The next morning, Noor arrived at Aleezeh's house.
"Come on!"
"Wait!"
"We're already late."
They hurried toward school.
As usual, their physics teacher was waiting.
Aleezeh whispered,
"Hitler is waiting."
Noor tried not to laugh.
They entered through the back door.
For once, they weren't noticed.
Aleezeh smiled.
"We survived."
"Don't celebrate too early."
Their favorite teacher entered the classroom later that day.
The lesson was much more enjoyable.
Then the teacher introduced a new student.
"Class, this is Ahmed. He has recently joined us."
Ahmed looked around.
His eyes stopped on Aleezeh.
She stared back.
Something about him seemed familiar.
Then Ahmed smiled.
Aleezeh immediately looked away.
After school, Aleezeh and Noor went shopping for Affifa's birthday.
It took them nearly an hour to choose a gift.
When they returned home, Aleezeh took forever to get ready.
Noor had already finished.
"You're still getting ready?"
"One minute!"
"You said that twenty minutes ago."
Finally, they left.
On the way, Aleezeh saw Ahmed.
He turned toward her.
For a moment, she remembered the night she had escaped from the teacher's house.
She remembered seeing Ahmed that night.
Her expression changed.
Ahmed noticed.
But before he could say anything, she walked away.
At Affifa's house, they wished her a happy birthday.
They were the first guests.
Affifa happily gave them a tour.
Soon, everyone arrived.
There was cake, food, laughter, and endless conversations.
Later, the girls went to Affifa's room.
They played games, talked about school, and teased each other about their crushes.
For a few hours, Aleezeh forgot everything.
She felt normal again.
Eventually, everyone left.
Noor and Aleezeh decided to return home instead of staying overnight.
On the way, they witnessed an accident.
They stopped.
Noor asked her father about it when she reached home.
His answer shocked them.
"It was your physics teacher."
Aleezeh felt guilty.
She didn't know what to think.
That night she called Noor.
"I feel terrible."
"You didn't cause the accident."
"But after everything he did…"
"Allah knows what happened. Don't punish yourself for something you didn't do."
Aleezeh remained silent.
Maybe Noor was right.
Maybe she needed to let the past stay in the past.