Chapter 1 – Making Plans

It was ten o'clock. Sara was watching TV and got bored, so she thought about going to her best friend's house.

“Mom, I’m going to Neha’s house, and I will be home by lunchtime.”

Sara was a very energetic and enthusiastic person. She had light skin, long hair, and was a very bubbly girl. She had lots of friends and was an outgoing person. She always wanted to become a fashion designer, but her parents wanted her to become a doctor, so she decided that she would fulfill her parents’ dream. Sara’s parents’ names were Emraan Khan and Ayesha Khan.

They lived in Helena, which is the capital of Montana. They lived close to the city of Helena Valley West Central. Most of the time, she wasn’t allowed to go to her friends’ houses, but she was just allowed to go to only one friend’s house, Neha’s. Neha was her best friend, and her parents and Sara’s parents were also close friends. Sara's mother was very protective of her daughter, but she wanted her daughter to live her life fully and get everything she wants. They didn't let her make any kind of decisions because they were afraid that if something wrong happened to their daughter, then they won't be able to forgive themselves or live without her. She was their only daughter, and she was so happy that her parents loved her so much.

Her mother was cleaning the kitchen and told her, “Alright, come home soon. Your dad will be worried.” Sara was already outside the house and barely heard her mother.

She drove to Neha's house and knocked on the door. Knock knock… Neha’s mother opened the door. “Hello, Sara. How are you?” Sara got inside the house and answered her, “I’m absolutely fine, Auntie; how are you? And where is Neha?”

Afsa wasn't her real Aunt, but to give respect to her elders, she calls them auntie or uncle. Sara also used to ask lots of questions at once before anyone could answer her first question. Afsa replied, “I'm fine and Neha is in her room.” Sara thanked Afsa while running to Neha's room.

Sara went to Neha’s room and saw that Neha was studying, but when Sara got close, she saw that Neha was looking at a magazine, which was inside of her biology book. She was looking at a fashion design magazine. It was their last year in high school, and both of them were interested in fashion design, but their parents didn’t want them to become a fashion designer. They wanted their children to become something that will raise their name and dignity. They thought that if their daughters become fashion designers, then it would ruin their dignity and their family’s name and reputation. So, that’s why both Sara and Neha majored in biology. But behind their parents’ backs, Neha and Sara look at stuff that was related somehow to fashion design like watching television shows and participating in high school clubs, etc.

“So, you’re looking at a fashion magazine behind my back? You should be ashamed of yourself. How could you cheat your parents?” Both of them laughed and shushed each other, “Shh...”

Sara started talking again and laid on the bed. “You are so bad; you didn’t even tell me that you bought this magazine, and you’re looking at it by yourself. You didn’t even bother to call me.”

They were lying on Neha's bed on their backs and looking at the magazine. Neha sat up and told her, “Chill, baby. I didn’t buy this magazine; I borrowed it from a friend of mine, okay? You know my parents; they won’t let me buy anything related to fashion design.”

Sara elbowed her with a teasing look. “Friend, hmmm. Don’t you think that I should know who this friend is? Her or him?” Neha tells her, “Shut up. It’s her not him.”

Sara and Neha used to tease each other as if they both were having an affair with somebody. But in reality, both of them didn’t have boyfriends. Sara didn’t believe in love, and she thought that love is just infatuation and nothing else. She believed that nobody could love somebody so much, but Neha thought that if there was no love, then the world couldn’t exist. Neha and Sara had different opinions about love. Sara never thought about having a boyfriend, and she thought that if she does get married, then her husband should respect her parents and care about them as well.

But Neha was the opposite of Sara. She told her that she was going to have a love marriage rather than an arranged marriage. She thought that her dream boy was going to be rich, handsome, and love her a lot, but it didn't come true because she fell in love with a guy at school who was different from her dream guy. But she couldn’t help it because she was so much in love with him.

Sara started talking again, “Anyways, I came here because I wanted to tell you about...” She rolled her eyes and let Neha guess what she’s about to tell her, “What?”

Neha never liked to guess whatever it was, but Sara told her to guess all the time, “Guess, what?”

Sara wasn’t telling her and was rolling her eyes, then Neha finally spoke, “Okay, fine. I give up. Now tell me.”

She took the tickets out of her pocket and waved them in front of Neha. “I have two tickets to a fashion show, and it’s going to be tomorrow. Yeah!” Sara bought the tickets to the fashion show, but they couldn’t go because it was at night, and their parents wouldn’t allow them to go. So, now they had to find a way to go to this fashion show, but they didn’t know-how.

