Abu Dhabi Love

Chapter 1
As Karen trudged out of the airport she was engulfed by hot air, which was a rude shock to the cool air conditioning inside the airport.
         “God, it’s so hot here.” Karen pouted.
         “The only thing I can say is that it should get cooler, I mean it is summer, right guys?”  said Karen’s all too optimistic mother. 
         They found someone holding a sign up that said “Welcome Jenkins Family”.    They went over to him.
         “Are you the Jenkins family?” he said. The man holding the sign spoke perfect English.          
         “Yes, we are,”
         “Welcome to the United Arab Emirates.  I’m Bilal, I’ll be taking you to your home now.”
         Karen was in a daze.  She was still jet-lagged from the thirteen-hour flight.  She could not fathom the fact that she was going to have to live here in this hot and humid country.  Before she knew it, she was at their apartment. 
         Karen was surprised at how modern the city was.  After all she was supposed to be in the middle of the desert.  Though it was broad daylight she felt like falling asleep. 
         After the guy Bilal introduced them to their new home Karen ran to the room that was to be hers.  She loved the fact that the house was fully furnished.  It was a big perk that her parents got a house complimentary of the American Community School. 
         Her mom was to be the Elementary principal and her dad was going to be a middle school math teacher.  Karen was reluctant to leave her former Alabama home.  Though, in spite of herself, Karen seemed to like the idea of being overseas. 
         Before Karen could change out of her sweaty clothes, she fell asleep in her cool air-conditioned room. 

She awoke to the sound of the fan puffing loudly attempting to keep turning despite the fact her suitcase was in the way.  Apparently the air conditioning had not kicked in quite yet.
         She looked at the clock on the wall.  It read 5 am.  Soon after, she heard a sound from a distance that she didn’t recognize.  Karen realized that it was a man’s voice speaking a language she didn’t understand.  Too early, thought Karen as she stuffed her head under her pillow.  She fell asleep snoring loudly. 
         The next time she looked it was 9:45.  Now this is when you are supposed to wake up, thought Karen.  She tiptoed her way to the kitchen.  But before she reached the kitchen she saw her parents staring at her.  The stare seemed to suggest, what has taken you so long?
         “What???” Karen demanded as she walked into the room.          
         “Well, we were about to tell you we are going out to breakfast at 10 o’clock with the family next door to us, the Tesomoure’s “ explained Karen’s dad, Steve.
         “Good, I’m starving.”
          “I think there’s one boy the same age as you Karen.”  said her dad.
         “Cool,” Karen replied.  Though this was much more then just “cool”.  Karen hadn’t even talked to a guy her age since three weeks ago and even that guy was a freak.  This was way more than just cool.
         “Ok guys let’s head out.” her mother Janet said.
         They rang their next-door neighbors doorbell.  After a few seconds a boy came out.  Karen thought that this was what she qualified as being good looking.  He had plain, dirty blonde hair.  He was slightly taller than her and he looked to be quite fit. 
         “Hi welcome to Abu Dhabi, I’m Chase and these are my parents James and Debbie.”
         “Nice to meet you” said Steve.
         Everyone shook hands awkwardly.  When Chase shook Karen’s he gave her a sweet smile.  Karen blushed, though she hoped it was hidden beneath her freckles. 
         The restaurant was a coffee house.  Karen sat next to Chase in the booth and the parents chatted quietly about what to plant in the desert.
         “Hey Chase, do you think we’re ever going to have rain here?” Karen said, not bothering to ask the others who were obviously preoccupied in their own boring chitchat. 
         “The day we have rain will be the best day of my life,” Chase declared. 
         “I see,” Karen said.
         Karen’s breakfast, chocolate crepes, was set before her, followed by Chase’s triple stack of pancakes.
         “Looks good,” Chase said.
         “Same here.”
         The parents were so caught up with their conversation, something about politics, that Karen and Chase could have left and they wouldn’t have noticed.
         “I can’t believe them!  They just met and they are already talking politics.” Chase said.
         “No kidding,” said Karen. 
         Then, Chase said something totally unexpected.
         “Your eyes are really pretty,” Chase complimented.  This time Karen knew her blush was very visible. 
         “Uh thanks, your eyes are nice too,” Karen couldn’t believe what she said.  She normally never would have said that, but he made it easy.  Karen was surprised at the fact that she already was hitting on a guy she had just met.  Not only that, but he obviously liked her too. 
         When Chase and Karen finished their breakfast they found it annoying that the adults were still blabbing on. 
         “I’ve got an idea.  Let’s ditch the parents and go for a walk around town?” said Chase.
         “Yeah, sure,” Karen agreed, as she pushed aside the butterflies building in her stomach.  They got their parents ok and headed out.


Chapter 2
         “So where did you live?” Chase asked as he opened the door for Karen. 
