When I got the idea of this story (which was in the bathroom, by the way), I got so excited and couldn't wait to get started on it. It seemed such a good one and I just wasn't able to resist!

Well, anyway, this story contains a variance between two religions…so if you're offended or irritated by such material, please don't read.

CROSSING ROADS

Chapter 1:

'See you after school!'

Andy Barrett quietly shut the door leading to the boys' locker room. He shoved his hands deep in his jeans' pockets as he trudged down the empty school corridors towards the cafeteria. The reason they were empty was because it was recess at the moment. He had just stopped by the gym for a short meeting the football coach had called. It was only the first day of school and the coach had started to arrange practice sessions. Andy sighed. He couldn't blame the coach; after all, he wanted to win the high school championship as much as he did…and this being their last year at high school; this year was their last chance.

He pushed his way through the cafeteria's double doors, and was immediately greeted by the blast of noise in the room. Lunch hour was easily the noisiest hour in the day. He headed for the food bar and picked up a tray. Being very hungry, he loaded it with food and then stood back and scanned the room for a place to sit. His eyes fell on a table to which a single girl was sitting.

He had seen her for the first time at orientation. She was new in this school, and was a senior like him. But that wasn't what had interested him in her; it was the fact that this girl was a Muslim. She had sat there during orientation, wearing her scarf and her conservative clothes, and didn't spare a word or a look to anyone. She was obviously very shy. Andy had been always intrigued by people from different cultures and religions, and he had been itching to talk to this girl ever since he had seen her.

He made straight towards the table, ignoring the people who were calling him to join their table. He stopped short before her. The girl didn't look up, and continued to read the book she had in front of her on the table, until he had cleared his throat. She turned her big green eyes up to his face.

Andy smiled amiably. 'Hi,' he said. 'I was wondering if I may join you.'

The girl looked surprised, that was for sure. 'Um…alright, sure,' she agreed.

Andy set down his tray on the table and sat down across from the girl. 'By the way, I'm Andy Barrett,' he told her, and held out his hand.

The girl frowned at his hand for a moment. 'I'm sorry, but I can't shake your hand,' she said quietly.

Andy was taken aback. 'Er…but…my hand's all clean…I mean, if that's what you're worried about,' he said quickly.

The girl smiled and shook her head. 'I didn't mean that,' she assured him. 'I just can't shake your hand because my religion forbids the physical contact between an unrelated man and woman.'

'Oh,' was all Andy could say. No physical contact allowed?

'I know, it sounds weird to you, doesn't it?' she said, continuing to smile. Andy nodded vigorously. 'My name's Maya Gorman, nice to meet you.'

Andy smiled back at her. 'Nice to meet you, too,' he replied. He picked up his fork and started prodding his salad with it. 'So…when a man comes up to you to shake your hand, what do you do? Do you tell him that you can't shake his hand?'

Maya shook her head. 'No, I usually hold my hand to my chest…like this,' she said, and held her hand to her chest as a way of demonstration. 'It's pretty common in Muslim societies.'

'I'm sorry, I didn't know,' he murmured. 'I hope I didn't offend you…?'

She shook her head again. 'No, I'm fine,' she assured him.

She didn't say anything else, but she didn't return to her book either. She closed it and sat back in her chair. She wasn't looking directly at him, instead, her eyes wandered around the room, returning to his face every now and then. Andy started on his own food. He was midway through his salad when he noticed that she had no tray before her.

'You aren't eating,' It was more of a statement than a question.

'Ah, yes, I'm not hungry,' she replied.

Andy put down his fork. 'Uh…is it because of me?' he said, feeling a bit nervous. 'Am I making you uncomfortable? I'll go find another table if you want.'

'No, that's really not necessary,' she said earnestly. 'You're not making me uncomfortable! If I'm giving off that impression, then I'm sorry, but I've never been good at making conversations…my dad always criticizes me about that; he hates to see me sitting quietly in a group of people. Sorry.' She blushed faintly, feeling she had said too much.

'Oh…good, then,' he said, relieved. 'I mean, it's good that I'm not making you uncomfortable…not the fact that you're not good at making conversation, that's not…' He broke off, and she laughed a bit. '…yeah, well, you know what I mean.'

'Yes, I do,' she replied.

'Tell you what, let's give it a shot,' he suggested. 'I'll ask you questions and you'll answer…and then you'll come up with questions as we talk, okay?'

