Chapter 2
Aladdin and Jasmine walked quietly down the hall into Hazel’s room. They had both felt a little guilty about keeping her cooped up for so long and thought that after two weeks it was time to let her off the hook. It was getting late, and the two assumed she was either asleep or resting. Neither of them guessed that she had run away.
When they entered Hazel’s room, it immediately became obvious that their assumptions were wrong. The “rope” Hazel had made out of bed sheets was still tied to the balcony, and the room was completely empty. Jasmine sighed deeply and plopped carelessly onto Hazel’s bed.
“Not again,” she said. Ever since Hazel had become a teenager, she’d been going through a rebellious stage. This wasn’t the first time she had run away from home.
Aladdin turned from the balcony where he had been standing and sat next to Jasmine, who looked ready to either cry or kill somebody.
“Where do you think she went?” he asked.
“I don’t know, but wherever she is, she’s probably with Hakim.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Those two are always together. Kind of reminds me of us,” Jasmine said, smiling.
“Yeah, but the difference is their just friends,” Aladdin replied firmly, as if saying it made it so. Jasmine sighed again and stood up.
“Well, there’s nothing we can do about this now,” she began. “Let’s just go to bed and wait until she comes back — ”
Jasmine was cut of mid-sentence when Hazel came flying in through the balcony on Carpet. She managed to stop Carpet dead in his tracks before running headfirst into her parents. Aladdin was the first to speak.
“Where were you?” he said louder than he meant to.
“Dad, relax. I just went for a quick ride.
“I thought we told you to stay home,” Jasmine said.
“I was home for two weeks!”
“Well, you could have at least asked us first.”
“Oh, come on, mom, you know you would’ve said no.”
“Be that as it may, you still should have told us.”
Hazel rolled her eyes in silent submission. Somehow her mother could always pick a fight with her, and always come out the winner. What got her in trouble was the fact that Hazel was just as temperamental as her mother, one of the less-likable traits she had inherited.
Aladdin stared at the two of them, smiling. It was times like this that he realized just how alike his wife and daughter were.
“Look, it’s getting late,” Aladdin began, trying to keep a straight face. “We’ll talk about this in the morning.” With that, he turned and headed down the hall towards his room, with Jasmine close behind.
The minute they were gone, Hazel shut the door behind them and walked toward the balcony. Hakim emerged from the curtains.
“Are they gone?” he whispered.
“Yeah.”
They walked onto the balcony, staring out at the night sky.
“So how much trouble did you get yourself into this time?” Hakim asked.
Hazel shrugged. “Not much. Mom just needed an excuse to yell at me, I guess.”
“I’m sure that’s not it. She was probably worried about you.”
“Maybe, but she has a funny way of showing it.” Hazel cast her eyes down quietly and continued staring at the night sky. Why did talking about her mother always make her angry or sad? Would it ever make her happy? Seeing that she was getting a little depressed, Hakim could tell Hazel wanted to be alone.
“I should head home,”he said. “My parents are probably as worried as yours.
“Do you want Carpet to take you home?”
“Sure. I’ll need him to get out of the palace, anyway.” Hazel smiled and motioned for Carpet to come over. He had been huddled in the corner with Hakim since they had returned. She watched as he climbed on and waved goodbye to her as he flew past the desert sand dunes to his home.
If I Never Knew You by StoryWriter92