**Winner 2024 Amby Awards**
Fiza has everything planned-medical school, a respectable future, and an engagement she never wanted. Determined to escape a loveless match, she creates a checklist to find the perfect husband her father will approve of.
...
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The next couple of months fell into a rhythm, though it felt less like a steady beat and more like a split life. On weekdays, Fiza and I would camp out in the library, our textbooks spread between us. She'd quiz me on biochemistry, and I'd make up stupid mnemonics just to hear her laugh. It was the only part of my day that felt real.
But weekends belonged to Mownika. They were a blur of bass-heavy music, the sharp tang of cheap beer, and the hazy, numb feeling that came after. It was an escape, a way to feel nothing for a few hours.
And Fiza was starting to notice. I'd catch her watching me sometimes, a tiny frown creasing her forehead like she was trying to solve a puzzle where the pieces didn't fit. I was pulling away, and I knew it. I was distracted. My mind constantly drifting to the mess I was making.
One afternoon, as I was mentally calculating how long I had before I'd have to make an excuse to leave, she broke through my thoughts with a bright smile.
"Hey, do you want to record another song with me?"
Her voice was hopeful, and I couldn't say no. She was trying to find a way back to me, to something that wasn't just textbooks and strained silence.
"What do you have in mind?" I asked, trying to sound curious, not like I was already halfway out the door.
"I was thinking we could record 'Stay' by Rihanna. I'll take the lead, and you can harmonize with me. I can play the piano for it, unless you prefer to..."
"Sure," I agreed quickly. It was easier to say yes than to strategize music and harmonies.
"Let's go!" she exclaimed, already jumping up.
"Now?" I asked, surprised by her spontaneity.
But she was already gathering her things, and I followed. We made our way to the jam room where she sat at the piano and played the familiar melody. Then she started to sing.
Her voice was full of an emotion I couldn't name. I stood there, watching her, supposed to harmonize, but all I could do was listen.
Not really sure how to feel about it Something in the way you move Makes me feel like I can't live without you It takes me all the way I want you to stay
It's not much of a life you're living It's not just something you take, it's given
Round and around and around and around we go Oh, now tell me now, tell me now, tell me now you know
Fiza's voice wrapped around the lyrics of that song with such raw feeling that it slammed into me with a force I wasn't expecting. My body jolted upright on the stool.
And then, out of nowhere, Mownika was there in my head. I saw her hand reaching out in that dim light of her apartment, her eyes begging me to stay. I shook my head, hard, like I could physically dislodge the image.
