Deceived; Chapter 31

"Ghaneya Al-*****, the nurse wants to see you right this instant." said my art teacher while I was in the middle of painting a portrait of some fruits sitting on a table in front of me.

It has been a week since the almost choking incident in my toilet.

I'm still mad at Munya, for interfering.

I haven't spoken to the rest of the girls either, they've been with Munya the whole time, I guess their mad at me too, for no apparent reason. Friends can be so naive and childish, sometimes, following the group's most popular by ignoring and hating on others, even though I was disconnected from Munya, only. Anyway, it still doesn't give them the right to stop talking to me, caused by a small argument between Munya and I.

I was confused about the call. I placed my index finger right in front of my eyes, to check my eye sight. I felt my forehead, to check if a fever ran over me. And I checked all the other parts of my revealing body to check if any small cut was bleeding. I was wearing my school uniform, after all.

Nothing was wrong with me, thankfully, yet my mind was still perplexed and everything seemed ever so, complicated.

"H-h-hi, you asked to see me?" I said hesitating as I knocked and entered our school's mini clinic.

"Hello, and you are?" asked the nurse.

"Ghaneya Al-*****" I answered.

"Al-*****, Ghaneya Al-*****" the nurse repeated while searching through the students' files, "Ah, yes, here we are, Ghaneya Al-*****"

I took a seat right beside her desk waiting for my presence's explanation.

"I've been meaning to talk to you, Ghaneya, which is why I called you down here..." her tone changed, which frightened me a little.

"O-o-o-k-ay..." I hesitated again.

"I've received a complaint from someone early today that you might be diagnosed with STD, which is a disease transmitted sexually." she replied.

I was shocked, this isn't happening, no way, it's impossible!

My heart began beating faster, afraid that I might actually have this disease, though I denied it to the school nurse.

"What, are you joking? There's no way I have that." I said trying to cover the fact that it may be true. I tried to make it seem obvious that I would never be diagnosed with STD.

"Well, I'm sure of that, however, this complaint came from an unexpected person, which is why I have to call your father and inform him, in order for a professional, hospital doctor to clear you up." the nurse said.

"We all know this isn't true, calling my father isn't needed, Ma'am." I said, trying to talk her out of calling my father.

What if I was diagnosed with STD, would I be grounded and punished forever? Or would I have my phone taken away from me forever? But worst of all, Fouad and I would never speak to one another again.

"I'm afraid I must, Mrs. Al-*****, this can be a very serious and dangerous observation." she answered.

I walked out of the clinic quietly yet extremely terrified of the consequences.

Beside the doctor's office, I saw her, with my own two eyes, staring at me all innocent like, but I knew, deep down, she meant it, she meant ever single bit of her evil and cruel actions.

I couldn't stand her. I walked away with a mean stare, implying that one day, she will re-pay me.

-

"Ghaneya?!" my father's loud voice was heard from my closed bedroom.

I placed my earphones on my bed, along with my iPod, and exited my room, skipped down the stairs, and listed to what my dear father had to say.

"How was school today?" he asked worriedly although applied a simple smile.

"It was fine, how was work today?" I asked back.

"It was fun, actually." he replied.

The room was filled with silence for 5 solid minutes.

"Listen, Ghaneya, you know you can trust me, right?" my father spoke, breaking the silence.

"Yeah sure, you're my father" I replied with no second thought.

"And you know you can tell me anything whatsoever, including your relationship issues with your friends, or... you know... boys...." he said.

I had no idea where he was going with this.

I nodded to everything he said, though, not releasing a single sound.

"Well, that's great, then. Hey, why don't you go on up, get dressed to some normal clothes and meet me in the car, will you?" he commanded.

I obeyed, and changed from my school uniform into some casual training pants and an ordinary top, and made my way to my father's car.

My eyes were attached to my phone, and without noticing, we have reached our destination.

I made sure I ate nothing before leaving after my father told me to get dressed, I expected a father-daughter bond tonight, watch a movie, eat junk food, laugh, but my hopes were raised up too high.

A hospital was the least expected.

"Um... What are we doing here?" I asked with emotions filled with anxiety.

"Your school's nurse informed me that you need to see a doctor, in your case, a professional one." he replied.

"For what reason?" I asked again, acting as if I had no clue what was going on.

