At the end of the day, as the three of us are gathering our books by our lockers, Ishu comes up to us tentatively. Aisling and Dee immediately stiffen, and silence washes over us. It’s like just Ishu’s presence is enough to make them both uncomfortable.
“Hey.” I can tell Ishu is trying to be pleasant, even through her clipped tone. “Aisling, Deirdre …” She gives them both a nod of acknowledgment that’s too serious to be considered friendly. Then, she turns to me and says, “Ready, Humaira?”
“I’m going to need a couple more minutes,” I say. I brought my P.E. bag with a simple change of clothes—a dress and a pair of leggings. I even brought over my makeup bag, though I’m not sure exactly what the protocol is supposed to be here. All I know is that I definitely don’t want to go to any fancy restaurant wearing my puke green school uniform.
“All right …” Ishu mumbles, still hovering by our lockers. She’s dressed in faded blue jeans and a baby pink hoodie with a doodle of a cat on it. So I guess we’re dressing down. “I’ll see you outside in ten?”
“Sounds good.”
With a curt nod, Ishu turns away, and disappears around the corner of the corridor.
“You guys aren’t really together,” Aisling says. It’s a statement, not a question. “I mean … you can’t be.”
“Why would I say we were if we weren’t?” I swing my P.E. bag out of my locker, avoiding eye contact.
“You’re not even—I mean—”
“I like Ishita.” Dee’s statement has both Aisling and me swinging around so fast that I’m pretty sure I get whiplash.
“You do?” Aisling makes it sound as if liking Ishita is as unthinkable as eternal life or visiting the sun.
“She’s interesting!” Dee exclaims, like Ishu is something to marvel at. “I’ve never really met someone like her before. I mean … I don’t know her very well, but …” She shrugs her shoulders. “She’s my chemistry lab partner and she has such laser focus. It’s amazing.”
“I didn’t know you knew her at all,” I say. Ishu is not in any of my classes except biology. She takes some of the hardest classes you can take because I guess that’s how she plans to enroll in the best university that’ll take her. Plus, I know that she takes an extra subject outside of school as well. To make herself look even more impressive than she already is, I guess.
Dee shrugs again. “You know, you should bring her to my birthday party on Saturday.”
“I will!” The words tumble out of me in a rush. I had been trying to figure out how I could suggest bringing Ishu without Aisling getting mad about it. Aisling still looks mad at the idea that Ishu might be coming, but since it’s Dee’s birthday and she made the invite unprompted, Aisling can’t really say anything about it, can she?
Ishita is waiting by the gates of the school when I finally leave. I’m wearing a forest green dress that Aisling got for me for my last birthday. It has white flowers sketched all over it. I even managed to dab on some eyeliner. All of it is lost on Ishu though, because she barely glances at what I’m wearing.
“Come on, we’ll take the Luas.” She turns and begins walking, her runners squeaking against the damp pavement. I have to jog to keep up with her.
We get the Luas into town together, an awkward silence hanging over us for the whole journey. I feel like I’m actually on a first date, rather than just a pretend one.
“Where are we going?” I ask when Ishu begins to lead me past streets I’m familiar with, and into alleys that I’ve never been in.
“Trust me, I know this really cool place that’s halal,” she says. “You’ll love it.”
I wonder how she knows that I’ll love it when we barely know each other. I guess just the place being halal is a good start.
We weave past a few more alleys, and I’m glad that we’re close enough to the summer months that daylight lasts until eight o’clock. I definitely wouldn’t want to be in these dodgy alleys after it’s gone dark.
Finally, Ishu comes to a stop in front of a tiny restaurant, squeezed between a pub and a newsagent’s. The name of it is written in fancy cursive writing at the top: Seven Wonders.
“This place is tiny,” I say.
“But nice,” Ishu counters. “Come on. I made a booking, obviously.”
“Obviously.”
I take a quick picture for my Instagram story, even though it feels wrong. But we’re here to document our “date” more than anything else.