Chapter 3:

On the way to Noor's house no one said a word in the car. I didn't know the girls long enough to even began to think what they had in mind. All I knew was that Zain was my cousin, and I didn't think she'd put us in any danger. Noor quickly ran out of her house and dashed inside the car.

"Jeez, what took you so long?! My parents were asking a million questions! We are behind schedule!" said Noor frantically. She ignored me, but I took no offense.

"Habibti! Calm down! So what if we're late! Make them wait! We don't want to look desperate! The later the better." Nouf said carelessly angering Noor even more.

We finally arrived to what looked like beach houses right on the skirts of the Gulf. The girls got out of the car and I followed. I was not use to wearing abaya yet. I walked behind them watching how elegantly they flowed across the pavement, holding their expensive, designer purses on left hand and crystallised, blingin' phones on their right hand. Nouf searched through her purse and pulled out another phone. She made a call and waved us to follow her. We reached the door and could clearly hear music playing. Nouf softly knocked 3 times and the door opened.

"Ahlan wa Sahlan! You made it! We are delighted to see you!" said the guy that opened the door. He was tall, dark and handsome. He had a charming smile that would make any girl melt, even me. He greeted the girls, and was then standing in front of me.

"You must be Lulu! Nouf mentioned that you would come tonight. We're glad you did. I'm Talal by the way."

"Nice to meet you Talal. I'm Lulu...oh. wait. You knew that already." I said nervously, feeling stupid.


We walked into the living room area and the guys stood up to greet us. The girls unbuttoned their abayas and hung them up in the closet. I stood there unsure of what to do.


"Lulu, it's ok. You can take your abaya off. The guys are cool." Zain said assuring me and helping me with the abaya.

"So what would you ladies like to drink? The fridge is stocked with everything you can possibly think of! You name it! We got it!" Abdullah said. Abdullah had an athletic type of body. He had long hair, a little above his shoulders, and he wore a thin head band, which made him look like an Italian football player.

"I'll take anything! Just make it strong, but sweet!" said Nouf without hesitation.

"Me too!" followed Zain.

"Redbull? Do you have any?" Noor asked shyly.

"Only with vodka, habibti" said Khalid. "Don't worry, I'll make it light. You won't even notice! And you, Lulu, what can we serve you?"

At this point I was in shock. I had no idea these girls drank. In the U.S it's normal for girls our age to drink. It would have been no surprise to me back in Chicago. But we were in the Gulf. I didn't even THINK it was possible to buy bottles of alcohol here. This was all too new to me. I was nervous, but I didn't want it to mess up our night and seem like a party pooper. I decided to take a drink and begin our wild night...