So this is a thing I wrote to try and fix Yousana and redeem Noora
Noora’s head was spinning. The world around her suddenly muted and she could only grasp onto one coherent thought—William, her Wilhelm, the love of her life, had moved on from her and had a girlfriend in London. Noora felt sick at the thought of him with another girl. They had stuck with each other through thick and thin, except of course this bullshit that Niko had pulled. Fine, if he was moving on so could she. Noora searched the party for someone, anyone. Luckily, he came to her.
“Hey Noora,” he said, “Have you se-“
She lunged in and kissed him, her tongue forcing its way into his mouth. She barely cared who she was kissing; all she could think about was how William wouldn’t like it. He wouldn’t like it at all. Surprisingly, the boy kissed her back. But he was hesitant and quickly broke the kiss.
She had kissed Yousef, Sana’s brother’s friend. He was cute, but he was no William.
He just stared at her, shocked.
“Noora,” he began hesitatingly, “are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said, turning away. Then she thought of how guilty Sana had looked when she had confronted her and tears sprung up in her eyes. It was one thing for William to betray her, but another thing for her friends to do so.
“Hey, whatever it is, it’s okay,” Yousef said from behind her.
Noora barely heard him and ran in the general direction of the bathroom. She had barely reached when she broke down crying. She heard footsteps and glanced up, alarmed to find Yousef had followed her.
“I’m waiting outside,” he said calmly and left.
Noora watched him go silently. Her vacant eyes were glued to the door for a few minutes before she decided to check her phone for messages. Her lockscreen brought back the tears—it was a black and white Instagram photo of her and William. Despite their “break” months ago, she hadn’t had the heart to change it.
It was a long time before Noora Amalie Saetre emerged from the dingy bathroom of the karaoke bar and when she finally came out, she was surprised to find Yousef still there. The two of them went outside and sat down.
“Are you okay Noora,” Yousef said gently, “I know we don’t know each other really well, but I just want you to know that I’m there if you need someone to talk to.”
His kindness pleasantly surprised her and she knew that talking it out was the least impulsive thing she could do right now. So she told him about William. Not everything, not the complicated business with his asshole brother, but bits and pieces. Snippets and memories. Memories of love, desire and caring and how all of that had now gone out of the window.
“Well,” Yousef said, with a smile, “it’s just heartbreak Noora. You’ll get through it. You loved someone and you’ll love someone else.”
Then he added, “That kind of love is difficult to find and difficult to keep.”
“You’re talking about someone else now aren’t you?” she said.
Yousef stared at the ground.
Now, it was his turn to look surprised.
“Please,” she said, a grin now beginning to creep up on her face, “Yousef, you wouldn’t stop talking about her at that party we all went to and I see the way you look at her. For what it’s worth, I think she likes you too.”
Yousef’s face was now a deep red.
“Really?” he said hopefully, “Are you sure?”
An infectious grin spread across his face. Noora thought it was adorable. However, the grin suddenly went as quickly as it had come.
“But she unfriended me on Facebook.”
“Hello?! Facebook friendship doesn’t mean anything.”
He stared at the ground again.
“She unfriended me after I told her I don’t believe in Allah.”
Shit, Noora thought to herself. How is anyone supposed to fix that?
However, she was determined to help. Sana was one of her closest friends and she had helped Noora through her problems both with and post-William. She deserved happiness.
“I’ll help you get her Yousef. I want to see you two happy.”
The infectious grin returned to his face, but she cringed, suddenly remembering the kiss.
“And I’m sorry about the kiss. Sometimes, when I’m upset, I can’t think straight.”
“It’s okay,” he said goodnaturedly.
And so Noora and Yousef strategized on how Yousef could finally get the girl he had pined after for years. However, what they didn’t know was that that girl had seen their kiss and drawn her own conclusions. While they met up and planned more, keeping Sana in the dark the whole time, she grew more and more despondent. Things finally came to a head for her when she eavesdropped on her brother’s friends talking about how Yousef was meeting up with and texting Noora. Strong as she was, she broke down. Everything in her life was shit—the bus, her friends, Jamilla and now Yousef. The one person who made her smile when everything else went to hell. Noora was prettier. Noora was blonde. Noora was uncomplicated. It was so unfair. She already had everything. Blinded by betrayal and despondency, Sana remembered she had Noora’s email password—exper5. Now, it was time to use it.
Don’t let Sana’s intentions be misunderstood; she never meant to hurt Noora.
Don’t let Noora’s intentions be misunderstood; she never meant to hurt Sana.
Don’t let me be misunderstood.
