It was around seven in the morning.
He woke up to his phone ringing and fumbled around for it until his hand found it. He grabbed it and answered, clearly annoyed.
"Seriously, man, who calls someone at seven in the morning on a Friday? What are you... you're seriously not human."
"Yeah, sorry, but I really don't know what got me up this early on a Friday... I honestly planned on sleeping until prayer," Noah said, laughing at Elias's reaction. He loved bugging him in the morning because he knew how much he loved to sleep in.
"Noah, for real, cut out your annoying crap this morning and just leave me alone, please... I just wanna get some decent sleep for once," Elias grumbled.
"Okay, okay, man... but hey... are we meeting up after prayer or what?"
"Nah, just come over to the house. Mom's already planned for you to eat with us anyway," Elias said sleepily, sitting up in bed, getting ready to go back to sleep.
"Alright, cool. I'll pray and head over. Don't you guys eat without me, alright?" Noah said, laughing and messing with him.
Elias just mumbled back and next thing he knew, he was out cold again.
"You asleep or what?" Noah said, annoyed.
But he didn't get a response from the other end, so he chuckled to himself and hung up, shaking his head like, "typical."
Now it was one in the afternoon... Noah had gone over to Elias's place as usual.
"Noah, I swear I'm gonna block you from everything for what you're doing to me!" Elias said, annoyed and agitated by what Noah was doing.
Noah just ignored him, grabbing a chicken breast and cutting it up to eat it.
"So what did I even do to you for all this? Is it wrong to wake you up so I don't suffer alone?" Noah said, laughing as he ate his food, looking at Elias who looked like he was about to jump him any second.
"You seriously have no shame, no feelings, no dignity! And if I killed you right now, I'd be totally justified!" Elias said, barely holding back his anger as he snatched the piece of chicken right out of Noah's hand.
"Hey! That's mine!" Noah yelled, looking at the chicken piece in Elias's hand.
"Nah, buddy, this is mine... and my mom cooked it... so you're lucky I'm even letting you eat," Elias said, eating Noah's chicken.
"Fine, I'm telling your mom!" Noah said, standing up and leaving Elias to head towards his mother.
"Honestly, I was gonna give it to you, but after that, no way you're getting it, Noah," Elias said, annoyed and resentful, putting the whole piece in his mouth.
Noah gave him an annoyed look and went to complain to his mother.
"Mom, look at Elias... he took my piece of chicken and ate it... and I didn't even do anything!" Noah told Elias's mother, whining and looking at her innocently.
"Here, take this and just leave him be. I swear, I wish you two would finally grow up," Elias's mother said, giving him another piece of chicken and patting his shoulder. She still saw them as kids, unfortunately.
"Actually, I'm sensible... your son's the idiot!" Noah said, taking the piece and going back to his seat.
Elias's mom sighed, shaking her head in despair. "Lord, give me strength," she thought, then went back to what she was doing.
"You think getting another piece is gonna make me mad?" Elias said, looking at the piece in Noah's hand, annoyed.
Noah smiled, sat down, and started cutting up his chicken and eating it, saying... "Did I do anything to you now? Just chill out and let me eat, please."
Elias gave him a look of disgust and annoyance, then stayed quiet and went back to eating his own food.
They both finished eating and cleaning up after themselves, then sat down to talk.
"Hey, why don't you call the rest of the guys to come hang out... it's a day off anyway," Noah said, looking at Elias.
"Dude, Adam's probably still asleep, and the afternoon prayer is gonna be called pretty soon anyway," Elias said, lying back on the bed and stretching out.
"Call him anyway, wake him up, and mess with him, why not?" Noah said, laughing.
"Alright, you call him, and when he cusses you out, don't blame me," Elias said, laughing, pulling out his phone to scroll through Facebook.
"Okay, let's see..." Noah said, sitting up straight and calling Adam.
After a moment, the other end answered with a sleepy voice. "Hello?"
"You still sleeping?" Noah asked.
