***
Zeenat's pov
After what felt like years I got to the airport in London.
"Wow I'm here" I said as I looked around. There sure are a lot of white people here, there were black people and Latinx too.
"Here we go" I said excitedly as I made my way out of the airport to get a cab to my destination. I looked at my phone to check the directions I had written on my phone earlier so I don't get lost.
"Taxi?" I asked for confirmation as I gestured to a taxi nearby. He stopped in front of me so I guess I was right.
He helped put my luggage in the car boot as I entered the back of the Taxi. I told him my destination and the journey began.
After a while, we got to my destination and I alighted. I paid the Taxi driver in pounds. I changed the currency from naira to pounds two days ago. Pounds. Feels so nice to say that.
"Ahhh" I heard a female voice scream from the room supposed to be mine. I opened the door and saw a tall young lady with melanin skin and white braids. Her eyes were blue like the Pacific Ocean. Hmm weird, she must be wearing contacts.
"Hi you must be Seenat my roommate" she said as she extended her hand for a shake. I looked at her with suspicion, she didn't seem like a college student or a responsible one at that with the cloth she was wearing. Ripped jean trousers with an armless tank top barely reaching above her navel. Her tattoo looked fierce just a bit above her bosom. I could bet my scholarship that she had her nipple pierced too.
"Auzubillah minashaitan nirajeem" I said under my breath.
"I am Zeenat Abdul, who are you?" I retorted.
"Oh, my bad" she said withdrawing her hand as I did not reciprocate. I could see the embarrassment in her eyes but my mom had warned me about girls like her.
The rebellious girl who does nothing more than find trouble and now she is my roommate.
I settled in a few hours later and I was so exhausted. The excitement in me didn't allow me to rest after the flight, I just had to unpack my things too. I stood by the door and viewed my side of the room, I was happy with how things were perfectly in place. My eyes wandered to my roommate's side and it wasn't bad either except for a poster of a Vampire hanging just on top of her bed. The framed picture on top of her bedside table caught my eye, it was a picture of her and two middle-aged white people. She looked so happy and carefree. Suddenly I felt sick to my stomach for how I acted towards her earlier. She was only being friendly and I got defensive.
"Those are my parents" she said as she walked up behind me. I turned and saw her smiling. I was mean to her and she still smiled at me? I should get to know her at least and we can't always judge a book by its cover.
"They look beautiful" I said answered
"Thanks, Zeenat" she said. Zeenat. She said my name correctly and that brought a smile to my face. She had an accent even though she was black, must be the white parents she has and the environment she grew up in.
"I'm so sorry for how I acted earlier, I'm not used to seeing people different from me" I said bluntly. It was the truth, I went to a Muslim school and lived in an estate where there were only a few Christians. I was in my bubble.
"Oh no, I'm not offended. I do hope though that we become friends" she said.
"Sounds good...?" I said also hinting for her to tell me her name.
"Amira, my name is Amira Stone" she said as she curtsied jokingly.
"Nice to meet you ma'am" I said smiling brightly. This girl is fun, I thought to myself.
"You must be hungry, I'm meeting a few friends to grab a bite. Do you care to join?" She asked
"Yes please, I'm starving" I said happily.
I freshened up, changed my clothes and we were good to go. We took an uber to the place we were headed to. As the car drove by I couldn't help but admire the buildings and beautiful displays. What a sight to see.
"We're here" Amira said as the uber slowed down. I wanted to pay but she stopped me and said it was her treat. She's nice, I thought.
We entered the place which seemed to be a fast-food restaurant. I took a deep breath and I perceived the smell of coffee. Yum, I said to myself.
Amira waved at a group of people sitting by the side of the window. Must be her friends. We went over to join them.
"Hi guys" she said as she exchanged pleasantries.
"This is Zeenat, she's a new student here too. Zeenat meet June, Aya, Jabari and Izzy" she said as she pointed to them respectively.
"Hello, nice to meet you all" I said as I sat next to Amira.
'Ok so June is the white girl with short blonde hair, Aya is the black girl with a bald head, Jabari is the light skin boy with thick curly hair and Izzy is the white girl with long black hair' I said to myself as I took note of their faces.
"Our pleasure" they said as Jabari was accessing me from head to toe.
"They're late aren't they?" Amira said as she shook her head in disappointment.
"Are they ever late?" Izzy asked sarcastically. I looked over to Amira looking confused.
"Oh it's two of our other friends, they never come on time" she said, clearing my confusion.
"You know you're too beautiful to cover this much skin right" Jabari said after staring at me for minutes.
"You know that compliment is wrong in so many ways right" I retorted. Was he being serious right now? I thought to myself as I gave him the stink eye
"You should accept his compliments you know, not sure you'll hear it often" a voice said from behind me. I turned to look at the voice of the girl that so rudely gave that statement. I opened my mouth in Shock as I saw this really attractive girl, she oozed confidence and pride. She had brunette long curls which glowed from the halogen lights shining on the room. Why did she have to be so pretty? I looked at the person she was standing beside and girl was he handsome, he had a bright smile on his face that made him look even more handsome.
"Yeah for reals, why do you have to cover your body this much?" The cute guy asked backing up what the mean girl had just said.
"Will you cut it off you guys, why do you have to be so rude? She can dress however she damn pleases you assholes" Amira said lashing out at Jabari and the newcomers.
"I apologize for their behaviour Zeenat. They can be jerks sometimes, well some of them" she said while she rolled her eyes at the handsome boy. Not so handsome anymore.
"It's fine" I said calmly and gave Amira a smile for defending me. My kind of gal.
"Oh please spare me that Stone, the girl can speak for herself" the mean girl said. I scoffed ignoring what she just said. There are times you should ignore people and there are times you should talk back and trust me, mean girl your time is coming. I thought to myself as I went through the menu.
"Y'all should just sit your late asses down and stop being a nuisance" Aya said angrily.
"Nothing wrong with being fashionably late Aya and you know Christopher is always my ride" the mean girl said winking at her sidekick.
"Christopher huh, cute name for the rudest boy on earth" I said to myself and rolled my eyes at him with disgust.
"Enough Kate" June said. Kate rolled her eyes as she ordered for herself.
We filled up on snacks and drinks and talked a little about things at random. Kate kept clinging to Christopher the whole time and feeding him snacks.
''Eww gross'' I said to myself and looked at Amira.
"You'll get used to it" she whispered. I chuckled.