Today Nora and Battol need to attend the fifth and last course, after attending the first lecture of this course they will decide for sure what course to substitute with the online course.
Battol closed her eyes and made a prayer "ya Allah, make this course easy, please let it be a normal course with written exams, homework and all that normal stuff"
"Amen" said Nora.
"Good morning class, My name is Professor Walid" said the professor as he walked in the class.
He was an average height old man, he had black hair with a few grey locks.
He started his lecture immediately and said
"I will be guiding you through this course, first I will educate you about Chemistry, physics, biology, etc.
We will study the introduction materials of each of these branches of science, I will give you homework and quick tests, then each of you will choose only one topic to write a paper on, this paper will determine 50% of the final grade, the other half will be determined by the result of the scientific project that you all will work on"
"Wait, we all will work on the same project?" Asked one of the students.
"Yes, you can easily pass this course on your own by writing a good essay, however, getting a high mark depends on your teamwork" answered the professor.
"For once I'm not scared, this is just like any course in normal universities!
my prayers have been answered!" Said Battol.
Nora Rolled her eyes and said "it's too early to tell"
The last course didn't require any absurd demands and passing it seemed guaranteed, for once the girls walked out of a class without extra pressure.
"Alhamdullah, see, I told you we can do this, we are the elite students of the world after all that's why they picked us!"said Battol feeling relief.
Nora sarcastically said "Look who's talking!"
"Wanna go grab something to eat as a celebration?"
Asked Battol suddenly.
Nora stopped in her track and looked at Battol in surprise and said
"We have not done anything yet and you want to celebrate already!"
Battol nodded her head and said" Why not?
Life is short we have to celebrate the small victories to keep our spirits up"
Nora sighed and said "You are such a sunshine!"
A girl interrupted them and said
"Excuse me, My name is Malak, I was in the lab with you minutes ago, when I saw you leaving I kinda followed you to say hi"
Battol smiled and said
"Hi, come sit with us"
Malak smiled back and said
"Thanks"
"What is your major?"asked Nora.
"Cyber security"answered Malak.
"Wow, you're in the IT faculty like us?"exclaimed Battol.
"Really? I guess we're colleagues then, let's do our best to pass this year together"
Said Malak.
The girls nodded their heads and smiled, they stayed quiet for a few seconds, then Malak sighed and said "I'm going to be honest, the reason why I followed you is that I thought it would be better to get to know each other before we start working on the project"
"Indeed, it will make it easier to get along if we're friendly to each other, we need to get to know each other to avoid conflicts" said Battol.
"Good thinking"said Nora.
"I will make a chat group for our class, can you please give me your phone numbers?"asked Malak.
"Sure, here mine is************" said Nora.
"Mine is *************" said Battol
"Got it, thank you so much girls" said Malak as she smiled gently.
She thanked the girls again and left.
2 hours later the girls were waiting in the cafeteria for the girl Nora helped the other night.
Nora looked around the cafeteria, then she said
"Do you think it's ok for me to ask her for this?"
"What do you mean?"asked Battol in confusion.
Nora sighed and said "I don't know, it's just that I'm not used to an easy A"
Battol paused, she didn't know what to say, she thought about it for a bit then she said
"Well, let's talk to her first and see how things go"
A few minutes later the girls from the other night arrived.
"Hi girls, have we kept you waiting?"Said Rania the girl who asked them for help.
Nora smiled faintly and said "no, we just got here"
For a few minutes, the girls sat in awkward silence then Bushra finally spoke.
"I must thank you for helping me yesterday, and I'm sorry for troubling you"
Nora smiled akwardly and said "No need to thank me, I'm glad I could help"
Battol tried to lighten the mood, she tried to start a conversation so she asked "so, what is your major?"
"Businesses management"answered Bushra.
Rania joined in the conversation and said
"These two right here are Computer Science students, they are such kind girls as well"
Bushra smiled gracefully and said "Indeed, I felt this way about them too, thank you so much again"
"I believe there is something they wanted to ask you"said Rania.
Nora cleared her throat and said "That's right I want to ask you something, if you don't mind"
Bushra smiled and said"Go ahead and ask"
Nora sat up straight and turned fully to Bushra then she said "Why do you get these panic attacks in the first place?
I asked Doctor Ahmed yesterday, he said that many people have a panic attack only once or twice in their lifetime, and the problem goes away, perhaps when a stressful situation is over. But if you have frequent, unexpected panic attacks and spend long periods of time in constant fear of having another attack, you may have a condition called panic disorder.
Rania told us that you've been crying yourself to sleep every night since you got here, I'm worried that your situation might escalate into a panic disorder unless you do something about it"
Bushra looked down, she seemed uncomfortable with the conversation, she said in a cold tone "I'm very touched by your kindness, don't worry about me I will be fine"
"Your tone suggests otherwise"argued Nora.
"You need me to sign a paper for you to get an A+ for the main course right?
I already prepared and signed that paper, here you can have it." Said Bushra as she took the paper out of her bag and placed it in front of Nora.
Nora took a look at the paper that was tossed in front of her, then she suddenly stood up and walked to the nearest trashcan, she tore the paper apart and threw the pieces away.
she walked back to their table to get her purse then she left the cafeteria.
