'Breaking News! Two bodies were discovered from an abandoned warehouse just this morning. According to the police, the corpses seem to be one to two days old with signs of extreme torture. They claim they are thoroughly investigating this case and hope that soon the culprit will be caught.'
A shiver runs down my spine as I look at the news playing on the tv. It's them.
I quickly take the remote and shut it off. I place both my palms on my head, pushing back the memories of that day but still ending up reliving it.
Guilt engulfs me again and I look at my phone. I have the evidence. Even if the faces of those killers weren't visible properly, it can still help the police a lot.
I'm such a coward. Instead of stepping forward to avenge the death of those two poor victims, I am being selfish and thinking about my own safety. The thought makes me hate myself more than ever.
My phone pings.
Majnu:
are you okay insha?
Noorie:
insha, don't forget we are all with you
Manny:
don't you dare blame urself for that insha, i know you
I sigh. The guilt just wouldn't leave me alone.
Me:
guys, i'm fine
Noorie:
like heck you are
don't lie to us insha, we're your best friends
Majnu:
you can stay home today, no need to come to class if you aren't feeling well
Manny:
yeah layla is right
we'll drop by after school
Me:
no no guys, I'm coming
if i stay home, I'll keep thinking about it
catch y'all later
With a heavy heart, I quickly get ready, wearing whatever my hands touched.
Arriving at the college, I slowly walk to my lockers. The hallway is silent and I groan in irritation after realising that I may be late to class. Just great.
As soon as I close my locker shut, I let out a shriek and move back, with my heart in my hand.
"What the hell!" I say angrily to the guy whose face was inches away.
He smiles, mischievously. "Sorry for scaring you. That was absolutely my intention." He replies in a playful tone.
I scowl. Normally, I'm a very calm person, but this human right here makes me get so riled up that I wanna punch him. "What do you want?"
Something dark swirls in his eyes. He walks closer to me and I step back. "I would tell you, but you won't like it. Should I?" He asks with a half smile.
I push him away. "What is seriously wrong with you?"
He chuckles, which gave me an unsettling feeling. "Too many things to count."
I don't respond to that, instead, I ask, "Why are you even here? Don't you have a class to attend?"
I start walking and he joins me.
"I had some work to do so I got late."
I shrug and continue down the hall.
"By the way, you don't look in a good mood, today. Did something happen?" He nudges me and I am reminded of everything again.
I look at him. "First, everything is fine. Second, even if it wasn't, bold of you to assume I would tell you what's wrong."
He playfully rolls his eyes and whines, "Whyy? We're friends now!"
This time, I roll my eyes. "Really? In which moment did you think I enjoy being in your company?"
He smirks. "I know you love my company and I certainly know you enjoy seeing my handsome face. You are just too prideful to admit it." He winks.
Is this guy for real?
"Now I'm really wondering if something is wrong with your brain. Dude, we don't even know each other's names," I drawl.
His eyes widen. "Oh shit! You're right!" He laughs. "So, now would you please do the honour of telling me what your name is? He asks, expectantly.
I see my class ahead and turn to him. Giving him a sweet smile, I point to the class. "Oops, gotta run! Bye!"
With that, I race to the classroom, ignoring his protests from behind.
°•°•°•°•°•°•°
"Hey Insha!" I hear my name being shouted as soon as I step out of the class. I look back and groan.
Why can't he leave me alone?!
Wait a minute.
"How did you find out my name?" I ask him suspiciously as he stops in front of me.
He bents down to my eye level and gives me a smug smile. "If you refuse to give me your name, obviously I would have to find out through some other way."
I huff and start walking towards the cafeteria. My friends told me they will meet me by the door. The annoying guy falls in step with me. "The question is why do you even want to know?"
"To become friends, that's a given." He gives me a 'duh' look.
"Friendship is a mutual relationship. Not one-sided."
"Oh? So you wanna be something more than friendship? I mean, I'm down." He grins.
I glare at him. "You're really annoying."
Maybe it isn't that much of a bad idea to be friends with him. I remember my friends' words on how I should give him a chance. It was too judgemental of me to judge him and shut him off.
"I try my best. And I know you're not gonna ask me my name, so I'll just give it to you myself." He decides. "I'm Zayan Fadel."
"Okay. Good for you."
He- Zayan lightly pushes me while chuckling. "Do you have some kind of enmity with me? Did I steal your chocolates in our childhood?"
I smile. "Nah, I wouldn't have looked at you twice then."
"So, does that mean you agree to be friends with me?" He raises his eyebrows, looking at me.
I shrug. "Well, you know, we'll se-"
"I'll take that as a yes." He nods firmly.
I roll my eyes. "Maintain your distance though. You keep forgetting what personal space is."
Zayan cracks a smile. "You'll just have to bear with it."
"Like you will just have to bear with the punches you'll receive then." I state.
He laughs and shakes his head. "By the way, your name is beautiful, just like you."
