Two days had passed yet it hurt her the same. The scars started to get lighter but the pain stayed. It was like every second her bruises were knocking her hard. Maybe it was her heart that was hurting and causing her body to ache too.
She hadn't been to university for these days and now she was wearing a hoodie again. It was hot, and she was already sweating so much.
Every time she wears a hoodie, she remembers Aaryan's joke about hyperhidrosis and she laughs. Mary hadn't talked to him in two days and she missed him much more than she could bear
Mary entered the class, and the same person was sitting in the same spot and singing something– Mary remembered Taha saying this wasn't a song, but she was unable to talk about it last time. She was not in the mood to speak anything today but this song or words whatever he was singing or saying had some sort of a magnetic force
"Wa la sawfa y'uteeka rabbuka fatarda. Alam ya jidka yateeman fa aawaa. Wa wa jadaka daal lan fahada. Wa wa jadaka 'aa-ilan fa aghnaa" they were so powerful that they attracted Mary towards them and she was standing close to him and just like the last time Taha stopped saying those words "Do you want to say something?" Asked Taha. No, Mary had absolutely nothing to talk about but she wanted him to continue singing this melody because it was peaceful. It was making her pain disappear, only the words, spoken by a mouth were making her feel fine "What were you sing- saying?" She needed the answer this time because she felt these words were curing her anxiety, as if they were a "Cure for depression." Mary was stunned by his reply. How did Taha read her brain? But the more important thing at the moment was his joke, "What did you just say?" She mocked laughter at him, "I am not lying." Taha sounded serious, and it made her laugh harder. "How could words cure depression?" She was sure that Taha didn't know anything about it because Mary did. She had suffered from it herself and not only her but also her mother, who could not even talk properly because of depression, and Taha making a joke about it was absurd. "If He wills, then these words can." He raised a finger towards the sky. Taha was lying once again, Mary had prayed for her mother. Even though she didn't care very much about her, sometimes she wanted her mother to be okay so Mary prayed for her to the Lord, but he didn't listen to her and all of her prayers were thrown back, unanswered. "Listen, Taha, whatever you are trying to say could hurt people who are suffering from it. You can not make fun of those who have depression," She said while feeling angry. Taha took a deep breath, still not looking at her. Mary may not have noticed it before but when she thinks about it, Taha seems to change. And no matter how she tries to manipulate the words to define this behavior of Taha, it always ends with these words: patient, sensible, and calm. "You just heard me reciting. Tell me how it felt?" She felt peace but she said "Nothing" and for an odd reason Taha knew "You are lying"
"Do you know how I feel in my heart?" She asked, rolling her eyes at him, which he didn't really see. "I do not know what is in your heart, but I know how these words feel." She was done with him. Taha was acting stupid, he had to be an idiot, or how else would he randomly guess all of it.
Mary dropped the conversation and walked to her place. There was nothing to be said so she just backed up
After a while, the class started to fill with students yet he wasn't there. She doesn't remember Aaryan being late for the class even once. Mary recalled telling him to go and not come to her again but she was unable to control her heart. She just wanted Aaryan to appear from the door, run to her, and take her in his arms. She needed a hug badly and she wanted to break down in it.
A few minutes later, Aaryan came. The first thing he did after entering the class was to look at the last bench, and then he breathed in relief. Aaryan ran to the place and Mary was already standing. He enfolded Mary into a desperate hug "Hey, how are you?" He asked. "Fine," said Mary in a low voice. Aaryan parted away and looked at her face. She knew the scratches near her eyes were unable to hide behind a mask "How are you? Honestly," He repeated the question. "It still hurts a little," She said, and for an unknown reason, Mary was smiling. Aaryan closed his eyes and inhaled. He didn't say anything after that and just appeared beside her.
Aaryan never let her hand go. For an odd reason, he appeared a little different from how he usually is. Aaryan was not talking much. She thought it could be because of what happened a few days ago.
His hand was rubbing hers as a silent announcement, saying he was here for her– All Mary needed was to ignore him. She tried not to care about the touch that was healing– it was already easy as the two of them weren't talking much. Despite her efforts, she could not stop the urge to hear his voice. She knew it was wrong, she was aware that if they started to date, Matthew would do anything to end this relationship, but she was helpless in front of her desire. "How are you?" Mary asked "Amazing," he said with a wink and a half-lip smile, making her grin as well. She moved her head up and down and they sat in silence for some minutes
"Diamond," Aaryan called prettily. Mary lifted her chin in reply. "If it's possible, then would you like to go out with me today? There is a place I want to take you to"
"Okay," She said in a second, making Aaryan, as well as herself startled. "What?" He asked with a fallen mouth. What? She said in her mind, shocked, but her mouth said, "We can." Aaryan stared into her eyes for a couple of seconds. "What about…" Aaryan left his words in the middle and she was well aware of what he wanted to say "Don't worry, he is gone for a week. It's just me and my mother at the house" These words were both a hope and a fear. Hope for her life because he wasn't there. Fear for him coming again and taking her hopes from her "Hmm, okay" he replied and Mr. Asher entered the class, starting his mysterious lecture on the journey of Lysosomes
Heading to the Genesis lab, Mary decided to ignore James and Luna because, of course, she could not hide her face from the two of them while they worked together for hours.
