Silent waters
Run deep
Just like the lonely blood
That runs through me.
A teenage girl with a pretty face and long-black silky hair was reading those verses in her mind from a small notebook lying on a table.
"Wow. Did you write this, Oscar?" the girl asked the same-aged boy.
"Possibly." Oscar looked up at her flashing her a warm smile.
A teenager sporting a red sports jacket with the logo Vermillion imprinted on the back slapped the girl on the back gently.
"Hey babe." The boy said.
"Hey Salim." They both kissed. A long, passionate kiss.
"So what's up, Amna?" Salim asked his girlfriend.
"Oh, nothing. Just checking out Oscar's poem." Salim stared at the little open notebook on the table.
"Nice." He commented without reading the whole thing. He patted Oscar on the shoulder. "You should play cricket with us sometime, Oscar."
"Sure." Oscar replied pretending to be nice in front of Salim's girlfriend.
Salim and Oscar were rivals in and out of high school. Both of them hated each other since junior high. Oscar had a major crush on Amna and as soon as Salim had found out, he proposed to her on Valentine's Day before Oscar could even get a chance. And that's when the bitter rivalry really fired up.
Oscar's best friend Abdullah, who was also Amna's twin brother, approached the table holding two Coke bottles.
"Salim! You're finally here." Abdullah greeted him.
The four of them were at a restaurant called Pizza 4 U. It was the first day of winter holidays and they wanted to have a party to celebrate.
"I couldn't keep your sister waiting." Salim winked at Abdullah. He had his arm placed around Amna's shoulders.
Abdullah took a seat alongside Oscar. "What's up buddy? You look sad." He placed both bottles of the beverage on the table and shoved one towards him.
"Tell me something new." Oscar closed his notebook and put the ink pen in his hand on top of it.
Salim and Amna sat down across from Oscar and Abdullah.
"I thought you two were going to get a separate table." Abdullah joked.
"It's a party, Abdullah." Amna said rolling her hazel eyes.
"Yeah. Don't you know that sex comes after eating." Salim said and all of them laughed.
Oscar still had a crush on Amna. But not as tempting as it used to be. He was still friends with her.
Oscar had medium-sized wavy dark-brown hair. He was as six-feet tall, as was Salim. Salim was muscular and had short spiky black hair. He looked like the frontman of a boyband.
Abdullah finished sipping his Coke. "See what I brought for good luck."
He took out a small red gemstone from his jacket pocket. The stone glowed by the rays of the tube-lights on the ceiling.
"It's beautiful." Amna said reaching for it.
Her brother pulled the stone back.
"It must not be touched by another mortal." Abdullah declared.
"Let me guess. You brought it from Mystic Dave?"Salim asked raising an eyebrow.
"Yes."
"I knew it."
Abdullah adjusted his square-framed spectacles. He was a total sucker for astrology and all other kinds of pseudo sciences. Mystic Dave was a fortune teller who owned a shop down on Hazel Street. Abdullah went there every weekend.
Oscar studied the people around the place. No sign of his other classmates.
"Only some juniors from high school. Strange. We're the only seniors here."
"The others must be preparing to visit the other states." Abdullah suggested. "You know. For college."
"Damn. I'm gonna miss Martyr High." Salim declared banging his fist on the table.
Oscar silently agreed with his archrival. He had been in Martyr High for so long it was like a second home for him. He glanced at Amna then at Abdullah. From their expressions he could make out that they were thinking the same thing.
Polly, one of the waitresses, set two large plates of steaming pizzas on the table. Then she placed two cold drinks for Amna and Salim.
"Why don't you join us, Polly?" Oscar asked.
Polly had light-brown hair which she always kept tied in a ponytail. She was wearing red square-framed glasses, almost identical to Abdullah's, only that the one the boy had on his face was black.
"No, thanks. Got loads of work to do. Bye." She gave each of them a soft smile then departed from the scene.
Abdullah gave Oscar a playful kick from underneath the table. Oscar returned the kick and grinned at him. He knew that Abdullah had a crush on Polly but was scared to ask her out.
"Let's dig in, guys!" Oscar declared.
All of took one slice each from the one of the pizzas on the table.
"Wow. They're really hot." Amna held her mouth after taking a bite.
"Not as hot as you are, sweetheart." Her boyfriend said.
Aww…"
They both kissed again.
Oscar didn't care that much now. He was used to them kissing each other, cuddling and everything.
Oscar raised his glass. "Cheers for the beginning of winter hols."
Everyone clanked their glasses together.
ns 15.158.61.42da2