I slow down. That was.... actually sweet. I didn't know how to respond to that. He trains his eyes on me as he slows down, a genuine smile on his face and playfulness in his eyes.
I smile slowly. "Uh... thanks." I say, my cheeks gaining color. Great. Barely one compliment and my cheeks decide to change color. "That was random but still, thank you." I say awkwardly. "You also, you have a nice name."
He grins. "That's it? What about my face?" He teases. Well, he was handsome. His silky black hair paired with his green eyes, it was clear how good looking he was. Not to mention the sharp jawline and the beautiful smile that is being directed at me now and many other times too. But I wasn't gonna admit all that, obviously.
I shake my head. "You already know about your good looks. All you want is to inflate your oversized ego even more."
He blocks my way. "You're admitting I have good looks?"
I realise what I said. Shit.
He keeps coming closer. "You think I'm good looking?" His eyes locks with mine, and he gazes at me intently with a glint in his eyes. That immediately makes me uncomfortable.
"No! That wasn't wha-"
"Insha!" Zayan and I look in front of us to see my three friends walking towards us. Oh thanks Allah.
"Hey guys!" I say a little too cheerfully.
All of them look at Zayan, a questionable look in their eyes.
"Who's this?" Noora asks.
"This," I gesture towards Zayan, "is Zayan, you remember from the shop?"
"Oh, the guy you were cursing out for dropping your smoothie?" Manal speaks up.
Zayan raises an eyebrow and looks at me.
I will kill Manal.
"Haha. Anyways, Zayan, these are my friends. Manal, Noora and Layla." I state, pointing to each of them.
They all exchange hi's.
We talked a little, most of which was Manal and Noora asking him questions while Layla listened, before he had to excuse himself and go to his friends group in the cafeteria.
We walk to our table and settle down.
"So, you actually did befriend him, huh." Manal teases.
"Kinda. You guys told me to give him a chance."
I still don't get him though. He was kind of different yesterday, almost scary and dangerous. But today, it was like a different person. So friendly and easy going.
Or maybe, I was too rude yesterday which made him lose it.
I have no idea.
"That's great." Layla smiles. Then her smile falters. "Are you okay now?" She asks, solemnly.
I take a small bite of my sandwich. "I guess, yeah. But it comes back when I have nothing to do. Like just now, when I was talking to Zayan, I was okay and it was bearable. So... yeah."
Layla claps her hand, "see! That's great, you just became friends with him and he's already helping you unintentionally!"
I roll my eyes. "Whatever." I go quiet for a while. "Watching the news this morning, I wanted to go to the police station." All of them start to protest. "I know, I know. I just thought about it, that's all. They found the body, they're looking for the culprits. My video really could've helped them in some way."
A hand touches mine and I look at Noorie watching me with softened eyes. "We understand your feelings, Insha. But, remember, the first person you should care about is you. Others come next."
Manal and Layla nod in agreement.
"Okay, enough of this. What happened has happened and life goes on. And, Inshu, we're only in college! We have so much to do and we have to enjoy our lives!" She expresses with a grin. Then, she clickes her fingers. "Oh! How about we go shopping on the weekend? It's been days since we jave hung out on weekends."
I open my mouth to decline when Noora speaks up. "I've got to complete my psychology assignment this weeke-"
"Will you please leave work for a awhile? That assignment is due in two weeks!" Manal glares, trying to communicate with her through the eyes.
Noorie huffs. "Fine."
Manal smiles, satisfied. "Good. That's settled. We'll think of where to go later."
I sigh, not having been given the chance to refuse, well, even if I did, I'm sure Manal still would've forced me to say yes, which is a good thing. Maybe I'll get out of this depressing mood, slowly.
Layla clears her throat. "Um, looks like someone has fallen head over heels for someone else." We all look at Layla with confused eyes. She looks at us and moves her eyes to her left and we all follow.
I'm shocked to find Zayan's eyes trained on me. What's up with this guy?
Even after all of us looking at him, he doesn't avert his gaze. Instead, his eyes continue to watch me, assess me, and that kind of creeps me out as well as does something to my heart.
Ugh, what is actually wrong with this man?
Unable, to keep eye contact, I immediately look away.
"Hmm, I wonder why he is looking at you so intensely." Noora teases.
I feel a blush creeping to my cheeks. "Shut up! He was just probably looking for something or... or just thinking about something."
Layla smiles at me, putting her hands forward on the table. "Sorry to clear your misunderstanding– or.. you're welcome for doing that, but he has been looking only at you for quite some time."
I give her a look, not knowing how to respond to that. "That's so creepy, dude."
Manal slings a hand around my shoulder. "It is, but it seems your red cheeks have something else to say." Noora and Layla chuckle and I just ignore that.
°•°•°•°•°•°
I brush my hair and tie it in a bun before plopping down on my bed. I do my best to steer my mind clear of all the thoughts regarding that incident. I should try to move on.
I turn off the lights and close my eyes. My phone pings and I check to see who messaged me.
Unknown Number:
Good night and sweet dreams, darling.