         “In Alabama,” Karen answered. “How ‘bout you”
         “Really?  My home is in Georgia.”          
         “Cool.” Karen began gazing off into the distance.  “Those are some pretty odd shaped buildings over there,” she pointed and Chase looked.  There was a golf ball shape at the top of a building.
         “Yeah, Abu Dhabi is pretty modern for it’s location.”  Chase said as he directed her towards the corniche, a man made water way.  They passed several bike riders and walkers along the way. 
         Chase was looking at Karen’s hand wondering what she would think if he held it.  Although he was nervous, something inside him told him it would be ok if he did.  With out looking at her hand he brushed it slightly.  Karen held it freely, unsure if he really meant to brush her hand or not. 
         There was attraction building between them.  They looked so cute together, holding hands, walking down the sidewalk.  Chase looked at Karen and smiled.  She blushed, smiled, and looked back.
         “Are you going to blush every time I look at you?” Chase teased.
         “I can’t help it,” Karen chuckled and sighed. 
         For a while they just walked in silence admiring each other.           “You know where we should go?” Chase said.
         “Where?”
         “To the beach.”
         “Okay that sounds like fun,” Karen said.
         Chase directed her down to the beach where they sat in the sand.  They smiled at each other.  Again Karen blushed, and Chase shook his head and smiled.
         “I’m getting kind of hungry,” Karen stated.
         “Why don’t we get a bite to eat, I’m starting to get hungry again too.”
         “Okay, sounds good,” Karen said.  “I’m going to call my parents and tell them what we’re doing.”
         “Yeah that’s probably a good idea.” said Chase.
         Karen explained to her mom that Chase was just showing her around town and that they decided to go out for lunch.  She completely forgot that she didn’t have any money until right after she got off the phone with her mother.
         “I don’t have any money,” Karen said.  “Why don’t we just go home?"
         “You know, I was planning on paying for you all along.” 
         “I can pay you back,” 
         “I won’t let you,” he said smiling. 
         “Oh, all right you win” Karen said, shaking her head and smiling back at him.

They started heading for a place to eat.  Chase knew of a place not far from the beach.  He had been their once before. It was a true Middle Eastern restaurant called Kareem’s.  Kareem’s was an outdoor cafe that was almost full except for one space for them.  Their spot was hidden around the corner where know one could see them.  When they were seated the waiter gave them their menus.  The menus had both Arabic and English. 
         “I’m not quite sure what to order,” Karen said.
         “May I make a suggestion?” Chase asked.
         “Sure.”
         “The shwarmas are really good here, have you ever had shwarmas?”
         “No, but I’ll take your word for it.”
         The waiter came soon and they each ordered a chicken shwarma.  They also got an order of falafels.  Then a waitress came out and served them hot pita bread and hummus. 
         “Don’t tell me, you’ve never had hummus,” Chase said.
         “Nope, I’ve never had hummus.” 
         “You have no idea what you’ve been missing.” he said.
         She tried it, reluctantly, and then quickly went back for more.
         “This is really good,” Karen said as she finished of the last of the pita bread.
         Soon after the pita was gone the waitress came back with more pita and the falafels. 
         “Mmm, those smell good, what do the have inside?” Karen asked.
         “Not quite sure, why not just try them?” he replied.
         “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”
         Karen's falafels went quickly and Chase finished just after.  Then, the shwarmas were served.  They eyed each other frequently and quickly looked away.  It was pretty easy to tell that they liked each other.  First of all, there was the blushing Karen did constantly.  Then there was Chase’s ears, they always got hot and turned bright red when he was around girls he liked.  Right now Chase felt his ears were on fire.  Lastly, they were constantly looking at each other admiringly. 
         When they finished the shwarmas they gestured for the bill.  As promised, Chase paid.  It was in the middle of the day and it was getting hot, so Karen and Chase decided that ice cream was a good idea.  They shared a chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream cone.
         “You got some on your nose,” Chase said. “Here’s a napkin.”
         “Thanks,” said Karen.
         “Well I guess I better get you home, huh?” Chase said.
         “Yep.”
         “I’m glad you moved here.  Cause I probably would have never met you otherwise.”
         “Yeah I’m glad I moved too.”
         They walked out of Baskin and Robbins and headed home.  Chase led her to her door where they stopped and looked at each other.
         “Well thanks for showing me around,” said Karen.
         “No problem, we should do something again,” Chase said.
         “Yeah we should.  Well I’m going to go now, my parents are expecting me,”
         “Bye,” Chase said.

Chapter 3
The day before school started, Chase laid on his bed thinking of Karen.  He loved the way she blushed every time he smiled at her. He also liked her fiery red hair and green eyes.  He then thought of different ways that he might see her.  He also thought of how the guys at school would be all over Karen when school started.  Maybe I’ll ask her to go swimming with me, thought Chase.  There was a pool in the school, and since they lived next to the school it would be convenient to get there.
