Elham's POV
I heard footsteps come towards me while I stood stiffly, refusing to turn.
Sufy noticed my body language and furrowed his eyebrows but shook his head afterwards.
"Hey bro!" Sufy said, smiling widely almost as though he did not mean it.
I still couldn't bring myself to move.
"What's up? I see you've been doing a great job taking care of El" Asaad said, his voice sounding so serious.
I gulped. The atmosphere was awkward so I turned abruptly.
"Yes, she's a gem that needs to be protected at all costs. I assume you are here to drive her to school? Please keep her safe" Sufyan said sounding even more serious that Asaad.
"Will do" Asaad said through gritted teeth, before shifting his gaze to me.
I mumbled a subtle "hey" before looking away.
He was dressed in a black hoodie and grey sweat pants and his eyes were puffy and dark.
Something was definitely wrong with him.
"How're you feeling?" He asked. I felt my cheeks turn red.
Why did he make me feel this way?
"I'm fine Alhamdulillah.." I trailed off, being interrupted by Imaan.
"Salaam guys, we should get going" Imaan stated. We all followed immediately, leaving Sufy behind.
The ride to school was quite noisy with Imaan and Yasmeen filling our ears with their voices. Asaad chipped into their conversation a few times while I was silent the whole time.
I was trying so hard to not think of Ummi but it was difficult.
Soon enough, we arrived at school.
My two friends dropped off, leaving Asaad and I alone in the car.
He drove to the parking lot and found a space after some time.
Once he was parked, i took off my seatbelt, ready to drop off until he stopped me.
"Are you sure you're fine? You barely spoke throughout the ride" he said to me and I turned to look at him. He lowered his gaze immediately.
"I'm not fine Asaad" I sighed and continued speaking " but I'm really trying to be. And I'm really sorry about how I reacted yesterday, I overreacted" I apologized.
"It's fine. I just want you to be happy" he said and I blushed.
We got out of the car and walked into the school's building together and I couldn't help but cringe at how all eyes were on us.
I adjusted my bag strap over my shoulder as we walked through the doors of the school building.
I tripped over the stairs, causing me to gasp in fear, trying to catch my balance.
"Careful!" Asaad shouted in panick , reaching out to hold me, but before he could, I caught my balance and stood straight, smiling teasingly at him, knowing fully well he couldn't see me smile.
He rolled his eyes. "What's so funny? You freaked me out. You should watch you're going, you know!"
"How did you know i was smiling?" I asked, breaking into a laugh.
He furrowed his eyebrows. "Your eyes. I can tell every emotion you're going through by simply looking into your eyes" he said, locking eyes with me, causing my heart to skip a beat.
I had never been this familiar with a boy before, apart from Sufyan, so it definitely felt awkward , it felt interesting.
Besides, I had always seen Sufy as my brother, rather than a friend. So Asaad was basically the first male friend I had.
"Well, careful so you don't fall for them" I said, in response to the previous statement he had made.
We were casually walking to our lockers because there was still a few more minutes before the first class.
I noticed Farhanna glaring at me by her locker before strutting towards us.
"Hey Asaad" she said, completely ignoring my presence. I quickly excused them and went to my locker.
"Looks like Farhanna doesn't want to take the hint Asaad keeps giving her" Imaan whispered to me and I turned to her to realize she and Yas were standing at my back. I followed her gaze to see Farhanna speaking to stone cold Asaad. He didn't even flinch as she kept on rambling whatever she was.
