The bus drive the next morning was quite different than our drives to school. Our class was sharing a bus and everybody seemed to be in a great mood. Some of the students were even singing and dancing with Miss Abeer.

I switched between watching them, talking to Noaf, Mariam and Dina, stalking Layan's phone with them and listening to music.

The time passed by quickly that way and soon we arrived at the resort. It appeared like a beautiful oasis. Honestly I just wanted to take some time to relax and get over the shitty drama of the last weeks.

Miss Abeer gathered us around her to announce the room division. To my horror Noaf and I would not share a room. Why was I with Mariam and Dina, while she had to put up with Rania and Layan? This had to be a mistake no matter what Miss Abeer was saying! Why did the trip have to start like this?

"I can't believe this shit. I have to speak with Miss Jumana. I don't get why they do this", Noaf complained on the way to our rooms.

"It wasn't them", Mariam confessed making us stop in our tracks. "Actually it was me."

"You're joking, right?", Noaf reassured.

"Why would you do that?", Dina questioned irritated.

"Just hear me out", Mariam pleaded.

"You're so selfish", Noaf replied.

"I thought that maybe you could be our eyes and ears in there. You know it would be really useful", Mariam explained.

"It's not that, Mariam", Noaf shot back. "Why do you keep acting like you're the only one in on this? Why didn't you tell us instead of surprising me?"

"I was looking forward to sharing a room, but Mariam has a point. You would be really useful in there", Dina agreed.

"You're both insane", Noaf shot back and left.

I went after her and stopped her by grabbing her wrist gently.

"Noaf, it's out of the question that Mariam acted awful. I was looking forward to sharing a room with you as well, but it seems like we can't change that now. Do you want to switch with me?", I offered.

She cocked an eyebrow at me. It was obvious that she was furious. "Are you kidding? It's bad enough for me to share a room with them, but Layan won't just forgive you for humiliating her in front of her friends. As if I would let you sleep in there on your own. Who knows what they would do to you", she considered. "I'm going to survive it. It's not your fault. Let's just enjoy as much time outside of our rooms as possible." With those words she set off toward her room and I followed her to get to mine.

I did not approach her suggesting that it would be better to give her some time and space to calm down first.

Inside my room I dropped my bag onto the last empty bed and sat down with a sigh. Mariam and Dina immediately confronted me. "What did she say?", Dina wondered.

"Seriously? What do you think? She's furious and feels betrayed", I enlightened them. Then I addressed Mariam: "Did you ever think about Noaf in this scenario? Just imagine sharing a room with Rania and Layan after everything they have done to us. How could you act so reckless?"

Mariam approached me angrily. "Reckless? It's all for the sake of the plan. You might not understand because you're too afraid to support us, but this is important. I did it for all of us. So we won't have to suffer under them anymore", she justified her actions.

"But Noaf is suffering under your action now. I wonder how you can make that up with your conscience", I shot back.

"I didn't want to harm Noaf, okay? Why did you even stand up for me back then at the assembly if you don't care one bit about me?", she questioned.

"Because it was the right thing to do. I wanted to help you because you deserved it, because no one deserves to be treated the way Layan treated you. And that's actually why I can't sit still after what you just did to Noaf", I declared and left the room.

A turmoil was raging inside of me. I needed to see Noaf. After a short moment of hesitation I knocked at her door and entered the room.

"Oh, seriously? What are you doing here now?", Rania greeted me.

"I'm not here to pick a fight with you or anything. I just wanted to visit Noaf", I clarified and dropped next to my girlfriend on the bed. "Wanna go outside?", I asked her.

Noaf flashed me a soft smile, put on her sunglasses and took her towel with her.

"I guess your room situation isn't the best right now either", Noaf assumed on the way to the pool.

"Exactly", I replied with a sigh. "Let's just relax a bit together and forget all this drama."

"Agreed."

We sat down on two sun loungers and enjoyed our company until Dina and Mariam joined us.

"So what is it like sharing a room with the divas?", Dina broke the comfortable silence.

"Oh, it's great", Noaf responded sarcastically. "And it's all thanks to Mariam of course."

"Well, you know what? I would have done exactly the same thing for the team", Dina proclaimed.

"Then why don't you switch with Noaf?", I suggested.

"Oh, come on. Why are you so hostile, (f/n)?", Mariam questioned.

"You still don't understand a thing, do you? I guess it's fruitless to explain it then", I claimed.

"Come on! Just go with the flow!", Mariam pronounced. "Pretend you're on an adventure."

It was hard to contain my temper in that moment. How could she be so oblivious and insensitive? The chuckles of Dina and her did not improve my self control at all.

Noaf placed her hand on mine and shook her head signaling me to let it drop. I rested my head on her shoulder and closed my eyes to calm down until a whistling sound startled me.

Miss Abeer wanted us to gather.

After the short assembly Dina and Mariam decided to play volleyball, while Noaf and I wanted to go to the spa to relax a bit.

"Oh, but I forgot my towel in my room. I'm just gonna get it", I informed her and we decided that I would join her in a few minutes.

But when I finally made it to the spa I heard Layan yelling: "Get away from her!"

I just hoped that I combined the pieces the wrong way, but Noaf's shivering form and Layan yelling at a man were obvious hints.

I jumped into the pool and hurried to get to Noaf. The man staring at me in my swimwear confirmed my hypothesis pretty well.

"Hey. I'm here", I whispered to Noaf and pulled her into a tight embrace while glaring at the man who simply stared back at me with a smug look on his face.

