CONNECTED HEARTS

4: Unwanted Rides, "Stormy Reunions"

Kaltoom stood under the shelter by the garden, phone pressed to her ear. The news that her lecture was canceled had been a relief until she realized she had no car. So she begged Amani to pick her up.

"Twenty minutes?!" Kaltoom nearly screamed, eyes darting to the darkening sky. "Girl, can't you see how bad the weather is? It's about to pour. If I get drenched because of you, I swear—" She groaned dramatically, switching from foot to foot.

Students hurried past, huddled under bags and scarves as thunder rumbled in the distance. Kaltoom muttered into her phone, "If I catch you today, Amani, you're finished," before glaring at the clouds like they personally hated her.

⸻

Meanwhile, Adyan was cruising down the road, casually humming along to Justin Bieber's Ghost. When the sky cracked open and rain hammered down, he slowed, wipers working overtime. He was close to Kaduna State University anyway,no point turning back.

As he pulled up to the shelter, he caught sight of a drenched figure, arms wrapped around herself. She didn't even look before yanking his car door open and jumping in.

"Amy! I'm so killing you—look what you've done to me—" she started, then froze. Her eyes widened. Her lips parted.

Adyan raised an eyebrow.

"Oh. My. God," Kaltoom muttered. "What the hell are you doing here?"

⸻

Adyan leaned back, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Looks like you don't see clearly when it rains. One day you'll hop into the wrong car and get kidnapped. Or maybe that's just your hobby jumping into strangers' cars to cause drama?"

Kaltoom snapped back, "Oh, please. Don't judge me. And what were you doing here?"

She realized how dumb that sounded and looked away quickly, dabbing at her face with her baby-pink handkerchief.

Adyan smirked. "You don't own this land, princess. I can be wherever I want."

The tension between them was thick, broken only by the steady drumming of rain.

⸻

Minutes later, something strange happened. Kaltoom stopped sparring. She sat quietly, face turned to the window, her sharp edges softening. The politeness almost threw Adyan off balance.

He chuckled. "Since you're being civil for once, it'd be embarrassing to say no."

She glared at him like he needed therapy. (Spoiler: she was probably right.)

Justin Bieber's Lonely hummed through the speakers, the rain muffling the world outside. The rhythm lulled Kaltoom into sleep, her head falling gently to the side.

Adyan's gaze lingered. Peaceful. Beautiful. Her lips parted slightly, fists curled like she was still mad in her dreams.

He caught himself thinking, If life were a Disney movie, she'd be Sleeping Beauty. Except this one bites back when she's awake.

Ten minutes slipped by before her phone buzzed. Adyan carefully plucked it from her hand before it fell. The screen lit up:

fav B👊❤️

His brow arched. Probably that Amani girl. Sure enough, a frantic voice shouted on the other end:
"Ke, where are you? I've been searching—"

"She's left the school already," Adyan said flatly, then hung up before Amani could react.

⸻

By the time Kaltoom stirred awake, they were almost outside her house. She blinked, then gasped. "Oh my God, what the hell...why didn't you wake me?!"

Adyan's deadpan reply: "Now that you're awake, what's the difference?"

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Thanks for the ride."

"You complain too much," he muttered.

"Oh, thank you!" she shot back, heavy sarcasm dripping.

She flung the door open but froze when he called, "Hey, you forgot something."

Kaltoom spun on her heel. "First of all, my name is not hey."

He dangled her phone just out of reach, eyes teasing. "So then, what's the name?"

She huffed. "Kaltoom. Now hand it over it's freezing."

Finally, he passed it to her. "Adyan. Nice to meet you. Hope we never cross paths again."

Kaltoom muttered under her breath and marched off. Adyan waited until she disappeared inside the mansion, still fighting a smile.

⸻

Later that night, Amani wasn't spared.

"Are you dumb? What do you mean you 'couldn't drive in the rain'? Would your car drown?!" Kaltoom yelled into the phone.

Amani's apology only fueled her rage. "I had to tolerate that egocentric man because of you! You owe me."

Amani giggled. "Okay, but you fell asleep in his car... isn't this basically a Wattpad romance moment?"

Kaltoom shrieked, "Amyyyy! Just because I accepted a pathetic ride doesn't mean I'm in love! This is real life, not your dumb Wattpad fanfic!"

She hung up mid-laughter, threw her love pillow across the room, and collapsed onto her bed in a storm of frustration.

Her mom walked in with food. "Who are you shouting at this time? I could hear you from the stairs."

"Amy!" Kaltoom snapped. "She's driving me insane."

Her mom raised a brow. "Hmm. Or maybe it's that boy you keep complaining about?"

Kaltoom gasped. "Ammi! Stop being nosy."

But of course, five minutes later, she was ranting. "There's this guy at school,Ammi, wallahi he's the most arrogant, full-of-himself person I've ever met!"

Her mom chuckled, setting food on the bedside. "Mm-hmm. I've heard this story before."

Kaltoom ignored her, already devouring chicken drumsticks like it was the cure to heartbreak.

Just then,the maid Shatu popped her head in. She arranged the laundry in Kaltooms closet and came out"Sometimes people only pick on others because they secretly like them." Shatu said

Kaltoom dropped her fork. "Where you eavesdropping on us?"

Shatu put both hands up. "Not me!"

Kaltoom rolled her eyes and went back to eating. "She's sixteen, what does she know?"

Still, her thoughts lingered on Adyan. No. He wasn't her type. She didn't even like him. Period. End of story.

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