Neha was always scared of going anywhere, so she made excuses. “I have this biology test on Friday and another test day on Monday.”

Sara got up from the bed and sat on the computer chair. “So, we can’t go to the show? I’ve been waiting for this day for so long, and now you are telling me that you won’t go? Look, I’ll help you study for your test,” Sara said.

Neha always thought that if both of them lied to their parents, then they will get into some trouble.

Neha explained to her, “I didn’t say that I wouldn’t go, but you know that I hate lying to my parents. What if they find out that we went to the show without asking them? We would be in big trouble.”

Sara stood up and walked around the room. She started to think of a good excuse to tell their parents. “They’re not going to find out because nobody is going to tell them. You know what, I got an idea.” Neha spoke softly, “Of course, you do.”

Sara always had ideas to go anywhere she wanted. “Go on, I’m listening.” Sara was still walking. “I will tell my parents that I’ll be staying at your house for a night because we have a lab project to do for our bio class, and then we can escape from this window to go to the fashion show. How do you like my idea?”

She got so excited and clapped her hands together.

Neha’s room was very neat and clean. She was a girl who liked to have everything organized and her room was giant. When you entered her room, you saw a bed with a beautiful bedsheet on it, which made it look like it was a queen’s bed. She had a dresser next to her bed, and her walls were painted in the same light purple as her bedsheet. Her computer was set far from the bed and beside the door. Her window was next to the bed, which she had also painted with flowers and hearts. She was a very creative girl, and she liked to paint anywhere she could in her room. So, whenever you went to her room, you felt like you are in the most beautiful room in the whole world.

“Well, I’m gonna have to think about that. Besides, I do have a bio test as I said before, which I will have to study for because I don’t want to flunk that class, and I hate to lie.” Neha always taught Sara that she should not lie to her parents because it’s bad.

Whenever she told her that, Sara started to imitate Neha’s words as she spoke, “You know that if you lie, then it keeps coming back to you. You have to tell another lie to hide one lie, and it keeps going. You know that I don’t like it.”

Sara was imitating Neha when she was talking, and when she turned to look at her, she stopped imitating.

“Okay, fine. I think you don’t want to be a fashion designer, and if you keep listening to your parents, then you will never be able to fulfill your dreams and stay the way you are right now. You will do everything they say, you will marry the person that they choose, and you won’t even say a word,” Sara intimidated her.

Neha told her, “I think you’re talking about yourself cuz I’m gonna have a love marriage, and you want to have an arranged marriage.”

Sara laid down on the bed again. “Love sucks and my parents will find the right guy for me.” Neha doubted that. “Yeah? How?”

Then Sara explained to her, “Well, they have more experience, and they’ve seen the world more than us. Plus, you're never going to tell them who you love cuz you're too scared to face the truth.”

Neha didn't want to answer her because she knew that Sara was right, and she would never tell her parents about the guy she liked at school.

So, she ignored whatever Sara said and asked her, “What if you fall in love with somebody, and your parents don’t let you marry to that guy? Then what would you do?”

Sara never believed in love. “Well, first of all, I’m never going to fall in love with anybody.”

Suddenly, she changed the topic, “Anyways, Neha, you’re gonna have to lie to your parents, and we'll come back before they find out. I promise. Nobody’s gonna find out if we’re in this room or not. Come on, you have to do this. I don’t want my dreams to shatter because our parents think that it’s some kind of bullshit. I love fashion, and I want to be a fashion designer. Just wait and watch.”

She was walking around the room, imagining. “One day, both of us will be on these magazines, and then they will be very proud of us. If we don’t go to this show, then we won’t have any kind of experience. How are we going to prove ourselves to our parents? We have to give it a try.”

It was like she used hypnosis on Neha to try to get her to agree to whatever she wanted. Neha agreed, “You are so right; we have to give it a try.”

Now Sara had to find a way to tell her parents that she was going to stay a night at Neha’s house. She was praying on the way home that her parents’ mood was good, so they wouldn’t refuse her.

When she got home, she saw that her parents were in a really bad mood because both of them were fighting over a show on TV. Sara got angry because she thought that God never accepted her prayer. She had only one wish that one day she would become the biggest fashion designer and very famous. She knew that God never accepted her prayer, but she still believed in God a lot. She prayed to God that hopefully one day God would listen and grant her wishes. She never told her wishes to anybody except God because if somebody found out what she wished for, then it would never come true.