         Chase made a decision to ask her to go swimming.  Then he remembered that there was going to be a back to school swimming party.  He grabbed his Hawaiian print swimsuit, wrote a note saying where he was going, and headed out the door.
         He opened the gate door to Karen’s house and said hello to the guard.  The guard smiled yet said nothing.  Chase rang the doorbell and waited impatiently.  Soon enough Karen opened the door with bubble wrap stuck to her hands. She pulled it off quickly, embarrassed at how messy there house was. 
         “Hi, sorry this place is such a mess,” Karen said.
         “Oh don’t worry about it, it’s not a problem,” Chase said quickly.  “Anyway I was wondering if you wanted to, umm, go with me to this party at the school, it’s like a swimming party.  They’ll have a bouncy thing to go on in the water.  It’s sounds kind of fun.”
         “It does sound like fun.  Let me go ask my parents if I can go,” Karen said.
Karen went upstairs and left Chase standing in the doorway.  Chase really wanted her to go, he even crossed his fingers.  When Karen came down the stairs he noticed she said a little  “yes!” to her self and she skipped two steps and nearly fell.  She also had swimsuit too, which made it obvious she could go.
         “Let me guess, you can go,” he said.
         “How’d you know?”
         “Oh, leaping off the stairs was a dead give away, plus you have a swim suit,” Chase smiled.
         “You saw that?” Karen said.
         “Yep, anyway let’s get going, I think it already started.”
         “Okay.”
         They began walking towards a gate on the other side of Chase’s house that led to the school.  Chase led her down some bleachers and across a field.  They finally reached the pool and there were people going into the locker rooms.
         “I’ll meet you at the pool after you’re finished changing,”
         “OK sounds good.”
         Chase got dressed as quick as possible.  He had to check out who would be there to try and get to know her.  He noticed Ahmed on the slide of the blow up bouncy thing.  Chase waved at him.  Ahmed was his best friend but there would definitely be some competition over Karen. 
         Just then, Karen emerged from the locker room.  She had on a turquoise bikini that had sequins on it.  How hot can she get, Chase thought. 
         “Hey Karen.  You ready?” Chase asked.
         “Heck yeah, that floating bouncy thing looks so cool.”
         “C’mon lets go!” Chase said. There was a floating yellow path to the bouncy thing.  It was hard to keep your balance on the yellow path and Karen almost fell off, but Chase caught her.
         “Close call there huh?” said Chase.
         “Oh yeah,” Karen agreed.
         “I’ll race you to the water!” Chase challenged.
         “You’re 0n!”
         They started through the obstacle course.  Then they wove their way through the palm trees and headed up to the slide.  At this point Chase was dead even with Karen.  They both went down the slide simultaneously. Together, they both made one big splash.  When they came back up the both decided it was a tie.  They swam to the side and Ahmed followed behind them.
         “Hey,” Ahmed said.  “Who’s your friend Chase?”
         “Her name’s Karen.” he replied.
         “Nice to meet you, my name’s Ahmed.”
         “Nice to meet you too,” said Karen.
          “How did you two meet?” he said.
         “Well, first of all we’re next door neighbors, and secondly my family invited them to breakfast.” Chase said.
         “I see,” said Ahmed. “Did I tell you I like Ameena?” he asked Chase.
         “Seeing as how I haven’t seen you since the beginning of the summer, I should guess that that would be quite impossible.  But it’s about time you liked her.  She was totally crushing on you at the end of the year.”
         “I guess you’re right,” said Ahmed.
         “Well I’m going to go for another round, you guys coming?” Karen said.
         “Well, I kind of wanted to catch him up,” Chase said.  “We’ll join you in a little bit.”
         “All right, I’ll let you two talk.” Karen smiled. 
         Karen went on the bouncy thing and went down the slide.  Meanwhile, Chase and Ahmed talked amongst themselves.  They talked about a lot of things including the girls they liked.
         “Did you know I like Karen?” Chase said.  Karen waved at the top of the slide.  Chase waved back and smiled.  She slid down the slide and into the water and made a splash. 
         “I had feeling you did.  Tell me more about her,” Ahmed said.
         “Just two days ago I took her for a walk on the corniche.  We held hands already!  I know she likes me. She blushes every time I smile at her.”
         “Ask her out you idiot!” Ahmed exclaimed.
         “I’ll wait until we get settled into school.”
         “All right, but I think you should do it now.  You know all the guys are going to be all over her,” Ahmed warned.
         “Yeah I know, but that’s how I make sure she really likes me.  C’mon she’s going to think that we ditched her.”  Chase said as he joined her.  They swam for a little while but went home soon after.