My father ignored me, and suddenly, his mood swung, and automatically, he was filled with fury, and I had no idea why.

While we were waiting for our name to be called to enter the doctor's office, I placed my palm on my father's right, muscular arm.

"Ghaneya..." He spoke as he turned his head to face me.

Likewise, I faced him with my eyes filled with innocence.

"What happened while I was away?" he questioned.

"What do you mean?" I replied.

"While I was in Canada, I wasn't really aware of what was really going on in your life at that moment." he admitted.

"Not really, no." I said bluntly, with a tiny bit of fear.

A moment later, my ears witnessed words that almost caused my heart to beat endlessly. My father's words could have been the reason to my life beginning to tear apart.

"Ghaneya, I know what you and Fouad did."

Deceived; Chapter 30

"Ghaneya?!"

A voice came from my bedroom.

"Ghaneya, where are you?!"

I finally recognized the audible voice; it was Lucy, my housemaid.

Her vocal sounds forced my hands to loosen around my neck.

I looked at myself at my nearby mirror, and noticed a thick, circular, red mark around my neck.

The palms of my hands squeezing it was the ultimate cause.

I exited the bathroom and listened to what Lucy had to say.

"Your father called, he changed his flight to tomorrow."

My mind ignored it. I didn't care.

Lucy insisted to bring me some snacks, but I turned the offer down.

I had no craving or desire.

My appetite vanished.

My heart was stolen.

It seems that everything was taken away from me.

My maidenhood, my chastity, my love, and my dear mother.

I'm in need of her, so badly.

At this very moment, I'm weak, delicate, vulnerable, and guilty.
If only I could run into her arms and sob, for as long as I want, as long as she would never leave me again.

My heart aches whenever my mind thinks back to the two people I loved dearly, leaving me stranded.

-

I opened the switch to my laptop's charger and lifted the top lid screen.

It's been quite a while ever since I entered the Internet universe.

While I surfed the web for a while, a random pop up page appeared.

The topic caught me eye.

"Young teenager saved by God"

I took a few moments to ponder the text.

A young girl, around my age, turned to God when she was in severe trouble. She was in an internal conflict with her self and mind. She rejected the need of education, the need of love, and the need of life.

For a while I thought, "This would never work, they're only coincidences."

But then I looked back at the last time I took some time to pray to God.

The last time I actually took my precious time to praise God was about 3 months ago, which is unbelievable because that's when Fouad and I began communicating.

I guess he took my mind off what really matters, my creator, my prophet, and his message.

I wanted my old life back.

I would do absolutely anything to bring back my old self.

The girl with a mother, the girl with a trustworthy relationship with her father, the girl with stable, cheerful moods, the girl that never went through depression, the girl who was loved by everyone, and most importantly, the young girl that never loved.

Now, that is the most essential to me, right now.

I thought it was too late to bring it all back, but you know what they say, "Don't wait for the perfect moment, take the moment and make it perfect."

I rinsed the required places of my body parts, closed the sink tap and unfolded the cloth beside my bedside table, sitting in a wooden basket since forever.

Without even starting, I felt safe and protected.

I stood in my proper position, fixed the carpet and began reciting, "...بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم"

Deceived; Chapter 29

I looked up to her with a surprised face. My face asked "how do you know?" all by itself.

She bent down and spoke,"I saw you two together, that's why."

-

"What?" I questioned in absolute shock.

"I saw you walking with some man in the parking lot, I was on my way to the airport when I forgot to buy something, so I stopped by the mall and as I was exiting my car, there you two were, walking towards a black Porsche" she confessed, "so I figured he was Fouad since you talked to no other boy, or man."

I felt ashamed and embarrassed to admit that was true.

"But Ghaneya?", asked Munya as she placed the palm of her hand on my right shoulder, "he looks nothing like the picture you showed me."

"I know... I too was shocked." I replied in a dull tone.

"How old is he?" she asked.

I simply ignored.

"Ghaneya, where were you two headed in his car?" she asked again.

I ignored, again.

"Ghaneya, did you two-"

"You know what? Just knock it off, this doesn't concern you, so please just leave me alone!" I interrupted her rudely as I left the toilet running.

I ran off to a different private area and took out my phone and dialed my driver's number and had told him to come to school and pick me up immediately.

I couldn't go through this anymore.

I was frustrated, depressed, sad, and desperate.