Sara went to the kitchen and started walking around. She didn’t know how to tell her mother, then finally she spoke. “Mom, I was thinking if I could stay at Neha’s house for a night cu—”

Her mother interrupted her. “You were just at Neha’s house, and now you want to stay there for a night? What’s wrong with you?”

Sara told her, “Mom, you are not listening to me. I want to stay at her house because we have a lab project for our biology class. She has other tests as well, which she is gonna study for during the day. So, we can’t do the project during the day. That’s why I’m gonna have to spend a night at her house to do our project. If you don’t want me to pass biology, then it’s fine. I can just drop that class and change my major to fashion design.”

Sara’s mother used to get mad whenever she used to blackmail her mother about changing her major, but she also knew that she would say yes anyway. Her mother agreed and didn’t want to say no to her because she was their only daughter, so she agreed to all her little requests. After a while, she went straight to her room, which was upstairs.

Sara’s house was two-story, and they had four bedrooms. The master bedroom was downstairs, and three rooms were upstairs. Her parents stayed in the room that was downstairs, and Sara stayed in a room upstairs. Her house was very big compared to Neha’s house because their house was only two-bedrooms and one story. When you go upstairs, you see a game room next to the stairs and a room on the other side of the game room. The other two rooms were straight in front of the stairs, which were for guests as her mother told her, but Sara used them as well.

Her room was next to the stairs, and it was really big. It was messy too because she didn’t like to clean and didn’t know how to make her room pretty like Neha. Whenever Neha visited her, she cleaned the room for Sara, and it looked nice for that day. Her mother used to clean her room every day and didn’t let her daughter do anything in the house because she was their only daughter. Even if Sara wanted to clean someday, her mother didn’t let her. Most of the time, she wanted to be alone and didn’t want to be around people, so her room was the only place where she could be alone.

It was just two months until Sara and Neha graduated from high school. Sara was never into studies but was more into fashion design. She knew what she wanted to be even when she was a child. She always wanted to do something that gave her fame. She was really smart, which was the reason that she made it through high school and got really good grades. She was at the top of her class and had a really good GPA. She never told anybody that she was first in her class except Neha, but everybody knew that she was really smart and intelligent. She was going to get her bachelor’s degree in biology and go to medical school after saving some money by getting a job, so she could afford the university’s fees. But she didn’t know if she was going to get a scholarship for attending University because of her good GPA.

She had her clothes, books, and other things everywhere in the room. Her mother had cleaned it in the morning, but after she went to Neha’s house, she threw everything on the floor.

She started talking to herself. “Oh man, I wish I could keep my room clean. I don’t know how it gets so dirty, and I’m tired of cleaning it every single day. Hopefully, one day when I come in, it will be clean, and I can sleep peacefully.”

She picked up her clothes and books from the floor and tried to clean her room, so she could sleep well. She made her bed and put everything else away. She found her iPod on the floor and saw that it was dead. She got really mad at little things like the battery running out on the iPod, the room being messy, and things being on the floor. While cleaning her room, she thought that somebody was in her room when there was nobody. She used to see things that weren’t real because she used to watch lots of scary movies. Most of the time, she made her mother scared; whenever something was missing, she told her that somebody came to her room and took it, which made her mother think that there was a thief in their house.

For instance, one day, she was missing her calculus book, which she had put on the lamp table the other day. She found the book somewhere else. She asked her mother if she had gone to her room and put the book somewhere else. She was the only child, and her mother believed whatever she said. Sometimes, it made Sara’s mother think that she had some kind of problem with forgetting things.

“Now I can’t listen to my iPod. I have to charge it now, so I can listen to it when I go to bed,” said to herself.

She loved listening to music at night, and her parents used to get so mad at her because she used to get so lost in the music that she couldn’t go to sleep. So, she used to go to sleep in the morning and not wake up on time. She wasn’t a morning person and couldn’t sleep till late.

She was screaming from her room. “Mom, can you help over here? I’m missing my charger; I need to charge my iPod.”

Her mother replied, “It’s plugged into your computer. Remember the other day you were synchronizing music into your iPod?”

She found the charger, and she could hear her mother blaming her father because he couldn’t find the adapter for his memory card, which she had given to him yesterday. Sara smiled and went to take a shower.

After the shower, she went surfing on the net for a little while and was looking for cheap books for her next semester in college. She was already registered and her friend Neha as well. Both of them registered for the same classes.

