***
"Now I'm hollow. Ho-ho-ho-ho-hollow."
I probably made one or two mistakes with the tune, but that didn't stop me from singing the song that had overwhelmed me ever since the show.
Standing behind the parapet had become my weekday ritual. It thrilled me to watch the sun peek through the clouds; to see a new day unfold. In a few minutes, the now graveyard-quiet building would be filled with life and hyperactivity, bringing an end to my quality time with nature.
Raheem's song played on in my head:
Burn. Burn. Burn out
B-b-b-b-burn out
On a highway to yesterday
In the absence of words, I hummed the rest of the song till the chorus came up again. "Now I'm hollow. Ho-ho-ho-ho ..."
A pair of palms clamped down on my eyes, forcing a gasp out of my mouth. Even without turning around, I could tell who it was. "Raheem."
"And I thought Farah was the only one who murdered my song," he teased. Peeling his palms away from my eyes, he leaned against the parapet.
"Hello yourself," I said. "It seems you survived your fanbase attack."
"Aye," he said. "You left me there to die, didn't you?"
"My bad," I said.
"Did you like my performance?" he asked. "Yes? No? Maybe?"
"I didn't like it," I said. "I loved it."
"That's a blessing. I shouldn't have sang the first song, though. In the middle of it, I realized that by performing that song, I'd given Farah a story to tell." He seemed depressed, although he tried hard to hide it.
"I'm sorry," I said.
His brows knitted. "Sorry?"
"About Jameela."
"Oh." He looked away.
Feeling a presence behind us, we turned around to see Cynthia scowling at us. She looked like she could fight a bull. And win. Without a word, she stormed off into class.
"What's up with her?" Raheem asked.
I wish I knew. "Don't try to understand her. I've failed at it for years."
"Wow," he said. "Okay. Warning heeded. And about Jameela, you don't have to be sorry now, do you?"
"I'm just sorry she hurt you," I said. "You'll move on with someone new though."
"About moving on, yeah, I already have. And about moving on with someone new, I doubt that. They're all the same."
"You shouldn't think like that," I said.
"How then should I think?" he asked, running his fingers through his hair in a frustration that melted my heart. "I said it once and I'm saying it again. They are all the same. If you disagree, what can I say? I don't possibly expect you to be on my side anyway. You're one of them."
"Not all girls are like that," I defended. "If one person hurt you, that doesn't mean every other girl would. As our faces differ, so our personalities differ. We all are different individuals. Do not generalize or you'd be making a fatal mistake."
"So, not every girl is like that?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Prove it."
"What?"
"I want you to prove to me that not every girl is like that," he said, his voice decidedly slow, making every word sink.
"What?" I scoffed. "How? How can I possibly prove a thing like this?"
A look of disappointment spread across his face "If you don't want to, it's fine. But then I'd be having a wrong perception of your kind, and it would be all your fault because you didn't even try to alter this perception."
"I already told you we are different individuals," I said.
"And I already told you I want proof," he insisted.
"How on earth ..." I paused midsentence as realization sank in. "Wait, there's only one way to prove this. Am I wrong in thinking that this is your way of asking me on a date, Raheem Kadir?"
"What?" Raheem exclaimed.
"You are trying to get me to date you, aren't you?" I asked.
Raheem rubbed his chin in a way that could make any girl's heart dance flip-flops. Problem is, I wasn't just any girl.
"Am I?" he asked, winking at me.
"Pretty much looks like it." I feigned oblivion to the flutter of butterflies in my stomach.
"Don't get any ideas," Raheem said. "If I wanted to date you, I would come out open. This is me wanting you to prove something. And what if I was actually asking you on a date? What if I was asking you to help undo the emotional wreckage Meela caused?"
"You wouldn't," I said. "Did Farah come?"
"Yes," Raheem said. "Hmm. Nice try, though. But I must tell you, it isn't so easy trying to change topics when you're with me. Alas! It's impossible. Unless, of course, I'm in support of you changing the topic. And in this case, I obviously haven't even thought of that."
"First period will begin in a few moments," I said. "Let me go say hi to her. Sophomore, right?"
Heaving a sigh, he gave in. "Yes. Science class."