 

Chapter 4
         The stench of fresh paint still lingered on the walls of Karen’s room.  Her dad had painted it just days before.  The room was light since the color she chose was soft blue.  Though there were still boxes out in her room, it was certainly coming together.  She was happy with the size of her room, being as it twice as big as her old room.  It was good their shipment arrived early.
         She lay on her bed perfectly content.  A lot had happened with in the course of two weeks.  First, there was the packing and the flight.  Then she moved into her new house.  Finally Chase was brought into the picture.  He was a really sweet guy from what she could tell.  Although, that’s what she thought about Jacob, her last boyfriend, and he cheated on her.  She knew she would have to be careful with Chase, but still, she couldn’t help the fact that she liked him. 
         With school starting the next day, Karen wondered if she would have any classes with Chase.  She started thinking about how she needed at least one friend that was a girl.  Karen thought that with out a girl to talk to she would be lost.  So Karen made a promise to make friends with at least one girl at school the next day. 
         She lay awake on her bed thinking about what this school year had to offer.  Then she thought of her best friend at home, Ally.  She hadn’t had a chance to talk to her since they moved.  For that matter she hadn’t even e-mailed her since they didn’t have internet up and running yet.  Karen longed to be back at home in Alabama.  Still, she realized she would have to come to grips with her new surroundings.  With that in mind, Karen turned off the lights and went to sleep.

Karen woke with the sound of the call to prayer.  The call to prayer was to be her new alarm clock.  She got out of bed and headed to the bathroom.  She remembered this time to use the hot water faucet on her teeth because it came out cold.  For the shower she used the cold water that came out warm.  This phenomenon was caused by the stupidity of putting the cold-water tank outside and the hot water tank inside.  The water outside was heated simply by being outside.
         After brushing her teeth and showering Karen put on the outfit she had laid out the night before.  With Capri’s for the bottoms and really cute short sleeve for the top, Karen thought she looked presentable for the first day of school.  Next, Karen went down the stairs and in to the kitchen.  For a second she forgot where the bowls and spoons were, but she quickly remembered and got one of each.  She reached up to the cabinet where the cereal was and got milk out of the fridge.
         When Karen finished her cereal she checked the time, 6:30.  School didn’t start for two hours.  So she decided to finish reading her book, Gone With the Wind.  She was in the last chapter but she had already read it twice before.  By the time Karen finished the book it was 7:10.  Karen went back upstairs to start on her make-up.  Cover-up, mascara and blush were really all she normally put on, but today she tried some lip-gloss and eye shadow as well.  It was only 7:45 when she finished, still too early to leave for school.  She went into the living room downstairs and got her backpack to double check she had everything she needed.           Just then she remembered that she hadn’t packed lunch.  Karen went into the kitchen and made a P.B.& J sandwich, cut an apple, put in a peach yogurt and stuffed it in a paper bag.  The time on the microwave read 8:15, when she was finished. 
         Karen grabbed her lunch and backpack and bolted out the door accidentally slamming it.  She collected herself when she noticed that Chase had just come out the door as well.  Karen felt her heart beating fast as she approached him.  She suddenly felt a little light headed and dizzy.  Karen’s eyes blacked out and she nearly fell over, but Chase rushed over to catch her.
         “Whoa, are you okay?” Chase asked as he helped her stand up, and led her to the bench nearby.  He looked into her eyes, to make sure she was all right. 
         “Yeah, sorry, I was just a little light headed, and I lost my balance,” Karen said while her vision came back. She was still trying to catch her breath.  “Don’t worry about it, I’ll be fine,” she said trying to reassure him. 
         Chase was not entirely convinced that she was ready to start walking on her own.  “Why don’t we just sit here for a minute so you can calm down,” Chase suggested. 
         “But school starts in like ten minutes!”  Karen said, still looking flushed, with her face still a little pale.
         “Look, I’d rather be late than run the risk of you fainting.  Besides it only takes three minutes to get to anywhere on the campus.  I’m really worried about you; I mean what I wasn’t around to catch you?  I just think that it’s better to be on the safe side” 
         Karen was flattered that he cared and realized that he was right.  It might have been much worse if he hadn’t been there.  “Okay.  Thank you for, you know, catching me.  I just felt dizzy and I blacked out.  It could have been the heat or something.” Karen explained.
         “Yeah, maybe.  I’m just glad I was there for you,” Chase said, and smiled at her.
         At this, Karen’s face turned a subtle shade of pink, and she looked deep into his bright blue eyes.  “I’m glad you were there for me too.”
         After a moment of being lost in each other’s eyes, Chase broke the silence. “Hey, you have more color in your face now, do you think you’re ready for school?” 
         “Yeah, and this time I’ll try to give you a heads up if I feel dizzy again.”
         “Okay,” Chase said.


Chapter 5
         They headed up the stairs through the back way of getting to the school.  He led her through a series of hallways and doors, finally making it to where they were handing out schedules for high school students. Chase was looking around as if he wasn’t sure which line to go in.  Karen looked at the sign that read “sophomore” and she pointed it out to Chase.
