The Girl With The Headscarf

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She was still lying down on her bed when her mother came in her room after a while and closed the door behind her. She sat down on her daughter's bed and stared at Lamees quietly, who wasn't able to meet her mother's eyes and instead chose to stare at the wall.

From the corner of her eye, she caught her mother looking away as well and rub her palms together - a gesture she did when she wasn't sure of what to say or how to deal with a situation.

They both stayed silent for minutes and Lamees shifted uncomfortably. Was her mother expecting her to say something first?

Before she could ponder on that, her mother spoke gently, "Pouvez-vous me dire comment cela s'est passé?"
[Can you tell me how it happened?]

Lamees sighed and gathered her thoughts for a while and thought about Gunner, about the way she'd seen him looking at her for the first time in the cafeteria. And about every other time when he'd always been there for her and the way his eyes twinkled when he smiled at her. She felt herself tearing up again and blinked.

"It just did," she almost whispered. "He talked to me first and that's how it started. I didn't know what would happen."

Her mother took the information in and nodded. "And was thiz the first time zat you... zat you and him kissed?" She said the last part in a single breath like it would be painful for her if she were to drag the sentence out.

Lamees winced when her mother said that out loud and simply nodded. She couldn't find any voice to answer with.

Her mother looked at her for a few seconds, maybe deciding if she could believe her daughter or not. But then her eyes cleared a little and she sighed. She believed her.

"And how do you feel about all zis now?"

Lamees gulped and felt herself choking on her words. "It hurts. Everything... just hurts. And I don't know what to do."

In a quick flash, her mother's arms were around her protectively and the way she held onto her, made Lamees break down once more that night.