Nourrel stiffled a yawn as she was waiting for Laila to get ready. It was nearly 10 in the morning and her best friend was still in the shower, it would take another 30 minutes before Laila got ready, and they havent even had breakfast yet. Nourrel closed the door behind her, followed by a very fat but unhappy Milo who was forever hungry and demanded his cat food, As she settled back in her room Nourrel thanked God she decided to buy a tv as she switched it on. Her fingers clicked on the red button, changing from one channel to the other, her mind buzzed with other things, there was the assignment that she hadnt finished yet, Milo hadnt been fed since lastnight as his store of food had diminished, and then...there was him....Nourrels heart skipped a beat as she remembered how Adam had smiled towards her the other day, as she happily waved towards him, her steps suddenly faltered when she gazed into his brown eyes, Adam was not smilling at her, he was smilling at Laila who was walking beside her. Owh, that figures, why would Adam even give a glance towards her? How could she be so dumb even to think of that? Laila was the pretty one, tall, beautiful, perfectly white teeth and rosy cheeks to add. While Nourrel, had dark hair, a crooked front tooth and had small freckles dotted around her eyes. Although she did not look that bad, Adam would never like her, thought Nourrel.Her eyes focused on the tv as the news came on. It was about Kumpulan Kali again, this time another one of their followers were found harrasing the public on a street in Sekeloa. The group had been active with spreading their faith since the beginning of January, they were a group of muslims who had lost their way and was now spreading a wrong belief about Islam. At first, there were only 20 of them, led by Guru Mohta, a middle-aged man with a cropped white beard. Now the belief had spread, and there were more than 100 followers, catching the attention of the Majelis Ulama in Indonesia. Everyone was warned to be careful and to stay at home after Maghrib. That was when the group went out, harrasing people and ordering them to choose their faith or they will be met with a violent consequence. They believed that once the sun came down, all evil will rise and the only way to stop the evil is to release human beings from sin.
Nourrel casted her eyes on her watch, it was nearly 11 when Laila finally came out of her room, her Versace perfume lingered around her un-tight clothing. Not only was she beautiful, she was also much respected because of her piousness. Laila donned a white jilbab, long below her shoulders. It made her even more beautiful and many had swooned head over heels over this young woman. That was what Laila was, a young woman. But Nourrel was just another average Jane, not matured enough for the likes of guys her age, her laugh was too loud, her giggle was considered as wanting-to-attract-guys-but-failing and she did not know how to keep a conversation going. In short, she felt a pathetic looser, waiting for prince charming to rescue her from a tower of other pathetic loosers.
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`Hey Nour, do you want to drive?` asked Laila. Her face wrinkled into a half-smile as she grabbed the keys from Laila. Nourrel only knew to well what Laila really meant. If she drove the car, it would give even more time for Laila to put on her make-up, not that she already had more than enough thought Nourrel. As the keys started the ignition, Nourrel drove the black suzuki down the road from their lodgings. Darn, she had forgotten to give Milo something to eat, he would be grumpy by the time she got back. Nourrel made a mental note of not coming back to late as she did worry about the news she saw just now. But still, it was far from where they were going to and it did not concern them. Besides, it was the only day that the both of them could go shopping before the new semester started.
As the black suzuki sped of on the highway, Nourrel noticed that there were not as many cars as usual. Must be a good thing then, thought Nourrel, they could finally shop in peace in Bandung as she hummed to the new Justin Timberlake single. Suddenly, the music was turned off, and Laila changed the Cd to a motivational speech given by a religious leader. Nourrel sighed, Laila had always disapproved of her ways, whether it was from her taste of music, to her chestnut-dyed hair or tight fitting clothes, everything she did was wrong. It wasnt that she did not want to become a better person, it just wasnt her yet, or maybe it just wasnt her time yet. She decided to let Laila listen to her cd and concentrated on driving, the roads were hard to manouver even after all these years of driving.
Finally, after an hour of driving, the car was safely parked in the basement of Bandung Indah Plaza. The two of them quickened their step, each moving faster than the other, in case one reaches a shop and bought something first. That was the only thing that they had in common so far, both liked to shop, although both had very different taste. Nourrel was the all-rounded punk-rock wannabe while Laila focused on finding clothes that were prim and proper. The only thing that both would have a tug-a-war on are shoes! They both had the same sized feet and loved heels. Incidentally, that was the cause of most of their cat fights, it was like a competition between them who got the best shoe. As they walked past a shoe shop, Nourrel tugged Lailas sleeve and complained on how hungry she was. Laila finally relented and both of them changed directions to the nearest McDonalds. Nourrel glanced back and eyed the black stilettos that she was going to buy when Laila wasnt looking. Unwittingly, Laila had also set her eyes on the same pair and was going to run to that shop when Nourrel went to the toilet or something.
The man handling the counter in McD eyed Laila with a sheepish grin, Laila loved the attention and ordered slowly, not that Nourrel blamed her, with all that attention, she would probably have done the same thing. The same man at the counter gave Nourrel one disapproving glance and rudely asked for her orders. Humph, people always go for the tall and fair girls dont they, thought Nourrel as she dug into a BigMac. Laila only ate fries, she was on another of her diet excursions, weighing 45 kilos and at the the height of 164, Laila was the perfect person to be someones wife, Nourrel choked on her coke as she thought of all this.
Nourrel finished the fries that Laila couldnt and gulped down the last of her Coke. She quickened her steps to match Laila who was on the way to the shoe shop that she had her eye on earlier. It took them both hours before they finally got out of that shop, they had argued on the sexy stilettos but both of them finally came to an agreement. Laila bought a white pair while Nourrel, with her gothic look took the black and both were satisfied. As they went on from shop to shop, Nourrel noticed that there were less and less people in the mall. She glanced at her new watch and was surprised that it was nearly 5. Her feet hadnt even begun to ache as she was wearing these new orange loafers she had got her hands on during a recent Nike summer sale. Nourrel ignored the strange feeling in her heart, it was really weird, she thought but tossed it out of her mind the minute they went into the Levis store.
Laila tugged at Nourrels sleeve and pointed ahead, and there he was, Adam was hanging out with Dani and Roy. Roy had a cigarette in his hand and waved nonchalantly at the two girls. Adam did not look up, he was too busy messaging someone. I wonder who he is messaging, thought Nourrel, probably some other girl who he had his eyes on. Both of them giggled girlishly, but knowing Laila, she wouldnt be caught dead spending time with guys, Nourrel heaved heavily and the both of them walked past their table with a slight nod. They discussed awhile and decided to finish shopping until isya, it did not perturb them anyway since Laila had a car, they could go back anytime they want. The boys probably had to go home earlier, taking the angkot home.
As her hands moved across her face after reciting the doa, Nourrel felt the strange feeling in her heart again. It was a slight churn of the heart, was she having a heart attack, naah, she was too young and athletic to get that sort of stuff anyway. Again, she dismissed the feeling but it was still nagging her at the back of her head. The both of them went for a quick dinner again at McD and not long after had settled in the black Suzuki. Nourrel did not even want to look at the back seat, her pockets were empty and there was just too many things she did not need but eventually bought during their shopping spree. Bags and bags of goods were strewn all over the back of the car, one too many.
It was nearly
