fahad? What is he doing here?” She said looking out the window, into our house.

The taxi parked and Shoug paid

“He lives next door” I stated

“Okay, bas he’s in our backyard” She said

“He’s probably here for, bsr3a yalla run to your boyfriend” I sarcastically said

“Madre maybe he is” she was actually thinking about it. I almost slapped her but stopped myself

“Heyy!” She said to him as soon as she got out of the car

“Hey. Hey Deema” He said smiling

“How are you?” Shoug asked

“Im great” He answered

I ignored both of them and walked toward the house

“Where are you going!” Fahad called after me

“Shrayk y3ne? bru7 dakhl” I said

“Wait! Did you have lunch?” Why the hell was he asking me this?

“Umm no” I said

“Well then theres this restaurant that has amazing burgers, I was wondering if you wanted to go with me?” he asked

“That’s nice of you, but mom already made lunch, she cant go with you” Shoug answered before me.

“But mom cant cook” I said confused

“But she did, and she asked me to make sure that we both show up for lunch, she even made pasta” Shoug said

“Well, I’m going with Fahad” I said. She’s lying and I know it. My mom never cooks why would she start now?

“Mu lazm elyum” Fahad awkwardly said rubbing the back of his neck

“Yalla Deema, come inside.” Shoug nagged

“If youre free tonight, we can go out for dinner?” he asked

“I am, pick me up at 8” I said and went inside

“what the hell deema!” Shoug yelled at me

“What?”

“I cant believe you asked him out!” she said

“First of all, he asked me out for burgers. Second, its not like theres anything going out between you two, I honestly don’t know why youre angry” I calmly said

“He’s my boyfriend and you know that” she said

“I cant believe you! Youre still lying about this! Look, I know nothing is going on between you two so stop lying” I told her, she stared at me for a minute then said “6lbelech shay taklenah mafe ghada”

“Mu ome msawya pasta?” I said

“Mom went back to Kuwait this morning”

ATHBA7HAA? I SHOULD KILL HER SERIOUSLY.

“Youre a bitch. Jad allah y3ench 3ala nafsch” and walked out of the house.

--
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Chapter 7

I felt like breaking something .
I wanted so badly to throw something against the wall and let it shatter.
I was so angry, angry with Fahad for making me believe that we could happen, with Shoug for loving him and stealing him from me, but she cant steal something from me if it never was mine, I guess.
I was mostly angry with myself, for believing him, for loving him.
Why didn’t I fall for someone else? Anyone else would’ve been better.
But I didn’t fall for someone else, I fell for Fahad and he fell for Shoug. Which is understandable, he cant control who he loves, and even if he could control his emotions, he probably would still be in love with Shoug. She’s much prettier; if I were him I would choose her too.
I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself, my hands were slightly shaking.
It was completely and utterly stupid, this is so pathetic.
He chose her, not you, get over it. He doesn’t deserve all of this; the whole situation doesn’t deserve this.
 --
I closed my eyes for a brief second then walked out of the room, looking for my mom and found her in her room, talking on the phone with someone.
“Am I ungrounded, yet?” I asked after she hanged up. I wanted to go out, badly.
 “No” she said not even looking up from her phone
“But I have to go to Lama’s” I said
“No” she said again
“Its urgent!” I said
“Deema, you’re not getting out of this house until you learn from your mistakes” She said
“You’re taking this way too seriously, I feel like I’m suffocating. We’re in London for god’s sake, I want to go out and enjoy my time here! But you wont let even me get out of the house! Its unfair” I complained throwing my arms in the air
“You’re still grounded, end of discussion. Beside its late, so even if you weren’t grounded I wouldnt let you go out at this time”
“I hate you, I hate each and every single member of this awful family,” I said, and it sounded a bit melodramatic even to me.
“Whatever, as long as you do it silently in your room” She said
I groaned and walked back to my room. Worst. Summer. Vacation. Ever.
 Deema: what are you doing today?
I texted Ryan.
Ryan: working:(
Deema: when does your shift end?
Ryan: late, too late to do anything actually fun at least.
Deema: :( Good luck.
Lama was too scared to go out at night. Which is stupid, what would happen?
So I grabbed my phone and went out alone, through the front door this time-I didn’t care enough if my family saw me going out, what would they do?
I had no idea where I was going, I just kept walking forward.
“What’s a pretty lady like you doing out here at such a time” I heard a voice say, I froze in my place and my heart stopped for a second.
Run the voice in my head told me, and I was about to when a hand grabbed my arm and urged me to turn.
‘I SHOULDVE LISTENED TO LAMA AND STAYED AT HOME. THIS IS WHAT I GET FOR BREAKING THE RULES. I WILL DIE. IM NOT READY TO DIE. SHIT’ my mind was racing with thoughts.
I came face to face with Fahad, and as soon as he saw my face he started laughing.
“Damn you, Fahad, you almost gave me a heart attack!” I said pushing his shoulder, a bit too forcefully but he didn’t seem phased, he just kept laughing, and eventually I laughed, just a bit, too.
“Are you stalking me? Or are you just always out on the streets?” I said raising an eyebrow at him
“Im stalking you” he said grinning
“I knew it!” I jokingly said
“No, I just always catch you going out of the house, and something makes me go out after you.”
“But seriously,” he said “What are you doing out here at such a time? Don’t you know what happens to beautiful women like yourself who are naïve enough to go out unguarded at night?” then he leaned in close enough that I could feel his breath on my cheek.
“It rhymes with grape” he whispered, then pulled away and grinned like a little boy.
I was blushing like crazy, I tried to stop myself but how the hell do you stop yourself from blushing? I started laughing, hard.
“I love your laugh” he smiled
“Thank you” I said I was blushing even harder now.
“I also love how red your face turns when you blush” he said
“Stop!” I said turning away to hide how awfully red my face probably was
“Youre beautiful” he suddenly said very seriously.
For less than a second I though ‘he might actually like me back’  but then I remembered that he doesn’t, and that he loved and is currently in a relationship with Shoug, my sister.
“Careful. What if your girlfriend hears? We don’t want her to misunderstand anything, do we?” I said suddenly not feeling like laughing.
“Girlfriend? What are you talking about?” he asked, he seemed genuinely confused
“You know exactly what I’m talking about” I said
“I know nothing about what you’re talking about” he said furrowing his eyebrows
“Shoug already told me, you don’t have to lie,” I said “I already know that you guys are together”
“What?!” he shouted
“Shhh! La7ad yesme3ek! Etha shafatne ome, bt3a9eb!” I said walking, trying to keep as much distance between the house and I.
“Deema what the hell are you saying! I’m not in a relationship with Shoug! I’m not in a relationship with anyone!” He said.
“Really?” I said looking him in the eye
“Yes, really. I promise Deema, you’ve got to believe me,” he said looking sincere
“Why would Shoug lie to me?” I said furrowing my eyebrows. I was confused; I didn’t know what to believe.
“I have no idea” he said
“She said that she told you she liked you a lot, and you told her that you feel the same way” I said
“She told me that she likes talking to me, and it was the polite thing to say that I like talking to her too,” he said shrugging
I groaned, frustrated with both him and Shoug.
“I’m done talking about Shoug, okay? I’m out here to clear my mind and you’re only making me more confused!” I said a bit too loud
“So unless youre going to shut up about that lying-two-faced-twat, then get the hell away from me!” I continued then walked away, he kept following me though “Twat? Really Deema?” Fahad said laughing
“Why do you keep laughing at me?” I said my lips shaping into a small smile.
“Not laughing at you, but more of laughing because of you?” He said
“Oh, that makes me feel much better” I said nudging his arm
“I forgot to ask you, where were you going?” He asked me
“I don’t know, just wanted to get out”
“But aren’t you grounded?” he asked
“Umm, well, im fine as long as no one finds out” I said
“That’s my girl” he grinned at me
-

