ZAID AND MARYAM ~ Their Story

1 - He's Back? Ugh!

---- MARYAM SHEIKH ----

" New student Alert!"

Amr came racing into the dining hall of Blakefield University and plopped into the chair that was vacant beside Fatima and me.
"And who would that be?" asked Fatima, taking a sip of her ice tea. I was staring at my own plate of rice, observing how beautiful it was placed with the other dishes. What? You can't blame me. I love food.

"Some kid called Zaid Khalid," he says, taking a french fry out of Fatima's lunch. "Apparently he just returned from the Emirates."

At this, I dropped my fork and Fatima placed down her drink.

"Wait, could this be the same Zaid Khalid that Maryam asked out in eighth grade?"
Fatima asks excitedly. She leans back in her chair and started typing something on her phone.

Amr merely just gave a snort. " Look guys, its cute but we just gotta stop with the jokes." He pointed a cheesy french fry at me,
" Maryam doesn't just 'ask' guys out."

Even though I've only known Amr since I've started University two years ago, we're already the best of friends. But Fatima have been with me ever since I could remember and so she knows most about my past. Amr still don't.
And it's embarrassing to hear Fatima recite it to Amr word by word.

"Well okay, our friends did, but still,' her eyes turned to me. "You'll be surprised how reckless Maryam was before she came here."

Amr still kept on giving me the looks like the words 'me' and 'guys' don't go together. But it's true though. I have kept up my good reputation of never staring at any guy's face except for asking something important. Amr was an exception, of course.

Fatima gave a gasp on reading something on her phone and said, " So it is true! Its him, its really him!"

Me and Amr leaned over her shoulder to read the news report sent by the Secret Society.

"Are you sure though," I said, twitching my eyebrows. " It kinda seem odd of him studying here."
Particularly here. The place where I was. Aren't there other universities, like literally anywhere?

Fatima gave me a glare,"The Secret Society never lies, my dear."

The Secret Society was basically a social media group owned by the students of BlakeField University itself, to report anything suspicious or new around the campus or just create rumors for fun. And the presence of an Arab heir was no small matter.

"Holy Falafel, he is handsome," said Amr, zooming in on the photos of Zaid, when he arrived at the airport. Then he wiped an artificial tear away from the corner of his eye, "Sadly, not as me though."

"Zaid Khalid, the youngest and heir of the prestigious Khalid Group, has just arrived in Europe for continuing his higher education. His family wishes him the very best for his prosperous future," reads Fatima. Then she looks at me, " So it is our Zaid."

I got drizzled. "What do you mean by 'our' Zaid," then realized my mistake.

"Hush, Fatima," Amr said, teasingly. "It is 'her' Zaid. Not yours!" And then they both started laughing.

I could feel my cheeks coloring. Stupid me. Always blabbing. But it still didn't stop me from wondering what the heck Zaid is gonna bring me after all these years. And me having a crush on him now? At twenty years old?

You've got to be kidding me.

"But," I clarified, "He was still much of a weirdo back then." I gulped some of my rice down. "I don't know what got into my head back in eighth grade."

At this, Fathima gave a small sigh and said,
"Yeah, he was weird but if I clearly remember, he was the most good looking person in the whole school and the smartest."

I couldn't disagree with her on that.

With his lush dark hair and eyes grey and cold as his personality and a straight nose, Zaid Khalid really made you think he was the handsome man of the century.

When he looked at you, anything happening in the background become blur.It was only him.

"Well, I'll head out first," said Fatima,cheerily. " Got plans with Daniel."

Of course. It was a Saturday Afternoon and what better things could my bestfriend and roommate do than hangout with her boyfriend?

All the boys were crazy about her. My best friend, with her bubbly personality and eyes that bury deep into her face when she smiles.

Her ideal is 'just find a guy and be settled'.
See. That's the difference between me and her. She keeps on looking for the Right One and is deemed to find him herself. But me? I believe he will find me by himself.

Well, I hope he does.

"Do you wanna go to Richard's with me, Amr?" I ask, grabbing my bag and throwing the leftovers into a nearby bin.

He got up. "No, actually I gotta check up on Zaid."

I turned around, my eyes wide. He gave me a small wink.

"Can't help it if he's my cousin."

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Word Count: 859