Him & His Muslimah

34

Zoya

"Zoya, guess who's here?"

Her mother walked into her room, a giant smile gracing her features. Zoya and Naimat, who were sitting on the bed with their arms filled with henna, looked up in curiosity.

From behind her mother emerged an overly enthusiastic young lady wearing a pink hijab paired with a black abaya. She rushed over to the bed with her arms wide open.

"Amira!"

Zoya sprung up from the bed almost forgetting the wet designs on her arms ready to embrace her beloved cousin.

"Zoya you have henna on yourself!" Naimat's reflexes kicked in and she managed to pull Zoya back without smudging her own masterpiece. Zoya's mother shook her head at her daughter's antics and left the room to check on the rest of their relatives who would be staying over the night before Zoya's wedding.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," Zoya giggled at her own stupidity. "It's so good to see you after so long Amira! I can't believe you're finally here." Amira was Zoya's second best friend. She was Zoya's only cousin who happened to be of a similar age out of her many relatives.

This was a result of Zoya's mother being the youngest out of six and her having many older cousins. Since Zoya didn't have a sister of her own and Amira had no other siblings, they had been like sisters since birth with Amira just being a year older. They'd all lived together in a huge family house until the age of ten but late, work caused them all to gradually move to separate states.

Zoya would only get to meet Amira and her other cousins once a year on Eid-ul-Fitr and they always had an annual week-long stay over which would be the highlight of each Eid. Now Amira was here before Eid and Zoya couldn't have been happier.

"I'm so happy to be here Zoe. I can't believe you're getting married!" Amira exclaimed taking off her abaya and hijab as there were only females in the house. "I can't believe it either, Zoe's getting married before the both of us who knew it would be this way."

Naimat was like a part of the family, so she had gotten close with Amira throughout the years. The three of them would always joke about how Amira was the most likely to get married the earliest however the tables had turned.

"I know right, I'm still out here waiting for the right guy and you both have already found your Prince Charming. I heard they're both best friends, do they happen to have a third best friend who you could link me up with?" Amira winked at the blushing girls.

"They do have a third best friend..." Naimat glanced at Zoya who picked up where she was going with this and smiled cheekily.

"Really? Will he be at the wedding?" Amira's eyebrows perked in interest. If there was a third best friend, surely he would be like them in nature and maybe she could also find the right guy for herself.

"Of course he will, he is Zoya's brother after all," Naimat replied in between of fits of giggle. Zoya tried her best to hold back her laughter.

Amira's excitement died down as her face reddened. Zoya's brother. Wasn't it Bila-

"No!" She covered her face in embarrassment, groaning at her friends. She'd completely forgotten Bilal was the third best friend. Her own cousin. "You got me Naimat. Shut up!"

Amira's blush deepened with a fluttering sensation in her body. Zoya cried out into fits of laughter while poor Amira sat unsettled. Amira bit her lower lip, trying to contain herself. Amira's first ever crush was Bilal and even though she tried very hard to get over him, whenever she visited Zoya, she found her heart fluttering for a certain someone in the room.