Some Bittersweet Memories

Chapter Fifteen

I had driven myself into a huge mess.

It wasn't as though I lied to anyone, but I didn't tell anyone the whole truth either.

Mother was only aware that I was going over to Sara's for a sleepover on the weekend.

But before that, I would head over to the cafe for the group study.

Sara didn't know who I was meeting up with. Joseph hadn't told the girls that he'd help himself and instead had said that he'd see what he could do.

So then, I told Sara that I was meeting up with a 'person' from school. But because I didn't want mom to shoot the million questions which Muslim mothers did at me, I didn't want her to know about my meetup.

Sara said she'll head over to Jenny's and since our mothers thought we'd hang out together, they'd think Sara was with me. Okay, maybe that was a bit of a lie, but Sara was the mastermind. Sorry Sara, but you'll have to take the blame for this one.

Now why didn't I want anyone to know I'd be meeting up with Joseph for physics? Good question. I have no definite idea.

To be honest, I think it was ummi. She already thought I might have feelings for Joseph - which I did not - so I didn't want her to get the wrong idea and start worrying about me more than she already did. Long story short, that was why I kept it a secret from everyone.

However, I wasn't committing a crime. So if somehow word got out, I wouldn't need to feel guilty about anything.

Hopefully.

My outfit for the day was a casual floral dress reaching above my ankles, some tights underneath and white sneakers topped off with a matching hijab.

Over the days, the weather had gotten colder but it wasn't extremely cold so I didn't bother taking any jacket with me. Besides, even if the cold increased, I'd simply borrow something from Sara.

I finished putting my things in my backpack and proceeded to fix my hijab. Mother had gone out. She was insisting on dropping me off on the way but I managed to convince her that I'll take the bus.

But since the place I wanted to go was on the outskirts of town, I ended up ordering an online taxi.

Not actually expecting it, the wind blowing outside was much cooler and I breathed in, feeling refreshed. Winter was on the way; I loved winter and the cold.

I had half a mind to go back and bring a jacket but the thought of having to climb three flights of stairs again was enough to push me inside the taxi instead.

As I scrolled through my socials, I stumbled across a post of someone from school that mentioned something about a party they were attending tonight.

I pondered over what Joseph's typical weekend was like. He obviously didn't hold tutoring sessions for others over the weekend. And yet, here he was, doing exactly that for me.

I switched my phone off and turned to observe the scenery outside. It took us quite a long time to reach the place and I made a mental note to leave as early as possible.

I thanked the driver and climbed out in the cool breeze. It was a relatively wealthy-looking area. A medium-sized building stood in front of me with the words 'Red Rose' illuminated in red color. The parking lot of the cafe was half filled and I peeped around for a black Aston Martin but found nothing.

Looks like I arrived first. I took out my phone and texted Joseph.

Me : I've arrived at the cafe. Wbu?

It didn't take him long to send back a reply.

Joseph Kingston : Sorry something came up. Won't make it :)