Tina sighed. Her 17th birthday party was supposed to be a happy event. Until her father decided to invite Tina's entire extended family to her party in Genovia. And her Grandmother arrived.
Her very traditional, Muslim grandmother.
"It must be a proper gathering," her grandmother insisted. So Tina found herself being wrapped in four layers- black silk trousers, a pink silk thobe-- a long dress-- decorated with pearls, a black silk veil for her face, and black Abaya, or cloak. The waiting women wrapped the Abaya around her, while Tina complained.
"Must I wear the Abaya all night, Grandmother?" she asked.
"I suppose not. But if you were a proper Muslim girl you would do as I said."
"How am I supposed to dance in this?"
"DANCE? There will be no dancing, you dirty little girl. Be a good girl and stay silent until spoken to."
Tina sighed. HEr grandmother would be leaving soon. She loved her grandmother, but the woman was so traditional. She made her wear the veil whenever there were boys present. The old woman turned to Mia.
"I have brought proper clothing for you as well, Amelia."
Mia
Oh no. She hadn't dealt with Princess Lessons from her own grandmother only so she could be harrassed from her friends grandmothers as well.
Besides, it was her country.
"Sorry," she said graciously. "But I will have to refuse. Standards of proper dress are different here, and it would be irresponsible of me to not be properly attired according to our standards."
She wondered if she could help get Tina out of it too. Hmm...
Tina
Tina's grandmother called Mia a name in Arabic that basically meant "disrespectful harlot" and went back to making sure her granddaughter was showing no exposed skin.
"You must be a proper girl when you greet Malik for the first time. He came all the way from home with us to marry you."
"WHAT?!?!" Tina shrieked.
Mia
Mia's eyes widened.
"An arranged marriage?" she asked in shock. "That's just... that's just..."
She chewed her lip. Poor Tina! There had to be a way to stop such madness.
Tina
Wahim heared Tina scream and ran into the room. He understood what Grandmother Maha was muttering about in Arabic, and his eyes went wide behind his sunglasses. He said something to Lars through the earpieces, and quickly convinced the older woman to leave the two teenagers alone.
"Out, now," Tina ordered her ladies' maids, who were wrapping her up in her cloak, and she ripped off the veil.
"Mia, what am I going to do?" Tina had tears in her eyes.
Mia
"Well, for one thing, you're not going to stand for an arranged marriage!" Mia said firmly. "And neither am I. There has to be a way..."
She trailed off uncertainly, and then reached over to give her best friend a hug.
"Maybe Reggie will have an idea," Mia suggested. "He's not my Cheif Advisor just because he's a mutant, y'know."
Tina
"The last time Grandmother Maha came to the states, when I was little, she tried to have my cousin Maryam and I circumcised. She couldn't seem to grasp the concept that it's illegal in most of the world. I've told her several times that I'm not a Muslim, I'm a Christian, but she doesn't seem to listen." Tina said, her tears turning into sobs.
Mia
Mia gave Tina another hug.
"We're going to get you out of this," Tina said firmly. "Get out of those clothes. I'm in charge here, and I'm issuing a Royal command that you're not allowed to wear them."
She gave her friend a smile, and then picked up the phone and dialed.
"Reggie? It's Mia... we're having a slight problem with an arranged marriage," Mia paused for a moment, then went on to give Reggie the details.
Tina
"That;s right," Tina saidm gathering her courage. "It's my birthday party, and I want to wear blue jeans and a Hanson t-shirt," she said, giggling a little. "BUt I need some help," she said, sheepishly. "I can't get out of these! I'm stuck!"
Mia
Mia listened to what Reggie had to say.
"Really? That's interesting. I didn't know that... Yeah I probably should, in fact, I will. Thanks so much. See you down stairs? Great. Bye."
Mia hung up and started helping Tina out of the traditional Muslim clothing.
"You will never guess what Reggie told me," she said excitedly. "It's the best thing ever! There's a law in Genovia against arrange marriages! Apparently some ansestor of mine (I should really catch up on the family history) had a friend who was in one, finally met the guy and couldn't stand them. So my ansestor decided to help her out by forbidding them!"
Tina
"Yay!" Tina said, as she pulled on her blue jeans and a Hanson t-shirt Jessi had sent her. "Do you like it? It's not even on the website yet. Jessi sent it to me, 'cause she knows I like them. So, do you think you can give me asylum?" Tina asked.
Mia
"Love the shirt," Mia nodded. "And if you need asylum, it's granted. No way is my bestest friend going to get married off to some guy she's never met, and is certainly not in love with. Not a chance."
Tina
Tina grinned. "Hey, there isn't any chance that we could have my gran deported, is there?" Tina asked hopefully. "I'm not marrying some Muslim. Dad was allowed to marry for love. Besides, I'm still saving myself with JTT," she saidd, joking.
Mia
Mia shrugged.
"If she breaks a law or something we can. I dunno... I don't much follow that side of thing... Let's see what happens. It may work out that we can."
She grinned at her friend as they finished getting ready for the party.
"And it would be a total irony if the mutant with the cupid power didn't marry someone she was in love with."
Tina
"Totally," Tina said. "It's my birthday, I can skip my wedding if I want to."
Mia
"Absolutely," Mia agreed.
Once ready the girls headed down to the party, Mia giving a side note to security to keep Tina's Gran away (so as to not to spoil Tina's party any further).