Dealing with Raheel was easier as he never asked her about it. Mary was sure that he didn't even notice them because he was busy telling them some absurd jokes that weren't even funny. "How does a penguin build its house?"
"How?" She asked, "Igloos it together!" Raheel shot the answer, making her lost in the laugh, while Aaryan just rolled his eyes as he was done with him. "Okay, okay, one more, one more. Why don't skeletons fight each other?"
"Why?" It was Aaryan to asked this time in annoyance
"They don't have the guts!" he tried not to smile, but in the end, Aaryan lost it and laughed along with Mary. "Idiot," said Aaryan, and the show of jokes came to a halt when Dr. Sarah entered the class. Everyone arranged their positions with a straight back.
She started with the lesson, and as always, it was informative. Dr. Sarah wasn't the type of person to get too friendly with the students and she never used to say anything useless in the class but today she said something that did not involve her lecture and her word was "Mary" for a minute she was sure she just heard things because there was no way that The Doctor Sarah was talking to her "Mary" she called again and Mary left her place and stood up "Yes, Ma'am?"
"May I see you in my office after the class?" Her voice was unusually soft yet it made Mary frightened because there was absolutely nothing she had done wrong "Okay, Ma'am" she replied and the class was dismissed "What is it about?" asked Raheel "I have no idea" She answered and started at Aaryan just as he was looking at her
As Mary entered the office, she adjusted the mask and her hooded top so that all of her scars would be hidden. Her office was just as she expected, clean and tidy. The table was arranged perfectly at every inch. At the back, a bookshelf was placed. Other than that, the office just had a couple of couches and a small space looking separate from the entire office. There was a lamp and lights– there were fairy lights in Dr. Sarah's office, where some sort of rug was placed on the floor. Mary was a little shocked by it. "Take a seat," Dr. Sarah said as she pointed at the chair in front, pulling her back from her mind. "Thank you, Ma'am." She took the chair, still so puzzled. "Why did you call me?" Hearing the question, the professor stayed silent for a while, and then she said, "Mary, can you remove the mask for a moment?" Dr. Sarah's voice appeared to be worried, but there was no chance of it being true because she was the teacher whom everyone feared, and even her fellow teachers were afraid. "Yes?" She zoned in, hearing the question just now "Can you?" She asked again. "I am sorry, but I can not do it, Dr. Sarah," Even though Mary was unable to figure out what Dr. Sarah was doing, she replied gently, trying not to leave a bad impression on her because that would cause a lot of trouble. "I understand," said the professor, and then a completely unexpected thing happened. Dr. Sarah started to remove the pins of her scarf as if she were uncovering herself. No one had ever seen her without the scarf and Mary was witnessing it right now
Just a moment later, she didn't care about anything as she figured out, why Dr. Sarah was doing it. There were scars on her neck, it appeared to be from burning. Mary was startled by them, so shocked that she forgot how to speak. "This isn't something we should bear silently." Mary understood her intention. She might have seen the bruises on Mary's face and she was trying to help her. "If you stay silent right now, it will never stop, and in the end, you will get used to staying broken for the rest of your life." After she was done speaking. She covered herself again. "Why did this happen to you?" Mary found herself asking. Dr. Sarah was meant to be an ideal child and her family was supposed to be proud of her "Because I choose the truth" she answered in a way Mary didn't understand "As you can see, I am a Muslim" It was obvious from the way she looked and as Mary already knew it, she just nodded "Actually I wasn't a born Muslim. A few years ago I reverted to Islam. I was a Catholic before, but I used to question everything that didn't make sense to me, and I was always shut off by the elders. Then, slowly, I felt myself driving away from Christianity and falling in love with Islam. I felt at home with this religion, and soon I became a Muslim, Alhamdulillah." It felt like her story. Other than falling in love or even liking that religion, there was something similar. The piles and piles of ignored and unanswered questions. She was unable to speak, and Dr. Sarah went on, "I belonged to a Christian family, and they were super religious. No one accepted me as a Muslim. At first, they began to ignore me, then when they realized that they can't fetch me back to their religion, the silence turned into shouts, and then this happened. All of these wounds were given to me by my father." Mary got terrified of what she had just said. She would have never believed in it if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes. "What?" Unknowingly the question left her lips "I know it's hard to believe and I know that you can not relate to my story but I am telling this to you because this violence needs to be stopped. If we would do nothing to end this then those people would never stop and more people would get hurt" All Mary thought about at that moment was why would Dr. Sarah cares about her. She was a Muslim, and Mary was a Christian, and as much as she knew those people would never care for them, then why was she telling her story to Mary? "How do you know?" She asked the professor, looking into her eyes now. "I have been noticing these cuts from the first day, and as I was already familiar with this. It didn't take much time to figure it out," she replied. Her voice was polite while talking to her but she should not give herself false hope. No one can save Mary from her destiny. Dr. Sarah seemed like a good person and she did not want her to suffer because of her. Mary left the chair "I don't need help, Dr. Sarah" She said, the professor nodded and then she spoke "It's okay, but if you ever feel like coming to me and talking about anything then remember, the door of my office is always open for you" She did want to talk to her but only if her fate allowed her to "Thank you, Dr. Sarah" She wasn't smiling and all of her expression was gone
"My pleasure"