'But…you won't be able to finish your food that way,' she pointed out. 'Don't you want to eat? I wouldn't want to keep you busy.'

'Nah, I'm not that hungry,' he lied, while his stomach grumbled in protest. Hoping she hadn't heard that, he pushed his tray aside and folded his arms on the table in front of him. 'Okay, how do you like it at this school so far?'

'It was good,' Maya answered. 'Everybody's been so helpful…and it's not so different from my old school, anyway.'

'Did you have friends back at your old school?' he asked.

'Yes, I had a few close friends,' she admitted. 'I really didn't want to move, but dad's job forced him to, and so…I just went with the flow, you know?'

'Yeah, I think I do,' he replied.

Maya smiled. 'You're pretty popular here, aren't you?' she remarked. 'I've seen you between classes today; you were always surrounded by people…I can't imagine what's it's like to be so popular…it must be great, though.'

'No, not really…when you're popular, everyone wants to be your friend just so that people would notice them…most of them really don't like me,' he said, chuckling. 'Besides, I'm only well-known around here because I'm on the football team.'

'Oh,' she said.

'It must be nice to have a few close friends whom you know they love you and care about you, people you can trust and rely on,' he told her. 'I don't think I've ever reached such conditions with anybody.'

'Yeah, I suppose,' she said thoughtfully.

Andy racked his brain for something to talk about, and his eyes fell on the book she had been reading. 'You seemed to be quite engrossed in you book when I stopped here,' he commented. 'May I ask what the book is about?'

Maya smiled. 'It's a novel…about two girls from completely different societies who through a series of events became close friends,' she said, stroking the leather cover of the book fondly. 'It's a gift from mom, so it's a special favorite of mine…I love reading and all, but this book will always remain my favorite.'

'May I have a look at it?' he asked.

'Sure,' she agreed. She picked it up and handed it over to him. 'But you might not understand it because it's in…'

But Andy had already opened the book. He stared blankly at the words on the pages, not able to register a single one in his brain. He looked up to see that Maya was giggling. 'What the…?' he whispered.

'It's in Arabic,' she explained, retrieving the book from him. 'Naturally you wouldn't have understood a single word.'

'Oh…you're an Arab?' he asked.

'Half-Arab,' she told him. 'Dad's American but my mom is Lebanese…it was mom who taught me to read and speak in Arabic.'

'So…if I asked you, could you say something in Arabic now?' he said, grinning. Maya nodded. 'Uh…okay, how do you say hi in Arabic?'

'Marhaba,' she said smoothly.

'Er…mar…marhaba?' he said, uncertainly. He felt weird saying it.

'Yes, but the Islamic way to say it is, assalamu alaikum,' she went on. 'Which also kinda means, peace on you…there are also some other ways to say hi.'

Andy nodded, feeling slightly bewildered. It seemed easy for Arabs to switch between Arabic and English, not to mention being able to speak both languages fluently. He didn't think he could ever learn to speak proper Arabic. The words seemed absolutely alien to him!

The bell chose to ring then, announcing the end of recess. Andy shot a helpless glance at his barely untouched tray; he had counted on having a few more minutes to finish his food before the bell sounded. He looked back at Maya as she picked up her book and got up from her seat.

'I'd better be going now,' she said. She made a face. 'I have double biology with Mr. Cummings.'

'I had him last year,' he told her. 'He's a bit of a grouch so be sure not to cross him.'

Maya nodded. 'I'll take your word on that,' she said. She paused for a moment and then smiled. 'Shukran.'

Andy stared blankly up at her. 'Eh?' he finally said.

She laughed. 'It means thank you,' she explained.

'Oh,' he murmured, and chuckled. Then he frowned at her. 'Thanks…for what, exactly?'

'For sitting with me and talking to me…when you could've gone and sat with anyone else,' she replied. 'Thanks.'

Andy blushed and scratched the back of his head. 'It's no big deal,' he mumbled. 'You're pretty cool. It was really nice talking to you.'

'It was nice talking to you, too,' she admitted. She hugged her book tightly to her chest. 'I should go now…so…bye.'

'Yeah…me too,' Andy said slowly. He got up to his feet. 'Hey, Maya…I'll see you later, okay?'

Maya smiled. 'Okay,' she agreed.


I'm done! How was that for the first chapter? It's been such a long while since I wrote something other than fan fiction so I really don't know! Reviews are appreciated. :D

-S. N. B.