         “Yeah that might be where we have to go,” Chase said chuckling. 
         They headed to the back of the sophomore line, where Karen recognized Ahmed from the pool. 
         “Hey, it’s Ahmed right?” Karen asked.
         “Yep that’s me,” Ahmed said.  “Karen I’d like you to meet Ameena, my, umm... friend.” 
         Karen found it amusing that he hesitated at the word “friend.”  “Hi, Ameena nice to meet you.”  Karen shook hands with her.
         “Nice to meet you too,” Ameena said.  “Um, if you don’t mind me asking, how do you know both of them when it’s the first day of school,”
         “Chase is my neighbor.  He invited me to the pool yesterday and that’s where I met Ahmed.”
         “I see,” Ameena said.  “Well I met Chase in sixth grade, and Ahmed and I have been together since kindergarten.”
         “Cool, I have a feeling that we’re all going to be pretty close this year.” Karen said.
         Soon, they all got there schedules were comparing them.  Chase had three classes with Karen.  Ahmed had two classes with Ameena, and they all shared their homeroom, which was chemistry.
         “Well I guess we’re all headed to chemistry with Mr. Kalisto,” Chase said.  “We have like two minutes to get our butts downstairs and into his class.  I heard he’s really harsh with tardiness.”  They rushed downstairs and made their way to the end of the hallway, making it in the class just seconds before the bell rang. They found four empty seats in the front class.  All of the other kids had chosen seats in the back.
         “Good morning students, I trust that you all had a good summer.  My name is Mr. Kalisto and if you didn’t notice already, I’ll be teaching all of you chemistry this year.  I’ll also be your homeroom teacher, which means that this is the class where you’ll get all the forms and letters that the school has asked me to give you.”
         After passing numerous papers back, the Mr. Kalisto assigned everyone a locker.  They went into the hall to find their lockers and open them.  Chase and Karen’s locker were right across the hall from each other.  Ameena’s locker was right next to Karen’s and Ahmed’s wasn’t too far either.  Class was over soon after they gathered back in the class.  After leaving chemistry the four of them gathered in the hall.
         Next Karen and Ameena had math and Chase had computer graphics with Ahmed and one of Chase’s other friends.
         “We’ll meet you ladies after class for lunch.” Chase said, winking at Karen and waving goodbye. 
         “He totally likes you!” Ameena said once the boys were far enough away.
         “The first time I met him was when my parents and I were invited by his family to go for breakfast.  We sort of ditched the parents and he took me to the beach and showed me around the city.  He even bought me lunch at this Arabic restaurant.”
         “Aw that’s so sweet, I wish the guy I like did something like that for me.” Ameena said.  “Do you like Chase?”
         “Yeah, but I just met him and I want to get to know other guys too.  Enough about me, who do you like?”  Karen wondered. 
         “Well, I’ve had a crush on Ahmed for, let’s see, it’s got to be at least a year now.”
         “Well, I let you in on a little secret.  I know for a fact that Ahmed likes you.  He said so while he was catching up with Chase yesterday,” Karen gushed.
         “Really, I’ve totally been waiting for him to ask me out, he is so super shy.”  Ameena said. 
         “Yeah I kind of got that shy vibe from him yesterday, but it shows up more when you’re around him.” Karen said as they walked into Mr. Parson’s math class.
         “You’re probably right,” Ameena said.  “Well I hope he gets his act together and asks me out.”
         “Totally,” Karen agreed.
         After a boring introduction to Geometry, Mr. Parson handed out the syllabus. Thankfully this teacher was nice enough not to assign seats.  So of course, Karen and Ameena sat next to each other at a table, along with two other girls Alice and Erin.  Erin was very outgoing and was trying to get to know Karen.  Alice was quiet but very attentive to what everyone was saying.  The girls whispered quietly amongst themselves while Mr. Parson handed out more papers.
         Soon math was over and it was time for lunch.  Karen and Ameena rushed to their lockers to get their lunches and headed to the cafeteria.  They saw Chase and Ahmed in the courtyard overlooking the field and the bleachers.  Ameena waved at them to come over.
         “Hey!” Ameena shouted as she sprinted over to the guys with Karen following after. “How was computer graphics?”
         “Eh, it was pretty boring to tell you the truth, but the teacher seemed okay.” Ahmed said.
         “Well, how was Geometry?” Chase asked.
         “Boring too, but at least Mr. Parson didn’t give us a seating chart.”
         They made their way into the cafeteria where it was much cooler.  They talked amongst themselves as they devoured their lunches.  Towards the end of the lunch period a guy came over to their table.  He was fairly tall and fit with brown hair and hazel eyes. 
         “Hey Chase, Ahmed… Ameena.  How was your summer,” the boy said.