Suddenly, she remembered that she should tell Neha about the books on Amazon are very cheap and both of them should buy the books from that website. Sara called Neha and told her about the deal on Amazon, but Neha, as usual, was too scared to do anything, especially on the net. To get the deal from Amazon, she would have to give out her credit card number, which she was afraid to do because she was afraid that somebody would steal the card number. So, Sara told her that she’ll sign up and order the books for both of them. She also asked her to tell her parents that she’ll be staying at their place when her mother calls to ask her parents, so they won’t refuse her mother. Neha’s parents also liked her and didn’t mind her being with Neha or at their place. They hung up after talking a while.

It was six o’clock in the morning. The alarm went off. She was awake even before her alarm, but she hit snooze and pretended that she’s asleep. She didn’t want to get up, but she had to. She also picked her classes in the morning times for next semester. She wanted to sign up for the afternoon classes, but her parents didn’t want her to stay out very late. She was pissed because she wanted to go to some college far away from home. Her parents didn’t want her to leave them because she was their only child, and she was only 17 years old.

After ten minutes, the alarm went off again, and Sara’s mother came in to wake her up.

Before her mother could say something, Sara got mad, “I’m awake, Mom. I’ll be ready; how many times do I have to tell you that I can take care of myself? You don’t need to do all this for me. For God’s sake, I’m turning 18 in a couple of months.”

Her mother got sad and left the room immediately.

Sara, underneath her breath, “Why can’t she leave me alone?”

Sara got up and went to the bathroom to take shower. She got out a dress for school and went downstairs to go to school. Her mother caught her at the door and asked her if she wants to have breakfast. But Sara was still mad at her because her mother always looked into whatever she does. Sara left the house without saying anything to her mother.

She drove straight to Neha’s house to pick her up and then went straight to school. Sara didn’t say anything in the car while driving to school. Neha knew that whenever Sara was quiet in the car, she was mad at her mother for some reason. Both of them didn’t say anything else and listened to music.

She had a Toyota Camry, which her parents gave her on her 17th birthday. She took a driving class and got her driver’s license when her parents told her that they would give her a car.

There was a guy in their school who liked Sara, but Neha was in love with him. His name was Johnathan Nelson, and everybody called him John. He was tall, slim, with brown eyes and light brown hair, and looked handsome. She only liked him as a good friend and also explained that to Johnathan so many times, but Johnathan never understood her and still liked her. She didn’t want to go out with him because she thought of him as a good friend, and Neha was in love with him. Besides, her parents didn’t want her to date.

She was a Muslim girl, and in the Muslim religion, “girls are not allowed to date anybody” as her parents told her. Johnathan never cared about her being a Muslim because he loved her so much that he didn’t care what her religion was.

Her parents told her that it is Haram to have a boyfriend in the Muslim religion. Haram is something that is forbidden, illegal, unlawful, or impure, according to the Muslim religion. Her parents were not very religious because they let Sara wear any kind of clothes she wanted and let her do anything she wanted, except having a boyfriend.

The Muslim religion says that women are not allowed to wear clothes that show a women’s body, but Sara wore lots of clothes that showed her body.

Sara and Neha arrived at their school at 7:45 a.m. and John was waiting for them outside the school. John always waited for Sara because he loved to talk to her all the time and didn’t want to miss even a word she said. Neha got out of the car first, and John talked to her while Sara parked the car. Neha also knew that he liked Sara but didn’t care because she loved him without any conditions. She didn’t care if he loved her back or not; she only wanted to see him every day, and she never told him that she loves him. Sara knew that and wanted to tell John, but Neha always stopped her.

“Hi, Neha. How you’re doing this morning?” said Johnathan.

Neha replied with excitement, “I’m fine, and you?”

Johnathan was still looking at Sara, “I’m great.”

When Neha didn’t get attention from him, she just thought it was better to leave. “Hmm… I’ll see you later then.” Sara came to the school door.

John and Sara started walking inside the school. She was already in a bad mood. “What’s up?” Johnathon asked her. “You’re not in a good mood, what happened?” Johnathan could always tell if she was in a good mood or not because he was madly in love with her.

Sara rolled her eyes, “I’m fine.”

Johnathan lifted his hands in the air and said, “Alright, you don't wanna talk about it; that's fine. I just wanted to ask you if you would go to the prom with me?”

