Ellie turned to Carlie, who was sitting beside her, and asked if she could borrow her rubber. “Sure,” said Carlie. “Why is Amina wearing that headscarf?” Ellie looked hard at the drawing. Maybe she could turn some of the hair into scarf. She just had to rub out the wavy bits. “I said,” Carlie whispered, “why is Amina wearing that scarf?” “How should I know?” Ellie said. “Didn’t she tell you?” asked Carlie. “I thought you were best friends now. I thought best friends shared everything! Remember, in the last year in primary school, you and I used to text each other about what socks we were going to wear, to make sure we always dressed the same.” Ellie blushed at the memory. “Don’t you know why she’s wearing it?” asked Carlie. “Of course I know,” said Ellie. Really, she had no idea. “It’s… em … it’s to hide her hair from God. From Allah. It’s her religion. Like not eating bacon. It’s no big deal.” “No big deal?” snorted Carlie.