"What does it look like?" Adam said sleepily, rolling over in bed and hugging his pillow.
"Well, if it's about seeing, I can't even see you... Anyway, why don't you come over?" Noah said, messing with him.
"Come over where?"
"Come over to Elias's. We're all getting together here like usual... and besides, it's a day off."
"Can't do it... seriously, I wanna sleep."
"Dude, the afternoon prayer is gonna be called, what are you talking about?"
"So what? Just let me sleep these few minutes until the afternoon prayer, I'll wake up, pray, and come."
"Adam, get up, wash your face, and come on, man, we're waiting here."
"Okay, after the afternoon prayer, God willing."
"Mom made orange cake. If you're not here in ten minutes, you're not getting any," he said, laughing, and hung up on him.
Elias looked at him, laughing. "You tempting him with the cake?"
Noah laughed, looking back at him. "You know how much he loves it, he'll totally come for that!"
Elias laughed, shaking his head. "Okay, why don't you call our artist while you're at it?"
Noah nodded, picked up his phone again, and called their fourth friend, waiting for him to answer.
"Morning."
"You mean afternoon," Noah said, laughing.
"Doesn't matter if it's morning or afternoon, what do you want?" Ghaith said, laughing.
"Draw me," Noah said, smiling.
"Dude, every time you see my face you tell me to draw you... Geez, man, give me a break... Seriously, I don't need this!" Ghaith said, annoyed and agitated.
Noah laughed. "What's up, why are you so annoyed? So what exactly are you learning in Art Education?"
"Drawing and art and stuff like that... What else would I be learning?" Ghaith answered simply.
"Okay, so why won't you draw me then?"
"Dude, get it... Drawing is art, right? So if I see something that really grabs me and pulls me in... and it's something really beautiful, something that just draws me in, then I'll draw it... But you're gross, why would you draw anyone in... That's not even a look."
"What??... So I'm gross?? Okay, I swear, I'll show you... Just come over to Elias's... Just let me see your face, and I'll show you who's gross, you gross dude." Noah said, biting his lip, barely holding back his angry resentment.
Ghaith laughed, shaking his head. "Alright," he said and hung up on him.
Noah looked at the phone, annoyed, and tossed it aside, saying... "He called me gross? He said gross? I'm gross??? Oh, I'm totally gonna get him back for that."
Elias laughed, looking at him. "What happened?"
"The gross dude won't draw me... Yeah, he said I'm gross," Noah said, annoyed.
Elias burst out laughing, so Noah gave him a look of disgust and grabbed a pillow to hit him with, while Elias blocked the hits, laughing.
"Okay, okay, cut it out!" he shouted, laughing, pushing Noah away.
"You're such a pain in the butt!" Elias said, laughing and looking at him with disgust.
Noah looked back, equally disgusted, and threw the pillow at his face before sitting down on the bed next to him.
Elias laughed, grabbing the pillow and hugging it. "Call Bahr, have him come too."
"Alright, since I'm your personal operator," Noah said, annoyed, picking up his phone and calling Bahr.
After a moment, Bahr answered, "Yeah?"
"'Yeah?' What kind of answer is 'Yeah?'" Noah said sarcastically.
"Are you just gonna critique what I say? Get on with it," Bahr said, annoyed.
"Dude, why are you so impatient? You're supposed to be a shrink, right? Like, you're supposed to sit there and listen to people and their problems, and supposedly you fix 'em... not act like this."
"Honestly, I have no idea why I even went to that college, I can't even stand myself," Bahr said, annoyed.
"Tough break, man," Noah said, laughing.
Bahr sighed. "Okay, yeah, so what do you want?"
"We're waiting for you at Elias's, me and the rest of the guys. Don't be late, alright?"
"Yeah, just the drive."
"Alright, hurry up then!"
"Gotcha... I'll be flying!"
Noah laughed and hung up the phone.
Elias looked at him, laughing, and said... "Stop being such a pain, man, why are you always bugging the guys?"
"Me, man?? God forgive you," Noah said, pretending to be innocent.