         “Fine,” Chase muttered somewhat annoyed.
         “I don’t think I met you,” he said looking at Karen. 
         “Hi I’m Karen,” Karen stated. 
         “Nice to meet you Karen, I’m Carl,” he said reaching for her hand.
         Karen took it wondering why Chase seemed so bothered. “Nice to meet you too.”
         “Hey listen Carl, we have to run to English now,” Chase said.
         “Oh really who do you have for English?”
         “Mrs. Ainslie,” Chase uttered.
         “Oh really that’s great I have her next period too.” Carl said.
         “Oh,” Chase said.  Karen couldn’t understand why Chase didn’t seem to like Carl.
         “We should walk there together,” Carl suggested.
         “That’s fine,” Karen replied before Chase could say no.
         Before they left Ameena motioned Karen to come over.
         “Those two are not friends.  Just be careful okay?  Things could get nasty in that class. I’ll tell you more about it later” Ameena whispered into Karen’s ear
         “Uh, okay,” said Karen, as she walked away with the two boys.
         In English, the seating chart had Karen sitting far away from Chase and across from Carl.  Throughout Mrs. Ainslie’s boring introduction to her class, Karen was pondering why Chase and Carl weren’t friends.  She also began to wonder why Carl had acted as if there was no tension between them.
         Carl kept on trying to get her attention by staring her down and Karen felt uneasy by this.  She stole a glance at Chase who smiled at her.  Just before the class ended Carl came straight over to Karen’s desk.
         “We should hang out sometime,” Carl said.
         “I don’t know,” Karen said quietly.  “Maybe.  Right now, I have to go.”
         She was very relieved when the bell rang.  After English, Chase and Karen both had World History together. Karen and Chase headed up the stairs to their next class.  As soon as Carl was out of sight Karen asked him what was deal between the two of them.
         “Listen, Carl and I aren’t really friends. He just...” He paused and sighed. “I’d rather not talk about it.”
         “Okay,” Karen said sweetly, even though she was dieing to know why.
         In History, they again stole glances at each other through yet another boring lecture of class expectations.  Soon the period was over and the final bell rang.  Karen and Chase headed downstairs to where their lockers were.  Karen looked for Ameena desperately so she could fill her in.  She finally came. They made their way through the crowd and into a quieter spot.
         “So how was English with those two.”  Ameena said.
         “Well, it was fine, but Carl kept staring at me and he asked if I wanted to hang out with him,” Karen said.  “I said maybe, but I was just being polite.  So, what is it between the two of them? I tried to ask Chase but he didn’t want to talk about it.
         “Okay it’s a little bit of a story but I’ll give you the short version.  Chase and Carl were like best friends in middle school but in high school things started to fall apart.  Basically, Chase liked this girl for a really long time, and he asked Carl to talk to her about it since Carl lived in the same apartment complex as her.  Well little did he know that Carl was beginning to like her too, so Carl asked her out for him self.  Then when Carl was going out with her he basically ignored Chase.  Well that girl moved back to the U.S. this year. Chase is probably just worried that you’re going to go for Carl and not him.”
         “Okay, that clears things up,” Karen said.  “I like him, not Carl.”
         “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Ameena said.  “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
         “Yep, bye,”
         Karen found Chase and walked home with him.  She found it a little annoying that Chase hadn’t officially asked her out yet.  Karen said goodbye to Chase as they reached his house. 
         “See you tomorrow,” Chase said.
         “Yeah, bye Chase.” Karen replied.


Chapter 6

The next day went by quickly.  Karen stole glances at Chase as often as she could, and avoided Carl’s stare whenever possible.  At the end of the day Ameena asked if Karen wanted to go over to her house.  After an enthusiastic yes, the girls set off to find Karen’s mom to make sure it was okay.
         “Well, of course that’s all right girls, you might think of staying at our house since your father and I have a board meeting to go to,”
         “Oh okay, that’s fine with me,” Ameena said.
         “Yeah, okay” Karen agreed.
         “You girls should be able to figure out what to eat,” her mom said.
         The girls headed to Karen’s house.  Once there, Karen told Ameena all about first meeting Chase and going to the pool.
         “You know, I really hope Chase gets his act together and asks me out.” Karen          said.
         “You have no idea what it’s like waiting for someone to ask you out.  Ahmed is overly shy.  I almost feel like asking him out.” Ameena said.
         “You should!  It would take a lot of pressure off for him.” 
         “Maybe.  I don’t know though.  My dad would freak if he found out that I asked him!”
         “Why?”  Karen wondered.
         “It’s sort of a culture thing.  I mean I have no problem asking him out, but my dad is so strict about dating.  If I did this, my dad would probably think that I’m a slut!
         “What!!!  Just for asking him out!  That’s ridiculous!” Karen said clearly shocked.