I needed to concentrate on my girlfriend. She needed me and I needed to distract myself from that man. Otherwise I might do something I would regret later, or maybe not but it would get me into trouble.

Noaf repeated the words "nothing happened" as I supported her out of the water.

In the background I heard Layan threatening the man and I had never been so grateful for her company.

Suddenly Noaf burst into tears, sobs leaving her lips.

"I'm here now. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise", I attempted soothing her.

Outside I covered her up with my towel as it was closer than hers. Then I sat down, pulled her down on my lap and held her tightly as her sobs and shaking vanished more and more.

Meanwhile Layan was observing us carefully, but did not say anything.

"Girls", Miss Abeer's voice resounded. "Why did you come here all on your own? Didn't we tell you to stay with the group?"

"Sorry Miss, but ..." Layan stopped as the man left the pool.

Noaf was sitting next to me now. We had immediately parted when our teacher had shown up, but my arm was still placed around Noaf's shoulders to keep her close.

"But what?", Miss Abeer questioned.

"That's him", Layan declared. "You're disgusting!"

"Layan. What's going on?", Miss Abeer wondered.

"Miss! This man here is an animal!", Layan exclaimed.

"It's nothing, Miss. Honestly. He just kept staring at me in a weird way. It's, uh ... Don't worry. It's nothing", Noaf claimed.

"Of course. We can't blame him, can we? Look at yourselves, girls. Walking around, wearing hot things and all that skin showing. What did you expect?", Miss Abeer considered.

"What we're wearing doesn't give anyone the right to treat us like sex objects", I shot back. "You wouldn't accuse a man for just wearing swimming trunks after all", I added mumbling.

The man winked at Miss Abeer making her uncomfortable now as well. Finally she seemed to acknowledge that something was wrong with him.

"Girls. Let's go! Come on! It's time to go", she instructed us.

"Seriously, Noaf?", Layan asked softly before storming away.

I could understand Layan. I wanted that pervert to suffer some consequences as well, but I also wanted to respect Noaf's wish. She had endured enough for today.

Noaf hurried after Layan. I wanted to follow her but Miss Abeer stopped me. "Is there anything you would like to tell me about this whole situation in there?"

"It's complicated", I noted. "But it's not our fault that some men don't have any self control and with all due respect you shouldn't judge us too quickly either."

I went around looking for Noaf as she had disappeared and found her with Mariam and Dina at the cocktail bar, although she left before I arrived. I sprinted to catch up to her and soon we were inside her room where she cradled up under her blanket.

"If you don't want me close that's fine. But I won't leave you alone now, just to be clear", I stated.

She pulled up her blanket signaling me to join her which I gladly did.

We simply laid there, me holding her without uttering a word until the door opened again revealing Rania and Layan making us sit up.

"Hm, it's you two. (f/n), don't you have your own room?", Rania greeted us.

"Leave it", Layan requested quietly while hitting Rania with her elbow.

Rania's eyes switched between Layan and us. Irritation was evident on her face. "Okay", she agreed surprised. "I'm gonna take a shower. Will be out in an hour. You know what my hair is like", Rania announced and disappeared in the bathroom.

Layan stared at Noaf and me for a moment. "I wondered about that before but ... are you guys dating or something?", she questioned.

Noaf and I stayed silent.

"I'm not trying to use it against you. You just seem so close and I was curious. It's shitty if you have to hide your relationship because of others", she remarked.

"Didn't seem to bother you when you bullied me for liking girls. Or when you manipulated me into thinking that Noaf didn't give a shit about me", I reminded her.

Noaf looked shocked at me at the second statement.

"You're right. I didn't think about it. It was stupid and childish. I promise I won't do it again", she claimed.

Had Layan just apologized?

"So what's your plan now?", Noaf questioned. "You made her go through hell at school and you think a simple apology is going to make up for it?"

"Just thought that we could stop this unreasonable fight. Whatever. I won't sell you out for dating each other", she assured us and pulled out her phone.

Noaf blocked Mariam's access to Layan's phone. Apparently our drama had just ended now. We really should have talked to them in the first place.

At dinner a huge discussion broke out between Noaf and Mariam. Dina and I fruitlessly attempted to influence the duo.

Finally Noaf had understood that revenge was not the solution, but Mariam was still trapped in her old mindset. I could not really blame Mariam after everything she had been through. And it had been Dina and Noaf who had persuaded her to continue the revenge after all. But honestly it was hard for me to deal with Mariam because on the one hand I wanted to help and support her through this rough time but on the other hand had she never appreciated my help and usually blocked me off or even insulted me.

I did not follow Noaf when she left the table. Not because I did not want to support her but rather because I thought she might need some time and space for herself to clear out her thoughts.

"What is up with her?", Mariam confronted me now.

"She understood what I was trying to tell you the whole time. Revenge will only lead to an endless cycle of hate and misery", I proclaimed.

"Did you manipulate her? Have you been on their side all along?", Mariam suddenly questioned.

I looked her straight in the eyes. "Honestly, Mariam, this is ridiculous. You can't think clearly right now. A lot of awful things happened to you. I understand that you're upset, but what you're doing is only going to end in misery for everyone. You don't need revenge. You need help and I don't mean that as an insult. I wouldn't say this to you if I didn't care about you. You're willing to try so much to make them pay. But can't you try at least once to talk to them?"

That made her go silent and I got a chance to finally eat.

Layan had helped Noaf out when I had not been around and she accepted Noaf's and my relationship. That did not make up for all the cruel things Layan had done, but it showed me that resonating and communicating with her was possible. I wished I could say the same thing about Mariam. Was it already too late?