CHAPTER 25

"You look tall." Hajera commented.

I lifted my dress a little.

"Heels." I grinned.

"Honestly, the idea of having a farewell party after the exams

was much better. It would be stress free." Hajera frowned as

she ran her fingers through her hair.

"I know right. Having a party while your exams are just 3

weeks away is a bad idea. Especially when they are Board

exams." I re-applied the pink lip gloss for the second time

since the morning. I was wearing a blush pink long bodycon

gown. Not willingly.

"Fatima, did you cut your hair?" I turned around at Nabiha's

voice.

"Yeah." I smiled.

After half an hour of begging session mummy had finally

allowed me to get a haircut. Not really short though. They

reached a little below my shoulders.

"It looks so good." she whistled as I combed them.

"Honestly, with all that commotion that was going on I

thought we would never get to have a party."

I stopped midway and kept the comb on the table.

Would things be better if she didn't commit suicide?

It had been 4 months since the incident happened. 4 long and

tough months.

She should have given a second chance to life.

They wouldn't have locked her up in the dungeon. For juvenile

crime. Not when she was diagnosed with Schizophrenia.

Maybe, she should have given her life a second chance. Things

would have been better. Or so I thought. Who knows what she

had been facing ever since she was diagnosed with it. Who

was I judge her? I was still not over the truth that she had

committed suicide. It was a huge blow for me. Sure, we were

not friends or something but, the fact that we were once, the

fact that I was her first friend in this school, the fact that she

was diagnosed with Schizophrenia, the fact that she had not

committed murder in her senses was a huge blow for me. I

was hurt and scarred.

I hurriedly wiped the tear that was threatening to spill from

my eye.

"Hey, Hajera can you hold my hand?" I extended my arm

towards her. My knee was still hurting.

"Who told you to wear heels and a gown when your knee is

injured?" she muttered annoyingly as we descended the stairs.

"Because, I knew I'd have you." I smiled at her.

"That is very cute but, only for a minute. "She smiled

sarcastically.

"Aren't we doing that whole ramp walk thing once we are

downstairs? This should be good for practice then."

"I'd rather ramp walk with a dog than with you." she scoffed.

"Are you insinuating that I am worse than a dog? And, people

do ramp walks with dogs."

"And, I'd rather do a ramp walk with officer Badr Al-Din than

with you." I shot back but, immediately regretted after she

shot me a knowing look.

"Girls." she yelled and left my hand. I struggled to hold my

dress.

"Imagine Fatima doing a ramp walk with off..." I muffled her

sound with my hand.

"I'll let you eat my Al-Baik sandwich if you keep quiet." I

whispered and she nodded hurriedly.

There was magic in Al-Baik. I smiled satisfactorily as I

retreated my hand back.

Imagine myself doing ramp walk with him. It would go

something like this.

"Can you hold my hand?" I'd ask him hopefully and he would

turn around and smile at me then he would hold my hand.

Then suddenly he would tighten his grip on my hand and

kick my injured knee.

"It's hurting me." I'd cry with pain.

"Good, I just wanted to check if you actually hurt your knee

or not. Only God knows if you are faking it or it's real." he

would scoff.

"Please. Believe me." I'd plead.

"A criminal always says this in the end. All of the criminals

I've ever caught have said this at the end." he would smile

wickedly.

"But I am not a criminal." I'd look at him with teary eyes.

"Any person who hides the truth and saves the criminal is a

criminal."

"But that was just for a little while then I lost my memory. I

mean fragments of my memory. Remember?" I'd smile

hopefully.

"Only God knows what can be expected from a girl like you."

"What does that mean? Girl like me? What does that mean?"

I'd lose my cool and almost yell at him.

"A shrewd and witch like you. And, did you just yell at me?"

he'd stop in his tracks and shoot me his deathly glare.

"Did you just call me a witch? What did I do...." I'd stop

midway as he'd grab my wrist and drag me somewhere.

"Where are we going?" I'd ask as darkness would envelop us.

"Dungeon. Personal dungeon. Yours and mine."

The sound of his wicked laughter and my scream shook me

out of my trance.

I hurriedly held my dress and descended the last steps

carefully.

I smiled as I entered the ground. A slow romantic song

playing in the background. Our juniors welcomed us and we

walked further in.

"Fatima, how do I look?" I saw Kulsum walk towards me

looking absolutely fabulous.

"So, beautiful after stealing my dress." I smiled sarcastically.

"Please. This dress was practically made for me." she held up

her hand and then twirled around. The navy-blue shimmery

dress sparkled under the sunlight.

"I can't get over how good I look." she smiled to herself.

A little too much self-obsessed. I thought.

"And, I can't get over the fact that I had to wear a pink dress.

Like pink? Seriously?"

Did I mention that I hated the color pink?

I think she felt some sympathy for me so, she put on a polite

smile.

I smiled hopefully as I thought she was going to compliment

me.

"Don't say that. Pink is a nice color."

My smile faded away.

"Yeah right. Pink is a nice color."

"BTW." her smiled turned into a teasing one as she came close

to me.

"I wish that officer was still here." she laughed.

I frowned in confusion.

"Officer Badr Al-Din." she smiled.

I shook my head.

"It's impossible. Besides, I heard he's married." I whispered.

"What?" her face fell.

"Yeah. With like 2 wives." I lied.

"What?" she shrieked.

"These men." she shook her head.

"They think of women as their toys."

I nodded sadly.

"Which is why we need to stay away from men." she walked

away.

I smiled to myself as I saw her walking.

Dear sister. You may snatch my food. You may snatch my

dresses. You may snatch anything and everything. It's fine.

But, officer Badr Al-Din is all mine.

I proudly walked to the seats and sat down.

We spent the rest of the day merrily. Sure, things didn't turn

out well. Sure, there were scarred memories of the past. But

we wouldn't let that dull our shine. We would try to make

happy memories instead of dwelling upon the past ones.

Cause, in the end all you really have are some memories.