School was my source of pressure now due to my current situation.

-

As I slammed our front door, I climbed up the stairs and slammed my room door as well.

I felt a shiver flow through my body suddenly, and a knock from the inside of my head indicating that a migraine was about to begin.

I grabbed 2 pain killer pills from my nearby cabinet and swallowed them along with a small amount of water.

I sat on my bathroom floor sobbing and crying while trying to dial Fouad's phone number again.

No reply.

I hated myself at that second, and everyone around me, as well. But Fouad, Fouad was exceptional.

I didn't care about anything or anyone except for the man I loved.

At that point, I felt my life was pointless.

That I was worthless, and so was the life I was living.

What was the point of loving someone you can't reach nor communicate with?

What happened to our bond and connection, Fouad? 

What happened to our promise to never leave one another?

I raised both of my palms and tightened them against my neck.

I saw no use in loving if I was loveless.

And no use in sobbing if it was endless.

And no use of breathing if I was hopeless.

Deceived; Chapter 28

Many days passed by ever since that particular day.

Today was the first day of school after our long holiday. Well, long for me, at least.

I have been crying myself to sleep for the passed few nights.

Fouad and I haven't spoken to each other.

He never replied to any of my calls, nor even cared to DM me.

I miss him.

My face lost it's flawless color, it was pale and dull.

My lips turned to a really light shade of peach, which was unusual.

My eyelashes didn't look healthy, neither did my hair. A handful of strands began falling every time I slightly brushed it with my fingers.

I was lazy, tired, and depressed.

I'm glad my father's not coming back for another week, I need to be alone.

My aunt comes every other day and stays for about 2 hours either watching television, reading magazines, or working.

She was unaware of everything that was going on with me, she didn't even realize my coldhearted tone.

I was off to school today with zero effort on how I looked.

A messy bun and sweatpants was not my usual look.

Both of my under eyes were filled with dark, black bags. It was so obvious I have been crying so much.

I felt my weight drop, since not enough food reached my stomach, although I never had the energy to go check and make sure on the scale.

I didn't care. I didn't care about anything. Wondering why Fouad hasn't spoken to me was the only thing my mind was trying to figure out.

I was drowning in a pool of sudden desperation.

My heart aches whenever I remember that day I spent with him.

I love him so much.

-

"Ghaneya!!" Munya screamed as she ran in for a hug.

I havent talked to her ever since. I didn't even have the chance to tell her goodbye when she left the country.

I hugged her back, with absolutely no expression on my face whatsoever, my heart was broken.

"I missed you so much! Where have you been?!" she asked with an enormous smile on her face.

I gave her a simple smile, avoiding her question.

Honestly, I did miss her a lot too, I was just too depressed to show it.

"Hey... what's wrong?" Munya's face expressions flipped all of a sudden from exhilaration to worry.

A deep cry and heavy tears were almost visible.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." I replied running to the nearest bathroom.

I pulled down the toilet seat and sat on it in one of the bathroom stalls.

I pulled out my phone and dialed Fouad's phone number.

"Please answer me, Fouad, please!!!" I said while a bunch of tears rolled down my face.

No answer.

I dialed his number again but instead cried even more this time.

No answer.

I managed to remain in the bathroom stall for 30 solid minutes. I missed half of first period.

I couldn't hear any voices in the bathroom. I thought it was my only chance to release all my anger out.

I let out almost all my anger by screaming. Good thing was that our bathroom walls were sound proof.

The sobbing was endless. Fouad was the only thing my mind was set on. Even if the school was on fire, I would rather sit still and watch myself burn. Our connection was so strong, our bond, we loved each other, did I do something wrong to tear us apart like this?

The crying went on till my first period ended.

I heard the bathroom door open with footsteps along with it.

"Ghaneya? Are you in here?"

I recognized my dear friend Munya's voice asking for me.

"Over here" I replied knocking on my stall door.

"Open up!" she commanded.

I unlocked the stall door and let her in.

"What happened to you?!" Munya asked in shock after she saw my wet, pale face.

I ignored, I was too ashamed to tell her Fouad was the reason behind this.

"Is it Fouad?" she questioned.

Wait, what? How did she know?

It was unbelievable the way she knew me too well.

I looked up to her with a surprised face. My face asked "how do you know?" all by itself.

She bent down and spoke,"I saw you two together, that's why."