There was an akward silence for a few seconds, then Battol broke the silence and said "I'm very sorry, I don't know what came over her, I'll go after her to check" she picked up her bag and went after Nora.
Battol couldn't find Nora anywhere on campus, in the end, she gave up and went back to their room in the dorms.
After about an hour Nora finally came back to the dorm.
"Where have you been, I've searched for you everywhere!" Said Battol to Nora as she walked in their room.
Nora sighed and said "You only searched the places you knew didn't you?"
"Of course, after all this campus is huge, if I went searching everywhere I would get lost!" Said Battol in annoyance.
"I knew it, I was on the rooftop, I like sitting on a high place when I have something on my mind, it cools me down and makes it easier to think, especially when I have a decent view"
Said Nora as she looked out of the window.
"Why did you get mad anyway?" Asked Battol.
Nora walked to her bed and said"It's nothing, after thinking about it, I think I exaggerated"
Battol pouted and said
"No, I won't accept that answer, I want to know"
Nora rolled her eyes, she knew that Battol won't let it go, so she gave up and said "fine I'll tell you"
Nora took off her shoes, she then made herself comfortable on her bed and turned to look outside the window.
"The way I was raised, no one ever did something for someone without benefit.
Even my parents favored my brother and loved him more because he is a boy.
He could make more money when he grows up, and he will be more useful to them than me.
Everyone I knew growing up was the same.
it couldn't be helped, if you need something you have to offer something in return.
That should be a win_win situation where both parties walk out with profit.
So I had no choice but to work hard to prove that I was profitable, that I deserved to be loved and cared about.
I did well in school and exceeded at everything I do to prove to them that every penny they spent on me didn't go to waste.
Anyway, I realized that I don't want her to give me an easy A , she is obviously not ok, and it's a win-lose situation for her"
Battol didn't agree with Nora, she was surprised to know that she felt this way "But you actually helped her yesterday, if you weren't there she might have gotten a heart attack!"
"No, she would have calmed down on her own"argued Nora.
It was late at night so Nora changed her clothes and got ready for bed, Battol did the same and went to turn the lights off.
As she was trying to sleep a thought suddenly occurred to her, she turned to Nora and said
"What if you offer her your help again?"
We need to save someone to pass this course anyway, you already found someone who needs your help, if you refuse to accept that easy A then do your best like you always do and earn it!"
Nora thought about it for a bit, then she turned to Battol and said "what if she rejects my help again?"
"She is a reserved girl, just like you, so I'm sure you can handle her.
You should meet her again and talk to her" Battol confidently said.
"I'm not sure I can do this, I've never helped someone with private issues before"said Nora hesitantly.
Battol had enough of Nora's negative attitude, she got up and said almost in a shout tone
"Aren't you the one who told me that we can't accomplish anything without having a strong will!
Didn't you say that hesitation won't lead us anywhere or something!"
"Yeah, I guess I did say that" said Nora as she sat up in her bed.
She closed her eyes to think about it, after a few minutes she turned to Battol and said " I'll try again tomorrow"
Battol grinned and sat down again, she turned off the light and said "goodnight"
Nora smiled at Battol who had her back to Nora and was already drifting to sleep.
The next day, Nora Asked Rania to convince Bushra to meet her again.
They met after their classes ended on the rooftop.
B
ushra came alone this time, it was a private meeting between just the two of them.
"Hi" said Bushra as she came face to face with Nora.
"Hi, I apologize for my childish behavior yesterday" said Nora.
"You don't need to apologize"said Bushra.
They stood in silence watching the view for a few second.
Then Nora finally spoke.
"I have a proposal for you.
I couldn't accept your A yesterday because I felt like I didn't deserve it, you can say that I'm a hard worker.
but it's true I'm not used to easy A+, I worked hard for everything I had in my life"
Bushra nodded her head in understandment, then she said "I thought so, I'm sorry if I offended you but I believe that I don't need your help.
if you refuse to accept my A then I guess there is nothing I can do about it."
Nora turned to her and said
"Yes, there is something we both can do, to make this a win_win situation.
I will become your Savior this year.
I will hear you out and do my best to solve your problems.
when your problems are gone or at least when you stop getting nightmares and panic attacks I will accept your A.
Do you accept this agreement?"
"Why are you so sure that you can help me?
After all, we just met, you don't even know me!"asked Bushra desperately.
"Because a girl I knew told me that I could, we can't know unless we try, nothing could be accomplished in life in hesitation and doubt.
You can't solve anything without a strong will" said Nora in determination.
Bushra had mixed feelings, she didn't know what to do, Nora looked sincere and deep in her heart she wanted to be saved, when she finally found her voice she asked
"And you have a strong will to help a girl you just met?"
Nora smiled warmly and offered Bushra her hand.
The wind brushed against them as the sunset glowed behind them.
For the first time in her life, Bushra has decided to obey her heart.
She took Nora's hand.
They shook hands to seal the deal.
"I will accept your help" Bushra finally said.
Thanks to Battol's advice Nora was able to seal a deal with Bushra, she found someone in desperate need of help.
For Nora, the main course was a massive challenge, due to her introverted reserved nature she rarely communicated with anyone other than her family members.
To help Bushra, she needs to learn how to engage with people and listen to them.
to pass this course she needs to get out of her comfort zone and get involved with someone else's life.