The Challenges of Superficiality

Daniya's POV

There was a distant humming at the back of my head that made me want to snuggle into my pillows and smother the blanket over my head.

Despite being weirdly soothing, it was getting increasingly incessant and loud.

Throwing my pillow in the direction of the sound I buried my face into my blanket. But the warm respite didn't last long as I I felt a whoosh of cold air bite at my feet, making me jolt awake.

"Don't force me to splash cold water on you Daniya, I swear to god I won't care if you come down with a cold."

Groaning as my mind registered her words, I curler up on the bed " Just a few minutes I promise." I drawled out sleepily.

"Get out of bed you absolute sloth, there is a goddamn cockroach on your bed!" a hysterical voice screamed. The jarring sounds scratched against my eardrums, making me wince in my sensitive freshly awake state.

As my sleep filled brain registered what she said, goosebumps erupted all across my arm. The realisation triggered a surge of adrenaline in my blood, as I attempted to jump out of bed to get as far away from the monster as possible.

But instead of touching the ground gracefully, in my panic, my foot wrapped around the blankets, leaving my dangling headfirst towards the ground.

With a sickeningly loud thud that reverbated in my head, I landed on the plush carpet. Sitting up I looked around the room in a panic, my eyes darting across the room frantically "Where is it? Where is it Gauhar?"

"So you're finally awake now." She observed grinning at me as she pointed out the obvious.

"C'mon let's get you on your feet shall we?" She offered her hand to me her dark eyes shining in amusement.

Wasn't it just titillating to be a source of mirth to your best friend right at the peak of dawn? I contemplated the prudence throwing her across the room as I grabbed her hand and pulled myself up.

Running a hand through my tangled curls, I curbed my violent thiughts. I was sure that my hosts wouldn't appreciate me breaking their daughter's bones early in the morning.

"Honestly Dani, sometimes I feel bad for your husband. Poor chap will have to wake up to this" she looked me up and down with a sad expression "I don't think it's good for your heart to get a jumpscare every time you wake up."

I narrowed my eyes at her, my brain still in high panic mode as I hissed at her through my teeth "I can't imagine why I befriended you. It was definitely a cursed day when I thought attaching myself to your irritating arse was a good idea."

Smirking at me she ruffled my sleep tangled hair "Don't worry Dani, my love for you will stay the same even if you look homeless. I know you dig the effortlessly dirty look but at least wipe the drool off your cheek."

"Will you stop acting like an insufferable twat for a minute and focus on the issue at hand?" I groaned as I hastily wiped the dried drool with the back of my hand.

My eyes darted around the room, frantically looking around for the signs of any disgusting brown moving thing. "I swear Gauhar, if that goddamned cockroach gets anywhere near me, I am going to pass away and then the entire blame of my death would be on your head."

"There would be no deaths my darling Dani" she smiled at me sweetly. Had I not known that it was the same saccharine smile many clueless people fell prey to before nursing a broken nose, I would have melted at its prettiness.

Not giving me time to react she went on "Because habibti there are no cockroaches here, I was afraid that you had travelled to the heavenly realm since you were sleeping like the dead. But imagine my relief when you jumped out of your bed, hearty and healthy when I announced that there was a cockroach there."

Looping her arm with mine she sighed deeply, "I am always grateful for your fear of those cute little creepy crawly insects, always manages to get you to resurrect from the dead."

Her smug expression made me want to strangle her. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. Starting the day by killing someone would definitely ruin my entire day, and I couldn't afford it getting any worse.

"You mean to say that you were lying to me?" I asked slowly, trying to keep my voice under control. I clenched my teeth and paced around the room, the blood pounding in my head rang in my ears. A sharp twinge of pain made me wince, as my forehead throbbed from the impact of the fall.

Biting her bottom lip she silently nodded her solemn expression doing nothing to hide the twinkle in her dark eyes. Exasperated with her antics, I took a deep breath to calm my heart down before walking over to her. As I reached towards my bedside table to get my clip, Gauhar immediately stepped away.

I couldn't help but grin at her as I put my hair haphazardly up in a pile over my head. She definitely saw the murderous glint in my eyes and was wise enough to dodge away from me.

"I have no idea why you have that annoyingly ungrateful expression on your face, but I think you should thank me for waking you up" she raised a finely shaped thick eyebrow at me, her hands on her hips as she stood a safe distance away from me.

"And why should I do that?" I enquired through gritted teeth. I was quickly finding the idea of upending an entire bottle of salt in her breakfast increasingly appealing.

She started dragging me towards the door as I put a hijab on my head and quickly pulled my hoodie over my head "Where are you taking me you inconsiderate savage? I can't go down like this, I didn't even wash my face for god's sake!"

