The boy's charisma made me laugh. Honestly, people can be very peculiar. They don't see what he's doing, just his looks. I don't understand what is so impressive about him. Isn't he not a Muslim? No matter how handsome he is, since he lacks the light of Islam, I don't see anything impressive about him. May Allah guide us, they have made me dislike him even more, even though I've never seen him, only heard about him. All the stories about him are negative, none say anything good about him, just bad things. Is this what leadership is like? If this is what it is, may Allah forbid such leadership. And may Allah protect us from falling under such leadership.

After we got up, I started worrying about going home, not knowing what I would find. We walked in a line with Sahiba and some of our classmates. As we were walking and talking, they started praising King AJ, saying they had never seen a more handsome man. What nonsense, what significance. Some even said that if he would love them, even without converting to Islam, they would accept him immediately and look down on others. I didn't realize when I made a sound of disapproval out of frustration; they don't even care about their country and religion.

"Sahla Ridwan."

I quickly turned to where I heard my name. It was Malam Halliru standing by the school gate as if waiting for something. What have I done today that he is waiting for me at the gate? I quickly approached him, worried he might say I was late again. Without a smile on my face, I reached him and knelt down to greet him. He just stared at me for a few seconds without saying anything until I started feeling annoyed. He looked me up and down disrespectfully. If he didn't have anything to say, why did he call me? Annoyed, I looked up to speak, but our eyes met. I couldn't say anything because of the intense aura he gave off today. In a soft voice, he asked,

"Will your father be around after Maghrib prayer?"

I quickly answered,

"No, he's not here; he went to visit my grandmother."

Why would he go to see my father? What would he tell him? This is the first time I've lied. He looked at me like he didn't believe what I said.

"Alright, you can go."

I quickly got up and went to join Sahiba and the others, who were gossiping. As soon as I reached them, Barira quickly said,

"Are you sure, Sahla, that Malam Halliru isn't in love with you? Did you see the way he was looking at you? Isn't that what you all saw?"

She turned to look at Sahiba. They all agreed, "We think so too."

"God forbid I fall in love with him. Do you even know who you're talking about? Malam Halliru, a man who wishes to touch my body, and you say he loves me? Even if all men in the world were gone, I would never have anything to do with such a wicked and cruel person."