1. Late Start

Here i am, laying on bed without a pillow nor a blanket, eyes wide open. I looked at my cell phone to check what time it was- ugh two hours till the alarm goes off. See my reputation as a sleeper was legendary, but not today. My eyelids never shut once. Suddenly i could feel my mobile vibrating in my hand. Mino bedig hal 7azza? i thought to myself. I looked at it "rawan is calling"- ugh what does she want now?! Rawan is a girl i met through a friend of mine; really nice girl but she had misinterpreted our friendship. I don't have anything against her i just wasn't ready for a relationship and everytime i try to explain to her she'd play dumb so with time i just gave up.

"aloo?" i tried to sound like i was asleep

"hala... rise and shine yassoof you're gonna be late for your first day" man she's got a nice voice to wake up to- i thought to myself as i got up

"Rawan it's 6.30! My first class doesn't start till 9!" i said with a semi-sharp tone

"oh 9a7" she giggled, "i just like it when you sound all sleepy" trying to justify her calling hal 7azza

"yeah thanks, listen rayan i'ma go take a quick shower... i'll catch you later ok?"

"okay call me lamma t5alli9... i wanna tell you what to wear"

Lazga! But again she does have a good taste, so this might not be the worst idea, "okay yeah sure, bye now"

"bye 7abeebi"- she hung up.

Again with the 7abeebi?? I don't know meta hal bnayya btefham enna she's like my sister. I don't wanna sound harsh cuz i don't wanna lose her, she's a very good friend and a very nice girl. Oh well- i thought as i turned the hot water on. I looked at myself in the mirror for a while. My hair was getting long and i hated fixing it everytime i woke up. I held it back to see how i looked if i garra3t. "not so bad" i said to myself confidently. I took my shaving machine, set it on 2 and shaved all of my hair off. I wiped the steam off the mirror with my arm to catch a glimpse of my 'new look'. "not bad" i mumbled. I then hopped inside the shower with scolding hot water pouring on my body- just perfect.

i got out, dried myself, took my phone and called rayan. "so tell me miss fashion, shalbis?" i said with a more cheerful tone- a hot shower always managesto cheer me up somehow- only god knows laish

"hahaha okay yalla- by the way a one-hour-45-minute shower is not a 'quick' shower... ilmohim, i was thinking talbis your navy lacoste t-shirt - the size medium one not large..."

"ma frigaw, they look the same" i interrupted. "no they don't you're gonna have trust me on that yassoof" she said sounding a bit too serious, "ma3a your light-colored jeans and your white nikes". Simple enough i thought.

"okay thanks yalla b-" i tried to end the phone call

"no wait!! aloo? alooo yousef?" ...i stayed in silence. "yousefff waiinek?" i could actually hear her pouting.

"ha rawan kani... na3am?"

"elbis your black aviator ray bans!" she said with a hint of excitement in her voice.

"okay inshalla... tabeen shay?" "no salamtek, goodluck on your first day... try not to get thrown out of this university too" she said

"i'll try" i remarked with sarcasm "yalla bye" and i hung up

I then drowned myself with Dior's Fahrenheit and got outa my room, passed by the dining room where my mom was having breakfast, kissed her and left home. I started my car then looked at the clock. SHIT 6 MINUTES TO GO!! I raced through the cars ignorning a couple of red lights and finally i was there! i quickly got out of the car, ran to the classrooms.

I looked for room 206. After a couple of minutes of searching i found it. As i got in a girl came in with me. I didn't even look at her cuz i was in too much of a hurry. We both got in. The class was full, dead silent and the tall pale proffessor turned his head towards me and that girl.

"late on your first day? not the best start isn't it? mr. yousef i'm assuming and ms. ... leila?" he said with an English accent

"well aah... i was... umm" i tried to come up with an excuse, but nothing came out. i couldn't say i took a long shower that would be simply embarrassing. I froze there wishing the ground would open up and swallow me.

"i'm sorry sir, i had some unfinished papers to hand in to the administration and yousef here helped me with them, i take total blame for being late, he had nothing to do with it" she interrupted with a perfect american accent. The proffessor took a moment. "you're off the hook the both of you, don't make it a habit though"

We both nodded and then took a seat at the end of the classroom- i sat behind her. "hey listen..." i whispered, she leaned back with her head indicatingthat she's listening, "i owe you, big time" i said with great gratitude.

"yeah you do" she smiled...