"Oh, so now you're playing the innocent victim?" Elias said, shoving Noah away from him, making him fall to the floor.
"You dog," Noah said, looking at him disgusted. He grabbed him by the foot, dragging him down to the floor next to him.
Elias grabbed his back, looking at Noah disgusted, and said... "Okay, I swear, I'm gonna get you back, you dog Noah!" Elias stood up and was about to hit him until his mother's voice from outside stopped him.
"Elias, your friend's here."
"What? Did he actually fly or something?" Noah said, shocked, standing up.
"Dude, you're seriously dense, get out of my face!" Elias shoved him away, annoyed, and went to see his friend who'd arrived, and Noah followed him out too.
"See? I told you he'd come for the cake," Noah said, laughing, looking at Adam standing by the door.
Adam gave him a disgusted look, said hi to Elias's mom, and came in.
"And what's wrong with coming for the cake? I just hope it's not gone, 'cause I'll be mad."
"Too bad, I finished it," Noah said, bugging Adam, laughing.
Adam gave him a resentful look, then looked at Elias's mom, saying... "Is the cake really gone, Mom?"
Elias's mom laughed, shaking her head. "Nah, he's just messing with you. You guys sit down, I'll get you the cake."
Adam smiled and nodded, then looked at Noah sarcastically and shoved him by the shoulder before going into Elias's room to sit.
"Where are the others?" Adam said.
"On their way," Elias said, sitting down next to him on the bed.
Adam nodded.
"What kept you sleeping till the afternoon prayer?" Noah said, sitting down next to them too.
"Like usual, I stayed up late at the gym, got back at dawn, prayed, ate a little, and crashed. Woke up, prayed noon prayer, and didn't even get back to sleep, so I figured I'd just keep sleeping till the afternoon prayer, but then some annoying person called and woke me up," Adam said, looking at Noah annoyed.
Noah laughed, looking at him. "Ah well, ah well, maybe next time, God willing."
Adam sighed in despair, looking at Elias. "Why are you so quiet?"
Elias shook his head. "Nothing much, just some nightmares. Haven't been able to sleep well for a few days."
"Still having those dreams about the sea?" Noah said, looking at him.
"Yeah, they're getting more intense, man, seriously," Elias said, shaking his head in despair.
"How so?" Adam said, looking at him.
"Like, the..." His mom knocked on the door, cutting him off. She came in and put a plate of orange cake in front of them, saying... "Here's the cake! Enjoy, guys, but leave some for Ghaith and Bahr, alright?"
"First come, first serve, Mom!" Adam said, grabbing a piece of cake to eat.
Elias's mom laughed, shaking her head. "Okay, no big deal, you guys eat it. I'll just make another one for Ghaith and Bahr later."
Adam smiled, looking at her as he ate the cake. "Seriously, Mom, you have no idea how much I love you. You're the best, for real."
"All that just for cake?" Noah said, laughing, looking at him.
"Mind your own business," Adam said, annoyed.
"Go on, enjoy the food!" Elias's mother smiled and left, leaving them alone again.
Adam smiled and grabbed another piece to eat.
"Anyway, keep going, man," Noah said, looking at Elias.
"Nothing, like I told you guys before, the dream sometimes repeats and all that... But this time something weird happened," Elias said, looking confused.
"What happened?" Adam looked at him.
"I saw a girl in the dream... or actually, she was more like a mermaid, not a regular girl," Elias said, looking at them both.
"Elias, you think this is just a dream?" Noah said, trying to sound serious.
"Well, it is just a dream, so is it gonna be real or something?" Adam said sarcastically.
"Adam's right, it really is just a dream... And anyway, we all know mermaids are just a myth," Elias said, looking at them.
"Honestly, I don't know either," Noah mumbled, looking at them, shaking his head slowly.
The three of them were quiet for a moment, looking at each other, the silence broken by Adam grabbing more cake and eating it.
Elias sighed and lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling quietly, lost in thought.
