Saudade

02

The enormous building stood tall under the warm sun. Slightly shaking, I headed towards the entrance where I could see a lot of nervous freshmen, some of them chit chatting while the others tried to control their breathing.

Standing by myself near a tree, choosing against mingling with the crowd, I waited for some cue from the administration.

Two slim, short girls looked at me before resuming their conversation. One of them had her hair tied in a ponytail and the other one had braided it. When she turned her head, I noticed the French braid falling on her back. They seemed familiar.

Of course, I remembered them from the orientation day. They sat next to me on the bench as our head of the department gave us a short introduction. I could see their bond oozing out of the way they talked to each other. Assuming that they were twins from their almost identical stature and faces, I walked towards them.

"Hello." I greeted them with a smile, which was instantly reciprocated.

"Hello, we were just arguing about whether to go to you or wait for you to join us." The one with the ponytail laughed, shaking hands with me.

"Well, I am glad I came here myself then. Kubra, Kubra Arslan." I introduced myself. Confidence was never a problem for me. Except within the walls of my home. Shaking off the unpleasant thought, I drew my attention back to the girls.

"My name is Samra, this is Bisma. We are twins, but I am 3 minutes older than her so yeah, I have the upperhand." The ponytail girl said, while Bisma remained quiet. She seemed shy in front of her outgoing sister.

After a good fifteen minutes, when we had exchanged contact numbers, a detailed introduction and Instagram usernames, the crowd near the entrance started dissolving as the guard started letting everyone in.

"About time..." Bisma excitedly said, holding her sister's hand as they gestured for me to walk with them.

***

Surprisingly, the presentations and introductions went really well. The professors seemed nice and rigid, unfriendly and old. But I should be fine. They assured us their complete support, encouragement and help before we were finally dismissed for the day. Luckily, no seniors wanted to prank the freshmen, so the day went by in a peaceful silence.

I could see many potential friends in my class as I sat next to the twins. Bisma had started talking and I realized that she had quite a voice.

She blushed when I complimented her out loud, proving my theory of being a shy little bird. Samra, however, began her commentary about everyone in the class.

"That guy looks like a bookworm- I mean super smart and he will be the topper this semester, I am ready to bet a thousand rupees on him." Samra said excitedly, making me look up at him. Eyeglasses, taller than my closet and skinny, the guy was a perfect definition of a nerd.

He was already looking in our direction, slinging his backpack over his shoulders. "He looks like a math geek to me. We are going to need his notes soon, befriend him." Feeling like an absolute bitch, I encouraged Samra to wave at him.

***

On my way back home, I went over the events of the day in my mind, as trees and buildings blurred past us. Not once did Bisma, Samra or even the nerdy guy Haider point out anything wrong with my outfit, appearance or attitude.