Carmen's pov
I believed my life to be very simple and quite peaceful even, ever since I was little my life has always been simple and quiet. Maybe because of the way my parents lived a simple quiet life, even though they were wealthy enough to live extravagantly like parents of their age, they thrived in simplicity and so did I, I mean I have to follow in my parents footsteps.
We were christians and belonged to the Catholic Apostolic church, there's a community church not far from our school that we all attend every Sunday for mass.
The Reverend father, Fr Remijus liked our family because of how dedicated, and devoted we were in the affairs of the church, but aside my family, he especially liked me personally, he never misses a chance to tell me how proud of me he is anytime he sees me, how I have been such an asset to the church and society and I just smile at the compliment.
Of course I'm an asset to the church and society, it's all my parents have ever trained me to be, how can I be something else, it's all I have known my whole life, be a good girl, love everyone around you, be kind, be selfless never selfish, tolerate everyone, leave an impact in someone's life by being the angel in that life and all will be well.
I smiled at the words ringing through my head as I stood at the choir's patio, preparing to take the hymn for the mass. I was wearing a long white robe and standing and watching the other members get ready and prepare everything for mass.
Don't get me wrong, I like church and the serenity of everything, but I know I liked God more than I liked church or coming here in general, my parents liked church way too much, sometimes I feel they like church more than they like God.
It's always about the community, keeping a good and spotless reputation, being honest, sometimes too honest you're not being honest with yourself, making people love and appreciate your character, make them want to be like you in every way possible, make an impact on them, and of course it's in the church.
Is this me making an impact on people's life, here I am, in this robe ?? I couldn't help but wonder, I'm being their angel here am I not??.
The mass will soon start in a matter of minutes and people have started coming and taking their seats, families and couples, and friends too. Grumbling children who obviously want to be in other places rather than in a church but whose parents are determined to bring up in the right way and that is, the way of the lord.
How sweet.
I wasn't supposed to keep staring at the entrance, I was supposed to face the choir members and anchor the whole praise considering the fact that I'm their choir mistress, yeah I am, I have many potential you know.
But then I saw something I never thought I would as I kept looking at the entrance, I wasn't supposed to see something like this happen any day but here I was staring at it as it walked past the church entrance in its majesty and made their way through the other humans in the church and found its way to to the front seats and sat down.
Rasheed was in church.
The Arab model who goes to my school and also Kale's foster brother. A lot of things came to mind at once, the moment I see him walk into the church without a care in the world and of course with his hair covered, I don't even know why he does that, I thought it's only their women that covers their hair and even now and then you will see curly strands of hair peak out from the perfectly tied keffiyeh.
Yeah I know what it's called, needless to say I searched about them or will I say I searched about him, I don't know how it happened or when but I just find myself undeniably attracted to this walking temptation right in front of me.
Which should and is the biggest scandal of the week, because alongside the beautiful home training I got from my sweet parents, is the rule not to get too involved with people that might make us fall out of faith, or is opposed to the idea of God and Jesus Christ.
And Rasheed my people, are the exact description of that guy to not get involved with.
But guess what, that magnet inside of me that has remained dormant all these years has decided to awaken in its full glory since the appearance of Rash.
Yeah that's a nickname, In my head.
I don't know what happens to me when that guy is close to me but I promise you it's not good, neither can it been mentioned or explained, I'm not a shy or timid person but for reasons that are beyond me, I lose my train of thought and just stare in awe and when he finally decide to look at me with those cold eyes, my inside just turn into jelly.
I close my eyes immediately, Carmen not now... Carmen not now...
I opened my eyes again and now he's on me and I turned to face the altar now, staring at the statue of Jesus crucified.
Sweet Jesus, I want to sing praises to you this morning, save me from this temptation right in front of me, I don't know how I will sing well if he's right in front of me, what sort of punishment is this.
The mass started and the congregation followed, and then the choir, I focused wholly on the songs as I anchored the whole praise. I did surprisingly well without stuttering.
As I sat down and the sermon started, I looked at the corner of my eyes to see Kale and.... Amory
Wow did all of them plan to surprise me today, kale goes to church but never Amory, Amory detaste the four walls of this church especially after the death of Atticus, she never believed in God but she always came in the past because her brother did and after he died, she never stepped her foot her again. But now she's here even though she looks like she would rather be anywhere else than here.
