Confessions of a Muslim Girl

Chapter 9 - Friends Before, and Friends Still

Salaam! Sorry for the late upload...I've been having a stressful week at school. :/ I honestly tried my best with this chapter so inshallah you will all like it. Vote if you think it's worth it and of course, comment please! Noha's outfit for the first day of school on the side --->

"Give me one reason to, Zak. We were friends before, and we are friends still." -- Noha Ali

Chapter 9

Friends Before, and Friends Still

☻ Noha Ali ☻

            I admit it; I’ve always been one of those “early-to-bed, early-to-rise” people. I’m a disgrace to every American teenager who complains about waking up early for high school, because I secretly love going to and getting home from school early.

            School starts at 7:10, and since Adam and I drive to school, we leave the house at between 6:30 to 6:45. As a first day of school tradition, Adam and I go to Starbucks, so today we’re going to be leaving the house earlier than usual, at 6:30.

            I had set my alarm to 5:45 the previous night. I don’t need forty-five minutes to get ready, but I like how quiet it is in the morning.

            When my alarm goes off – or, rather, screams – I get out of bed and stretch, a sunny smile on my face. The first thing I do after that is push by my curtains to admire the world that’s just walking up outside my window. I can faintly hear the Azan clock downstairs going off, indicating that it is time for Fajr.

            I go to the bathroom to make wadhu and then grab a prayer rug from the basket by the sofa in the kids’ den. Right before putting on my hijab, I pad over to Adam’s door, careful not to make any noise. Rubina and Dawud are both light sleepers and I would hate to wake them up so early.

            I knock gently on Adam’s door and I’m met with no response. I go back to my own room and call Adam from my phone. Again, he doesn’t answer. Sighing, I just march into his room and shake him violently. Adam’s a deep sleeper like I am; I’m not particularly sure if this method will work in effectively getting him to wake up.

            Adam starts stirring in his sleep and I shake him even harder. “Adam, it’s time for Fajr namaz. Get up.” I say.

            Adam throws his arm over his eyes. “Shaddup, Noha. I wanna sleep.”

            I sigh; this is a daily routine. “Adam, seriously. It’s time for Fajr. Get up and pray with me for a few minutes and then you can go back to sleep for another half an hour and I won’t even bother you or squirt you with a water gun like I did last time.”

            Adam springs up out of his bed. The sudden movement causes him to stumble because of his disorientation due to his sleepiness. “I’m up! I swear I’m up!”

            “Great, Adam. Go make wadhu, I’m going to wake up Rubina.” With that, I walk out of Adam’s room and across the room to Rubina’s room.

            Five minutes later, all three of us are ready to pray. Adam is in front of Rubina and me – he will be leading the prayer. With a deep breath, Adam raises his hands and begins in a clear voice.

“Allahu-akbar...”

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