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Chapter 6

I sat down on one of the swings of the rusty, old swing set and kicked off, swinging as high as I can, the feeling of the fresh air blowing my hair into disarray was beautiful-but probably didn’t look so beautiful.

 I felt 10 years younger. 

Flashbacks rushed through my head, from when Shoug and I used to sit here and would compete over who could swing the highest, she always won, until one day I did and she smiled and said “I let you win” I laughed and said “Don’t be a sore loser”

Mom would call us back into the house as soon as the sun starts to set down and would make us lemonade, dad would tell us stories about his childhood while we waited for the lemonade to finish. 

But these days are over, there are no stories left to tell, Dad is barely around and Shoug thinks she’s too old for the swing set but I still swing here every once in a while.

I closed my eye, taking in the feeling, wishing that I could go back in time and re-live these amazing moments,
When I opened my eyes I was taken back by Fahad’s presence, he was leaning against the skeleton of the swing set and smiling at me.
“I didn't know you were here” I said
“Hello to you, too” he said laughing
“Hi” I said blushing
“Hi” he said
“Hi” I said, then realized that I’ve already said that, I hope he didn’t notice
“You already said that” well I guess he did
“I know” I said blushing again. God Im embarrassing!
“I haven’t seen you in a while, where have you been?” he asked sitting on the swing next to the one I was sitting on
“Locked in there,” I said pointing at the house “I was grounded, actually I still am”
“Typical” he said laughing
“Don’t laugh at my misery” I playfully glared at him
“Please accept my apologies,” he said and bowed
“I’ll think about it”

The sound of the music that was blaring through my iPhone was the only thing you can hear.

Neither one of us said anything for a minute, and it was getting awkward, i was trying to squeeze out something to say to fill the silence when Fahad spoke
“So you’re off to collage in 3 months” he said

Really? thats what we're going to talk about?
“Please don’t remind me, I’m already so nervous but very excited, is that weird?” I said
“Not at all, but you don’t have anything to be nervous about, which collage are you going to?”
“Some collage around here” I said
“Oh! I thought you were going to study in Kuwait,” He said
“You thought wrong” I said
“Why?” he said
“I don’t know, I like being here and I just want to get away from everyone back in Kuwait for a while.” I said looking down.
“Is everything okay?” he asked
“Sure” I said and we both looked up as we heard a car pull up. Shoug made her way out of the taxi and immediately lit up when she saw Fahad.
“Fahad! Hi!” she said making her way to where we were sitting after paying the taxi driver and pulling out a lot of bags out from the car.
“Hey” Fahad said, and suddenly I felt like I third wheel.
I was standing up to make my way back into the house when I heard her ask “What were you guys doing”
Fahad said “Nothing, where were you?” and she went on about her wonderful day in the mall with her wonderful friends and the wonderful clothes she bought from the wonderful stores she went into.But all I heard was nothing, because that’s what we are, we are nothing, and that’s what I mean to him nothingIt’s a mixture of stupid and awful how much little words can hurt.

I walked back to the house without looking back, scared of what I'd see if I did.


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