         “Yeah, tell me about it.  As much as I like Ahmed, I don’t think I want to risk asking him out.” 
         “And I thought my dad was strict.  Well, I think I’m going to ask Chase out soon and maybe I’ll suggest that Chase talk to Ahmed about a double date.”
         “That would be so awesome if you did that.  We’ve only known each other for to days, but I already feel like we’re going to be best friends or something.”
         “Thanks, Ameena.  It’s been like a week and a half since I came here, and I already have a best friend and a boyfriend lined up.  I mean it’s crazy enough that I moved here to this hot, humid, country, but I thought it was going to be much harder to find friends.”
         “Well I’m really glad we could make the move easier for you.  As for the heat, I can’t really help you there.”  Ameena joked.
         “Yeah, I guess I’ll just have to get used to it.  Anyways, are you hungry?”
         “Yup.”
         “Me too.  I don’t know exactly what we have but we can rummage around the kitchen can’t we?” Karen said
         “Okay.”
         Karen was still unfamiliar of where everything was being put.  She eventually found some pasta and Spaghetti sauce.
         “Does spaghetti sound good?”
         “Sounds great!”
         “Okay, let’s get to cooking!” 
         “Good, because I’m hungry.”
         By the time they finally finished making the spaghetti, they were starving.  They smelled the rich aroma of the marinara sauce and began to dig in.  When they were finished they were extremely full and there were tons of leftovers. 
         “It was really good but I’m stuffed!”  Karen stated.
         “I agree.  Do you think it would be okay if I spent the night?”
         “I don’t think so.  It’s a school night so probably not.”
         “It’s not a school night it’s the end of the week.  Hasn’t anyone told you that we start school each week on Sunday and go until Thursday?  It’s the weekend now,”
         “You’re kidding right?”
         “No, Friday is sort of like our holy day.  So Friday is our day off as well as Saturday.”
         “Hmm.  Well in that case, if it’s all right with your parents we can ask my parents when they get home.”
         Just as Karen said this they heard the door opening.  Naturally, it was Karen’s parents.
         “Hi girls, what did you end up making for dinner?”  Karen’s mom asked.          
         “Spaghetti; if you want some there’s some left over.” Karen replied.  “Um, Dad this is Ameena.”
         “Hi nice to meet you, I’m Steve Jenkins,”
         “Nice to meet you too.” 
         “Hey Dad, I just learned that tomorrow is the weekend and I was wondering if Ameena could spend the night?” Karen said hoping for a yes.
         “Sure, I guess that that would be would be alright if Ameena’s parents are okay with it.  And I’m glad to see you’re making friends already.”
         “Thanks Dad.” Karen said hugging him.
         Ameena got on the phone and informed her parents that she was going to spend the night at Karen’s house.  After a little pleading Ameena gave Karen a thumbs up.  As it turned out, Ameena lived just a few blocks away from the school and her parents were going to bring her clothes and toiletries over. 
         “I think we can both fit on my full size bed, if that’s okay with you, of course,” Karen explained just as Ameena got off the phone. 
         “That’s fine,” Ameena said.
         A few minutes later, Ameena’s mom rang the doorbell.  Karen opened the door for her and was surprised to see that she was wearing a cover that hid her hair.  She let her inside, because it was almost nightfall, and it was still warm outside. 
         “You must be Karen.  It’s good to meet you.  My name is Salimah.  Here are your things Ameena, remember you have to be home tomorrow by 10:30.”
         “Yes mom, I know,” Ameena replied.
         “See you tomorrow.  Try not to stay up too late,” Salimah said as she was leaving.
         “We’ll make sure they don’t,” said Karen’s mom.
         Karen and Ameena got ready to go to bed before chatting for a little while.  After a long silence Karen realized that Ameena had gone to sleep.

Chapter 7
The following day Chase got up early with the call to prayer.  He was anxious to see what the day had in store for him.  This was no ordinary day for Chase; this was the day he would finally have a girlfriend.  At least that was what he hoped for.  He needed to think of a place to go to for their date.  He wanted it to be a bit more formal than the last two times. 
         Chase decided that they could go to nice restaurant for dinner and then maybe he would take her to the sooq, a type of flee-market.  He could probably find her something that he could buy her there.  That way he could impress her with the minimal Arabic he knew. 
         Chase was at a loss as to which restaurant they would go to.  He thought of the different possibilities.  There was a nice restaurant right on the corniche that had really good Italian food.  It was called Il Palazzo and it was probably a good choice, provided that she wanted Italian food.  Another place that they could go was Raj Palace, which was a great Indian restaurant.  He decided that Raj Palace would be a back-up choice.
         He ate his breakfast quickly and went upstairs to figure out what to wear.  He put on a blue polo with his khaki shorts. It was still only nine o’clock and it was too early to go over to Karen’s.  Chase was waiting impatiently wondering what he could do to pass the time. 