Amory being my best friend was accepted by my mom because of how she saw three of us in the past and she was particularly fond of Atticus and would approve of us whenever she saw us together.
But he died and things changed drastically for Amory which my mom didn't approve but she also believed that it was out of trauma and therefore I should be there for her and be her solace while convincing her to come back to church and be a good girl, Amory never believed in God from day one, Atticus and I did but Amory didn't but we were still great friends.
The only reason that could make Amory reappear here again is obviously Kale, the miracle guy that came out of nowhere and is making changes in Amory's life that no one could.
And Rash, I'm not quite sure why he's here, his half brother has little to no effect on him coming here unless Kale ordered him to do so which he wouldn't.
Elijah told me about how one day Kale's parents came home with an Arab boy that they saved from a terrorist attack and brought him back to New York, since he was not willing to go back to his country considering he lost his whole family, subsequently decided to adopt him and he was willing to go with them.
Rash is one strange kid, he renounced Islamic religion but he never accepted Christianity either, even though Kale's parents were christians, he didn't believe in the doctrines of Christianity of the one true God, of being selfless, of unconditional love or the gibberish of leaving vengeance for God, he would rather fight and get his revenge than allow someone else do it.
According to Elijah, when Rasheed was saved by Kale's parents he swore to protect them as everyone in that house has become his master, Kale's mom did not approve of it but he was too stubborn and just assumed his position as a bodyguard and a protector even though no one treated him as such.
He never said much, just a few words when absolutely necessary, I don't know his history but I certainly know he is one hard guy, no one has heard his story or how he lived back in his country but they didn't try to probe too much.
My eyes moved to him again as he sat down and listened to the sermon, I know he was not paying attention to anything the Reverend was saying, he was staring dead into the man speaking, I was carefully watching him, he has a boyish look on his face that almost makes him look innocent but his whole body begs to differ.
The strength in his arms, his legs as he walks across the school premises, the way his eyes look cold sometimes and dead some other time, his ocean orbs always swimming with an uncanny aura of an untold story and a dead spirit.
To a lot of people he was scary, way too ominous to approach, like he was a walking danger, Elijah is scared shitless of him, he told me he carries a double edged sword around with him everywhere he goes.
I wouldn't be surprised if it was true, he could totally do something like that, but I wasn't scared of him, that is dangerous I know that, and certainly not anything a good girl should be doing but I couldn't help myself, instead of running from him I was attracted instead.
Instead of feeling fear, I only feel an exciting thrill in my veins anytime I encounter him. I close my eyes as I remember the last time I encountered him in the hallway.
It wasn't my intention to follow him but I wanted to ask the whereabouts of Elijah and I was walking behind him to tap him on the back since he couldn't hear me and that is when I noticed how sharp his instincts are, because he turned immediately, before I could even get close to him, my back was on the wall and he was staring down at me.
Those dead eyes bored Into mine.
And that was when I felt it for the first time, the cold blue blood that was running through my vein turned fiery red, and excitement flared up within me, that was new.
I didn't feel anything close to fear at that moment. It was the exact opposite, a bit of exaggeration is to say that I felt alive all over again.
He apologized when he realized I was not an enemy and stepped back, when I didn't say anything for a while, which I honestly couldn't, he left me there in the empty hallway for me to recover.
The mass ended and I couldn't be more grateful, we sang the final closing song and we were done and on instinct I turned to Rash and he was staring at me as I stood among musical instruments ready to leave and I started feeling self conscious all of a sudden.
I mean he was staring at me dead in the eye, I had to look away.
Did I look good, how was my hair, how did I sound when I was singing? When I wasn't pleased with this robe that covered me from my head to my toe, I probably looked like a nun.
My attention was diverted from how I look when I heard my mom call me over and I had to go and answer her, another routine with Fr Remijus as always.
Just act natural Carmen, walk elegantly to them and greet your elders with respect like a good girl and don't make a fool of yourself, I can still feel his eyes on me.
But fate isn't always on my side because I conveniently stumbled upon a piano on the floor and almost fell down, and I can tell you there is nothing graceful about the way I stumbled and almost landed my face on the floor.
Needless to say I did the walk of shame and walked towards my mom and the Reverend as they told me to be careful not to fall, I dared not look in the direction of Rash again until I met mom but in between our routine of compliments and smiles, I looked back to find Rash looking at the three of us standing with a corner of his lips curved up, he was smiling.