Noah looked at Adam, annoyed, and took the piece of cake from him. "Have some feelings! The guy looks depressed, and you're just stuffing your face? What the...? No empathy... seriously, not even a little?"
"Oh, like you're Mr. Sensitive when you're bugging all of us and waking us up early??" Adam said sarcastically, shoving him and taking the piece of cake.
"That's for your own good, actually... You guys have no idea how many benefits there are to waking up early," Noah said sarcastically.
"Keep it to yourself then, we don't want it," Adam said, patting Noah's leg sarcastically.
Noah gave him an annoyed look and moved his hand off his leg.
Their arguing was cut short by Ghaith and Bahr coming into the room.
"What's up?" Bahr said, laughing, and proceeded to jump on them.
Ghaith laughed and sat down on the desk chair in front of them.
Adam shoved Bahr away, annoyed. "Dude, you're seriously obnoxious, what the heck?!"
Bahr laughed hard and sat down next to them.
Noah looked at him. "You couldn't even stand yourself when you were talking to me on the phone, and now you're laughing... What's up with you?"
"Is it a crime for me to laugh now?" Bahr said, annoyed, looking at Noah.
"Nah, it's not forbidden, did I say anything?" Noah said, laughing.
"Oh, okay," Bahr laughed.
"So, how's our artist doing?" Noah said, laughing, looking at Ghaith.
"Can't stand the sight of you," Ghaith said, looking at him annoyed.
"Me, man?? Seriously, I didn't do anything to deserve all this! What's wrong with asking you to draw me, is it against the rules or something?" Noah whined, looking at him.
"Yeah, it's forbidden... drawing that gross mug is a sin... Seriously... you're gonna make me lose my religion!" Ghaith said, annoyed.
"He's totally right," Adam said, laughing.
"None of your business," Noah said, annoyed. "Ghaith, be a good sport and draw me. I'll give you twenty bucks, how 'bout it?"
"Twenty what?? The pen I'd use to draw you costs more than that on its own. Are we kidding around here?" Ghaith said, annoyed.
"Dude, whatever, I'll give you fifty then," Noah said, whining.
"I won't take less than three bills, a hundred bucks each," Ghaith said simply.
"What do you mean??" Noah said, annoyed and agitated.
"Like you heard," Ghaith said, crossing his arms and looking at him.
"Yeah, right, you can ask your mom... I don't want anything," Noah said sarcastically.
Ghaith laughed, shaking his head. "Suit yourself."
Bahr looked at Elias and nudged him in the arm, teasing him. "Thinking about your girl or something?"
Elias looked at him, straightened up, smiling quietly at the mention of her, and shook his head. "I wish, man."
"So what's up with you then?" Bahr said, taking a piece of the cake, which was the last one.
Adam looked at him, slapped his hand, and took the piece, eating it as he said, "This is mine... Mom made you another one."
Bahr looked at him in shock and disbelief, saying... "Seriously!!!! Even if it's yours, you can't just take it out of my hand!" he yelled, annoyed.
"Go get some from Mom," Adam said, eating the last piece.
"All I'm gonna say is, 'God will take care of the oppressor'... and he knows exactly who he is," Bahr said, annoyed, looking at Adam out of the corner of his eye.
Adam just shrugged, enjoying the last piece of cake.
"Ghaith," Elias said, looking at him and getting his attention.
"Yeah?" Ghaith blinked, looking at him.
"Listen, if I describe someone's features... can you draw them?"
"Well, what do you think my job is?... Of course I can."
"Okay, I'll describe someone, and you draw 'em for me, alright?"
"Alright." Ghaith nodded, grabbed the paper and pencil, and started sketching on it to get ready to draw.
"What are you gonna draw?" Adam said, standing next to them.
"The mermaid I saw," Elias said, sitting down next to Ghaith.
"A mermaid?!!" Bahr said in astonishment, going over to stand next to them too.
"When did you see a mermaid?!" Ghaith looked at him, blinking in surprise, trying to figure out what he was talking about.
