AMBREEN BUTT HUSSAIN Phew That was a relief I was so lucky to have Ms. Pheasant as my teacher At least that was one good thing about this place Ms. Pheasant smiled down the half decent line that had finally formed Thank you everyone Now before you head into the gym I want to let you know about auditions for the school play This year we're doing Cinderella The sign up sheet is posted outside Everyone broke into excited chatter The line that had taken so long to form started to fall apart As Ms. Pheasant raised her arms to motion kids back into formation she looked down at me and whispered Don't forget to sign up Who me No way No no no She doesn't know me yet Otherwise she would never suggest such a thing She doesn't know I have a hard time talking to just one person let alone a whole hall full of people There was no way I could be in the play Even if I had always loved the story of Cinderella watched the movie a bazillion times and secretly dreamed a fairy godmother would come and transform me into a princess Maybe I could be a rock or a tree But definitely not a role where I had to speak Don't even think about it Alina Squish that dream Squish it It doesn't exist 4
THE UNLOVABLE ALINA BUTT As we walked quietly to the assembly like a row of perfectly lined up ants I thought about our school uniforms On top each of us wore a white collared shirt a bright blue tie and a matching blue cardigan Gray bottoms skirts for the girls and pants for the boys And while all the other girls wore cute frilly ankle length white socks I had to wear super itchy tights Initially my mom had tried to convince me to wear pants instead of a skirt We're Muslims and my mom is the most devout in our family so I knew she didn't like the idea of me going to school with my bare legs being exposed to the world But she'd tried to make it sound like it was for other reasons You will look so decent and smart Alina she said And the pants will keep you warm You say yourself it is always so cold here even in the spring I'll look like a boy Ammi After what had felt like hours of arguing we'd finally compromised and settled on the itchy tights I snapped out of my memory fog when I heard Adam whispering to the boy behind him Imagine Butthead as Cinderella Ewww said the other boy She'd be the butt of all jokes Adam snorted Get it The butt Ha 5
AMBREEN BUTT HUSSAIN I kept my eyes focused on the floor trying hard not to let the tears come I may have been at the front of the line but I knew I had failed My cover had been blown 6
Chapter Two My dad pulled into the school parking lot in our rusty red car He greeted me with his usual big smile and chirpy Assalamu alaikum That's an Arabic greeting that basically means peace be upon you How was school today he asked Somehow he was always in a good mood Fine I said not returning the smile I closed my eyes and slumped my head back thankful that the weekend was here I tried hard not to imagine what I'd have to face next week now that my secret was out My dad was getting used to my monotonous replies He had been dealing with them for the past few days now and I had no plans of giving him anything better After all he was the reason for all this The lifelong curse that was my last name The move Everything I didn't say another word for the whole ride home We pulled up to our shop King's Fruit Market That's what it was called when we bought it We live on top of it 7