Waving my concerns away with her hand she continued pulling me towards the door "Trust me, you won't regret trusting me on this one Dani. Just brush your teeth and splash some water on your face."

I eyed her warily as her words rang in my head, an uncomfortable feeling of deja vu washing over me. It was specifically when Gauhar put on her innocent act that I knew I had to be wary of what's going to happen next.

Suddenly stopping in her tracks, she turned to face me "You always look good anyways and who do you even want to look good for over here?"

"Freshen up quickly Dani, I can't wait long." Grabbing me by my shoulders she roughly pushed me into the bathroom. As I got done with getting rid of the sleep in my eyes and my morning breath, I was heralded with incessant banging from the monster waiting on the other side of the door. As I pulled the door open, she stumbled in her dark eyes looking at me accusingly.

"I'd asked you to make it quick."

"And since when have I started to obey your commands Miss Siddique?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

Grabbing my hand she pulled me out of the room "You're right, I completely forgot what a disagreeable wench you could be right after you wake up."

"If you were expecting my compliance, I suggest that you don't attempt to kill me with a heart attack-inducing scare early in the morning." I advised her, earning myself an eye roll.

"Firstly, it is almost afternoon, so don't harbour the delusion that you have woken up 'early in the morning'" She air quoted the last words "And I wanted you to see something that I was afraid you'd miss if you woke up any later."

"Yes, about that, what is it that you're so pumped up to show me." I enquired as I stumbled down the steps behind her.

Ignoring my question she continued as if I had never spoken "I warn you though Dani, you'll have to look for your sustenance yourself because I don't think we'd get any edible breakfast this morning."

My questions died in my throat as my confusion cleared when we reached the kitchen. It should be illegal for a place to be so chaotic in the morning. What happened to having good old cereal and some warm coffee for breakfast ?

The two women in the house were seated on the dining table, delegating orders like Gordon Ramsay would on his shows. The recipient of their ministrations was wearing an apron stained with yellow and red marks, signifying his efforts in the battle he was waging in the kitchen.

His slightly curly hair was streaked with flour as if he had ran his dirty hands through them. His thick eyebrows that were a lot less shapely than Gauhar's, were scrunched up in concentration as he focussed on working with the dough on the counter. And by the looks of it, failing spectacularly at it as the filling leaked out as he rolled it out.

"I told you it was worth it didn't I?" the smug brat beside me asked, nudging me with her shoulder.

It took all my mental prowess to stop myself from thinking about how cute he looked with the flour stained cheeks and intense concentration on his face. Which made it impossible for me to focus on anything my annoying best friend was saying.

"You can't do a worse job if you tried Muqeet, Just get away from the dough before you make it entirely inedible." His mother instructed him in a sharp tone, earning a nod from my mother who was watching the man struggle, her eyes shining with amusement and affection.

"It's already messed up mama, it can only get better from here." His words pulled a derisive snicker out of Gauhar who was filling her bowl with milk and cereal, ignoring her he continued "And how am I supposed to learn if I don't fu-" abruptly cutting himself off he shook his head as he noticed the death glare that was daring him to complete what he was saying "I can't always be perfect now can I?"

His words caused me to involuntarily roll my eyes, it always amazed me how cocky a person could be despite messing up so bad. It really was a talent to be able to overlook your flaws so well "I can think about a hundred and twelve instances where I saw you royally mess up what you were doing."

Pushing a spoonful of cereal into her mouth Gauhar nodded vigorously.

Pausing his assault on the dough he looked up at me with amusement in his cocoa eyes "looks like you've been keeping count Daniya" his lips tipped up in a smirk "I'm flattered."

Ignoring the irritating flutter in my stomach I scrambled to think of a witty response that would shut him up. He was struggling to make simple- whatever that was- and he was clearly dumb to be unable to get something as easy as that right. And it was clear that I should be disgusted by him, with his stained clothes and messy hair, but goddammit if I didn't find that smug face of his attractive.

Why was I such a superficial idiot?

"It's not that difficult to keep track of the dumb shiet you do bro, you are a pompous arse that shows off everything he does. I'm sure everyone in a ten meter radius knows about the crap you get to." My love, my saviour Gauhar swooped in, efficiently shutting her brother up and saving me from being embarrassed in front of the cocky twat.

"Daniya hayati, come here and help Muqeet would you? He woke up early in the morning to give us a break from working in the kitchen by making some aloo parathas, but the lovely boy is struggling with it." My mom's eyes were practically shining as she watched him, I'm sure she would have stars in her eyes if we were in a cartoon.