"Awww! You look so pretty!" Sana says, looking at my reflection in the mirror.
After university, I came to Sana's house. She has convinced me to meet David but I agreed on only one condition that she was coming along with me and she gladly obliged.
I called my mother and told her that due to a group project, I'd be late home and am staying back at Sana's house. Her family is very broad-minded, they know everything Sana does. Her family includes only her mother and her sixteen-year-old brother. Her mother is a divorcee and is a working woman who is mostly at her job.
Now looking at my reflection, my pale skin, wavy hair, and tinged cheeks and lips, I feel why a woman should cover her beauty in Islam. When it's everything she should be proud of. If Allah created each woman this beautiful then as a gratitude we should boast about it in public. Why kill our charm with chains of hijab(head cover) and niqab(veil)? This was unfair.
"What are you thinking?" Sana asks and I look at her with an empty smile.
"If my family were just as open-minded then I wouldn't have to do all this behind their backs. I feel like a Villain here."
"You are not the bad guy. It's their backward thinking that is blocking your path and I am sure one day they'll come to understand you."
"If I marry Hazek then… this is it. All for nothing."
"No, you're not marrying him. Not when your best friend is here to save you."
"I think… He's not bad either I have just grown tired of my family's shallow thoughts and considered him the same-"
"Just because he saved you that day in the mall doesn't mean he got the right to marry you."
"That's not just one time but since we were young he has-"
"Oh c'mon, he was doing something any responsible kid would have done in his place. Why are you suddenly recalling old memories?"
"Because I think I can't undo the fact that I am marrying him in two months and the fact that he has been too calm about my circumstance when I can clearly feel it infuriates him."
"Oh, this is where you're wrong. A guy like him will marry you first and force you to do what he wants later."
"Why are you suddenly so against him?" I ask with disbelief.
"I could ask you the same?" She raised an eyebrow. "Besides I have been a fool to go meet him behind your back only to listen to him bicker about you and here I used to tell you that he only wants you to avoid posting videos publicly on Tiktok."
"Bicker about me?" A crease formed on my forehead.
"Yeah! He used to be so furious, calling you ugly names for being responsible to defame their family, he wanted me to delete your Tiktok account and when I didn't agree he threatened me that he'd tell you lies about me to end up our friendship."
"Did he say all that? I don't believe this."
"I never wanted to tell you but this is the real side of him that I witnessed. Imagine what he would do to you after you marry him?"
"But Sana, he never snaps at people. I have never seen him… Besides, didn't you say he liked me?"
"I thought he was doing all this because he liked you but it was a relief when you cleared your feelings for him…" Noticing my dumbfounded expression she continues.
"You think I am lying? Remember at the cafeteria? When he suddenly popped up out of nowhere and tried to belittle me so you would doubt me and our bond would weaken? That's the kind of a guy he is."
"I still don't believe this…"
"I know it's too hard to take." She shook her head and took both my hands and squeezed them in assurance. "Forget about it for now and focus on David. We're going out and you have to rock it with your beautiful face." She passes me a soft smile and I return her a weak one. "Let's make a TikTok before we go, shall we?"
"I am not in the mood for it."
Sana's smile dropped and her mouth turned into a thin line. "I get it. Mi lady is not in the mood, I knew it once you become famous, I won't be valued as much and now you're even doubting me." She let go of my hands.
"No, Sana. It's not like that." I instantly grab her hands back. "I am sorry. I'll make it up to you. Let's make Tiktok."
"No, I can't accept it. Not like this."
"Please! I am sorry, I said it without considering your feelings. Please forgive me." I pull her chin to look at me and give her an apologetic smile. She finally gives in and we hug each other. "Let's never fight. Never betray each other. You're the only person in the world that understands me better."
"Deal." She replies, pulling away.
I took out my phone and opened my camera when she stopped me. "Not with your Tiktok today. Let's make it on my Tiktok. People will notice me when I tag you on my account."
I nod my head and she takes out her phone with a gleeful face.
~~~
Hazek's POV
I was sitting in the university's cafeteria with Mahir, discussing a topic on social sciences when Mahir's phone buzzed and he reached out to take it. Seconds later his face turned serious as he watched his phone.
"What's wrong?" I ask, genuinely concerned.
"See for yourself." He turns the screen of his phone towards me.
A video starts playing of Sana on Tiktok, she was moving her lips with the Tiktok sound when suddenly Aisha appeared all dolled up in a western dress, as she synced her moves with the sound.
I didn't watch it completely and pushed away the phone but my insides were burning with agony.
"Why do you even have this application installed on your phone?" I uttered with agitation.
"It's not on the app. Some guy sent it on the boy's WhatsApp group. How many people will you ask to uninstall this app?"
I try to close my eyes and swallow all the emotions that were on the brink of bursting my insides.
"Why do you not warn her family? Sana doesn't have a guardian to look after her. Her mother is always away for work but I am sure Aisha's family will stop her. You can't do it. You're no one to explain her good and bad and even your words won't hold that weightage." Mahir explains.
"If I tell her parents. They'll be heartbroken. They won't be able to face anyone in the family and most of all... The person who'd suffer the most will be Aisha."
"Isn't it better to tell someone trustworthy in her family rather than the world bringing it up to them?"
Mahir was someone I can rely upon. He was there with me when my father was hospitalized in an emergency due to cardiac arrest. He was there when I didn't have the money to pay for semester fees because of expensive bills for my father's treatment, that one time he paid my semester fees without telling me. He is steadfast in his Islamic beliefs that was the very reason we clicked on our orientation day. Our long beards are the essence of our personality that reflected our beliefs.
"Brands are approaching her for paid promotions. Her own friend is making Tiktoks with her to get fame. More of her videos are getting viral. How long do you think it will stay hidden?"
"I want Aisha to stop before they find out… Or she should be the one to tell her family." I finally speak.
"I told you, didn't I?!" A girl utters loudly and our heads turn in her direction. She was sitting at the table next to us.
She was showing her phone screen to her friends sitting near her. Seeing that girl, I had a feeling that I have seen her somewhere before but I can't seem to remember where.
The girl was showing the same video that Mahir received on the WhatsApp group. Me and Mahir exchanged a look before we looked back at them.
"Sana was going to use her from the beginning. She had an ulterior motive and now it's obvious." The girl accused.
Now I remember, it was the same girl that Sana encountered at the canteen when I went to grab a bottle of water from the auditorium.
"Sana hit the jackpot this time. I saw her videos of receiving PR packages because of her." One of her two friends adds.
"Oh, she is a lot more evil than you think. She'll never have enough. This is how she ruined my life."
"Why don't you warn Aisha about her?" One of her friends suggested it.
"Because I don't find her reliable enough to know my secret." The girl responded and stood up. "Let's head back to the class."
The three of them stood up and left the cafeteria while Mahir and I were left in a state of horror.