School had ended, and July arrived just as John's birthday did. Tomek and Abdullah went over to his house to celebrate. The boys went straight to John's room and started playing games on his Xbox. John's parents brought them food, but Abdullah kept crawling under the bed.
"Get out from under the bed," John said.
"Okay," Abdullah replied still staying there.
When Abdullah finally tried to get out, Tomek wedged himself in and blocked the way. Abdullah was holding a samosa, and it slipped from his hand and fell onto the floor, leaving a mess. John completely lost his cool. He lifted the bed and told both Tomek and Abdullah to get out immediately.
They waited downstairs while John's dad spoke to him upstairs. When his dad came back down, he told them they could hang out again another time, since John was upset. Abdullah and Tomek were confused about why he'd gotten so angry, but a week later John apologised.
"It's just that I have to clean up any mess you guys make," he said.
Another day, Abdullah, John, and Tomek were playing football near Abdullah's house. John took an awful photo of Tomek mid-run. Abdullah laughed so hard he started rolling on the ground. Tomek was furious, so John deleted the photo but not before sending it to Abdullah. Abdullah and John kept it and didn't tell Tomek, knowing he'd get even angrier.
The summer kept rolling by. Abdullah, Tomek, and Kai still played Roblox together a lot. Other times, Abdullah played with Tomek and John, and sometimes with Alois and Kai. One day, Alois, Tomek, Kai, and Abdullah went to play badminton, but they didn't have a net, so they spent most of the time arguing about whether the shuttlecock went high enough.
One day, Abdullah's mother told him they were going to England.
"What? No, I don't want to go. Please," Abdullah said.
"It doesn't matter. You have to go," she replied.
"But there's no one even there."
"What do you mean? Your cousin Maryam is there."
"Who?"
"Abdul's sister. You know Abdul. he has a swing at his house. Little Fatima's aunt."
"Yeah, I get it but I don't even know her."
"Then get to know her. Trust me, you'll have fun."
The first day in England, Abdullah arrived at Maryam's house. She was nice enough, offering food and helping them unpack, but the sleeping situation was awful. Abdullah had to sleep on an uncomfortable air mattress, and Ali slept on the couch. Both of them were stuck in the living room.
The next day, they went to a massive shopping centre. Abdullah walked for hours.
I hate it here. I just want to sit down. This is so boring, he thought, his feet aching and blisters forming.
The following day, they went to a carnival.
"Go on the rides," his mother said.
"I don't want to. I didn't even want to come here."
"Stop being ungrateful," his dad snapped.
The heat was unbearable, and just looking at the rides made Abdullah feel like he was about to have a panic attack. He didn't go on a single one.
The day after that, the weather was awful, so Abdullah stayed inside. He noticed pictures of a young boy and a girl on the walls.
"Mama, who are they?"
"That's Maryam's son and daughter Sarfaraz and Sara."
"Where are they?" Abdullah wondered silently. And where's their dad?
"They're coming tomorrow," his mother said.
The next day, Abdullah saw the girl from the pictures clinging to her mother, talking loudly. The younger boy stood nearby, speaking to his sister, his mother, and Abdullah's father. Later, Abdullah noticed Sarfaraz playing the same Roblox game he always played.
"Wait, you play too? I have Awakened Buddha I'm in Third Sea," Abdullah said.
"What? How are you so good? Help me awaken my fruit," Sarfaraz replied.
They played together for over an hour. Abdullah instantly felt a bond with him and liked being able to help.
Later, they went to a trampoline park. Abdullah and Sarfaraz stuck together the whole time. Sara mostly talked with Abdullah's sister, Aaliyah.
"We should push them into the pit," Sarfaraz whispered.
"Good idea."
Abdullah snuck up behind Aaliyah and pushed her in, jumping after her. Sarfaraz did the same to Sara.
"Get off me," Sara said, annoyed.
Later, Abdullah saw Sara do a backflip on the trampoline.
That's actually so cool. How did she do that? he thought.
He tried one himself and landed badly.
"It takes a lot of practice. Not anyone can do that," Sara said.
"Do you do gymnastics or something?"
"Yeah."
She showed off more tricks, and Abdullah kept trying to copy them. Eventually, he hurt his shoulder.
"Ow that hurt."
"I told you to be careful," Sara said.
Despite that, Abdullah thought, Today was actually really fun.
The next day, they went to an arcade. On the car ride, Abdullah sat with Maryam, Sara, and Ali. He noticed Ali went quiet whenever Sara and Sarfaraz were around. To pass the time, Abdullah talked about random science facts he'd learned online.
"The sun evaporates water, which forms clouds. When they cool down, it rains."
"That's cool," Sara said, listening.
At the arcade, it was pouring rain. Abdullah and Sarfaraz played loads of games together. There were carnival rides nearby, and Sara wanted to go on one but didn't want to go alone.
"Come on the ride with me," she said.
Abdullah was terrified and told her to go with her mum instead. But Sara chickened out at the last second. Abdullah was about to comment, but she cut him off.
"Just be quiet."
That night back at the house, Sara joked about Sarfaraz being fat. Abdullah defended him, so they decided to weigh themselves. Sarfaraz was nine and weighed 45kg. Sara was eleven and weighed 40kg. Then Abdullah stepped on.
Ninety kilograms.
When did I become so fat? So disgusting? he thought, staring at himself in the mirror. "see he ways way more then me" Sarfaraz said
"Well, obviously cuz he's like 12 inches taller then you," Sara said. "for his height its not bad."
It helped. Just a little.
They talked about going to the zoo the next day, but Abdullah had to leave early for Ireland. Before leaving, he hugged Sarfaraz easily. Maryam hugged him too awkward, but fine. When it came to Sara, it felt strange. He decided not to hug her and shook her hand instead.
They arrived home safely. September was closing in, and first year was about to begin. That night, Abdullah thought about his old teachers Mr Erik especially and how John wouldn't be at his new school. He wondered about the people he'd meet and what the future would bring.
One thing he knew for sure was that he'd really enjoyed the summer...