Life Under the Hijab

A Feud of Bullies

Hajar Khalid

Man, it had been one week. Baba died and I feel depressed. Baba inspired me so much. He was such a religious man. Wherever he went he inspired people to become better. I miss him so much. It hurts to know the man who cared and loved you leaves you during a time of such struggle. I remember his last words to me.

"Allah is always with you," he said.

I need to remember that. Allah will never leave me. With every struggle there comes ease. I just need to be patient. Oh Allah, please grant me patience. It's hard going to school everyday knowing that dark words will be said to me. I sometimes feel like I'm all alone, I don't have any friends at school because they all ditched me, since I wore a headscarf. I'm not a danger. I just want friends and I want to fit in. I want middle school to be fun and enjoyable for me. I sighed.

I didn't noticed that period six was over. I got up and walked to my next class. I had math next. Math was really easy and super boring to me. It was also full of perverted and out of control kids.

Hayden was in that class too. Middle school students were so immature. No wonder they bullied innocent kids so much. Just like in every other class, they teased me.

"Hey freak. I heard your stupid father died. He's going to go to Hell because he's a Muslim. He's a killer. Good thing he died. One less serial killer in this world the better," a boy named, Jake, laughed.

Now they took it too far.

"What's wrong with you? My father was a good man. He never killed anyone. Just because one person in my religion does something bad doesn't mean everyone is bad. You can tease and taunt me all you want, but leave my family and religion out of it!" I burst.

"You think I care about your religion or family? No one cares about you. Just shut up okay? You don't belong here. You deserve to die. No one loves you. Everyone hates your guts. You're worthless and pathetic. You are stupid and ugly. You are and always will be a nobody," he seethed.

"Allah will help me," I mumbled to myself.

Jake and his friends just snickered.

"Allah won't help you. He's not real. If He were to help you, He would have taken you out of your misery already. Give up, loser," he smirked.

"May Allah forgive you," I said then ran out of the classroom.

I ran as far as I could from the classroom. As soon as I was far enough, I started banging my head on the lockers. Allah is testing me. He's testing my faith in Him, but it hurts so much.

"Why me, Allah? Why?" I cried.

I heard footsteps down the hall. Then someone tapped my shoulder. I turned around to see a boy named Derek. He's also in my math class and is Hayden's best friend. I narrowed my tearful eyes at him.

"What do you want? If you're trying to taunt me more then just leave. I know that I'm a loser. I don't need to be told twice," I glared.

Derek was just as cute as Hayden. He was British and had soft blonde hair. He started growing some facial hair under his chin. He had green eyes that pierced into mine. He looked at me attentively.

"You left your stuff," he said handing me my binder.

"Thank you," I said.

"Don't let what they said get to you. You're beautiful and smart. They're just being guys. Don't worry," he smiled.

Did he just call me beautiful? He's lying. He's going to taunt me like everyone else. This is probably a prank.

"I don't believe you," I mumbled.

"You should. I don't want to hurt you. I want to be your friend," he says softly.

"What made you change your mind? Do you honestly think I'm stupid? I know this is a prank. People like you lie to people like me all the time. Just forget it. You'll never imagine my pain. You people think this is funny. You guys enjoy my suffering. This is torture to me. Coming to school everyday and sensing negative vibes from everyone. You don't know what it feels like," I said breathlessly.

He looked sad for a second before he smirked. I was confused on way he was smirking. Then he hit me. I screamed.

"That's what losers like you get. You honestly thought that I wanted to be your friend. Ha!" he laughed.

I was shocked. He just hit me! What's wrong with him?! That's when I noticed that other kids were around us laughing at me. My vision started to blur. That's when Hayden came.

"Derek, what's wrong with you? You aren't supposed to hit a girl! Tease her but don't hit her!" he yelled.

"Why do you care? She got what she deserved," he huffed.

"I care because she's hurt now," mumbled Hayden.

Everyone went silent. I was wide eyed. He cared about me.