Sara knew this would come up sooner or later, but she had to refuse him, “Well, the prom is tomorrow night, and I can't go because I'll be staying at Neha's place tonight, and my parents won't let me stay out for another night. You know how my parents are.”

Johnathan begged her. “Please, just go with me; this is the only time we can go with each other as a date.” He blushed while asking her out just for a day.

Sara knew that Neha liked Johnathan, so she had to refuse him no matter what, “Please, try to understand. I can't go.”

Johnathan still insisted, “Just ask them. Maybe they will say yes.”

Sara again rolled her eyes and nodded her head sideways. “Ha ha ha, they will never say that especially if you're gonna be with me.”

Johnathan got excited. “Alright, just give it a try. Maybe—”

“Okay, fine. I'll ask them.” They were already by her classroom. “I'll see you at lunch.”

The bell rang, and both of them headed to their classes. Her first period was Newspaper, and she was the Editor. So, all the students under her were writers, photographers, and designers. She had to check all the work when they were done with their stories.

Sometimes, she had to go take pictures and write stories for some new students. She had been taking that class for three years, and this was her last year. She also received awards for being an editor for the newspaper. Her teacher, Daisy Watson, was impressed with her work, and she liked her so much.

Her teacher looked at Sara. “Hello, how are you? You are looking low today.”

Sara put her bag down, “I'm fine, Ms. Daisy; how are you? I just don't want to do anything today, is that fine with you?”

Ms. Daisy stood up and came up to her table. “Yeah, of course. You can take a day off. We don't have anything important to do today, but you do have to understand that you do have some stories to edit and check on other students because I need to publish them as soon as possible.”

After Sara did the editing, the stories went to Ms. Daisy for final touches, and then the teacher published them in the school newspaper or yearbook.

Sara put her hair in a ponytail. “Yeah, I'll do them on Monday, and don't worry. Everything will be done by the deadline.”

Sara went out of the class and wandered around the school. Nobody could say anything to her if she walked around the school because she had a press pass, which only newspaper or yearbook students had. So, the whole period, she was out of the class and went to get Neha’s class because she was really upset and wanted to talk to her. Sara knocked on the door, and Neha's teacher opened it.

Sara knocked on the door. “Mr. Brooks, can I talk to Neha for a minute? I need to interview her for the newspaper.”

Mr. Brooks looked down to see nothing in her hands. “Well, you don't have anything in your hands. How are you going to interview her?”

Sara made up some excuses. “Hmm, I know my questions, and I won't take her for long.”

Mr. Brooks knew that she was from the Newspaper, so he had to let her talk to her, “Alright, but don't take too long because we have an important review to do for our upcoming test, and I know that Neha wouldn't want to miss that.”

“Sure, Sir,” Sara said. Mr. Brooks called Neha, and she came out of the class.

Neha closed the door behind her and got angry, “What do you want now? I can't miss my class, and you know that I hate missing stuff in the class. Why don't you do me favor? Go tell the principal to change my schedule and put me in the same classes as you. Then I can listen to you any time you want, and you won't have to worry about lying to everybody anymore.”

Sara replied sarcastically, “That's a great idea, but right now I'm not in a joking mood. I want to talk to you about something important, and don't waste time cuz Mr. Brooks will come to get you soon.”

Neha said, “Okay, tell me, what is it?”

Sara turned her face away. “I was rude to Mom, and I know that she loves me, but when she comes to my room and is always overprotective, I get so mad. I just want to say sorry to her and tell her that I love her but that she doesn't need to be so protective of me because I can take care of myself.”

She wanted to cry, but she hated to cry in front of people, even in front of Neha. She didn't want people to know that she was so weak. So, she made everybody think that she was very strong. Sometimes, people and her own family believed that she is very strong, and she’s always happy.

Neha turned her, so they were standing face to face. “If you feel sorry, then call your mom and talk to her. I know that she'll understand.” She was still listening in her class because she hated missing her lectures.

Sara replied, “You know I won't be able to do that. I can't be nice.” Both of them laughed.

Neha suggested, “You can do one thing. Why don't you just forget about it? Your mom will forget it too pretty soon.”

Sara was still worried about her mother, but Neha didn't pay attention to her because she had a test coming up, and she didn't want to miss the lecture. Suddenly, Mr. Brooks came out and told Neha that they're going to review now.

Neha hurried to get back to class. “I'll see you at lunch, and we'll talk there.”

Sara sadly said, “Yeah, see ya,” while waving at her.