         He got on his computer and checked his myspace.  No one was online at first, but he decided to set a new background and add a new song.  When he was about to get off, he noticed that Erin was online.  She gave him a comment that said that she wanted to hang with him out some time.  He replied with a maybe and signed off. 
         Chase checked the time again; it was still too early to go over.  Then he decided that it would be a good idea to look up some key phrases in Arabic so he didn’t make a fool out of himself.  There was a small book that he found tucked away on his bookshelf.  It was a simple English-Arabic book that had some very basic sentences translated. 
         Luckily, Chase found a section with how to buy something.  He looked it over, practiced a few small statements like, ‘how much does this cost’ and ‘that’s too much.’  When he was sure he had them all memorized, he put the book down.
By then it was about ten o’clock, and time to go over to her house. 
         After a few minutes of going over what he would say to her, Chase went out his door and across to Karen’s.  He paused for a few seconds and lingered there in her doorway.  Just as he was about to ring the doorbell, the door swung open with Ameena about to walk out. 
         “Um, hi, what are you doing here?”  Ameena asked. 
         “Well I wanted to ask Karen something,”
         “What do want to ask me?”  Karen said, emerging from the doorway.
         “Well I first want say that I… um… I… really like you.”
         “You do?” Karen asked.
         “Yes.”
         “Really?”
         “I said yes,” Chase said waiting for a response.
         “I… like you too.” 
         “Aw, you guys are adorable, stuttering at each other,” Ameena teased.
         “Well um, I also wanted to know if you would go out to dinner with me tonight,” Chase said hopefully.
         “Of course!”  Karen said a little quickly.  “But, it has to be a double date.”
         “Ah, I see. I’m sure that could be arranged.  I’ll talk to Ahmed to see what he says.”          
         “Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!” Ameena shrieked.
         “Wait, where are we going?” Karen asked.
         “Well there’s an Italian place where we could go, or we could go to an Indian restaurant.  Whichever you guys prefer.”
         “We had Italian last night,” Ameena said.
         “Indian sounds good to me.”  Karen said.
         “Yeah, that sounds alright,” Ameena agreed.
         “Indian it is!” Chase declared.
         “Well, I’ll see you guys tonight then,” Karen said, waving goodbye.
         “Yeah, I better get home now, or else I won’t be able to go,” Ameena said.
         “I’ll call Ahmed and let him know what’s going on,” Chase said. 
         “Okay, thanks again Chase, Ahmed is just way too shy to ask me himself,” Ameena said as they walked away from Karen’s doorway.
         “Yeah, he totally clams up around you,” Chase stated.
         “So I’m told.”
         “Well see you tonight.”
         “Yeah.”

Chase couldn’t contain himself when he got inside his house.  He leapt off the ground with a big smile on his face. 
         “What are you all happy about?” said his mother.
         “Nothing really,” Chase tried.
         “Uh huh, so leaping off the ground and having a huge smile on your face is nothing then?”
         “Well, okay. I sort of just asked Karen out on a double date with Ahmed and Ameena.” Chase explained.
         “You mean that nice girl next door?” his mom asked.
         “That’s her.” Chase said, still smiling.
         “Okay, when and where are you going on this double date?”
         “Tonight, and we’re going to an Indian restaurant.”
         “Well, alright as long as it’s alright with everyone else’s parents, then it’s alright with me,”
         “Thanks mom,” Chase said.
         He headed up the stairs and into his room.  Chase still couldn’t wipe the smile off his face as he dialed Ahmed’s number.  After four dials someone finally picked up.
         “Hello Chase, I’ll get Ahmed,” Ahmed’s father Omar said.  Apparently, his name was put in the caller ID.  After a few seconds Ahmed greeted him.
         “Hey man, what’s up?” Ahmed said casually.
         “Well, I kind of set you up on a double with Sheena, Karen and I,” Chase blurted. 
         “What!  When!?” Ahmed exclaimed.
         “Um, tonight?”  Chase said, still unsure of his reaction.
         “You’ve got to be kidding me; a double date!  Did they already agree?”
         “Uh, yeah,” Chase said.  “Karen and Sheena really wanted it to be a double date, so…”
         “Okay um, where are we going?” 
         “To that Indian place on the corniche for dinner.”
         “So…Sheena still likes me?” Ahmed asked.
         “Ahmed… seriously, she was thanking me like crazy when I said I would talk to you.”
         “Really?”
         “Yes,” Chase said, a little annoyed at how clueless Ahmed really was.
         “Um, okay I’ll ask my dad, hang on,” he said enthusiastically.
         After a few minutes of waiting Ahmed finally came back on.
         “Well it’s set then.  When should I meet you there?”
         “How about six?”
         “Six is good,” Ahmed said excitedly.
         “Okay I’ll see you there. Bye.”
         “Bye.”