The Eid We Met

17.

Isahaq

My life lately seems to consist of a series of unfortunate events.

First, during my impromptu visit to their house on Eid, Maha ran away when she accidentally appeared in front of me without her hijab.

I was shocked for a second, but had immediately averted my gaze. All I remember were a few strands of dark locks framing her face for a nanosecond . I didn't even see her face clearly, let alone knowing the length of her hair or anything for that matter . But I was plagued with guilt wondering how she must have felt.

Thankfully, she didn't avoid me and things started to seem better when we chatted over some donuts on the way to drop her off at her friend's house.

After the accidental text I sent her on impulse in the middle of the night, complimenting her about how she looked in that saree, I thought she would be wary of me, thinking of me as a creep trying to make moves on her.

Today was the cherry on top when I unknowingly fell asleep on Maha's shoulder over the car ride to the resort. Thankfully when I woke up, she was asleep herself and the best I could pray for was that she didn't know about the little mishap from my side.

Honestly, who am I trying to kid? Judging by the way Nayel kept shooting me judgemental looks and muttering something about having to see cringey kdrama scenes in real life, I was sure the little incident hadn't evaded people's eyes.

I felt too embarrassed to face Maha over the buggy ride to our cottages. I was highly aware of her sitting right beside me, excitedly taking videos of the passing scenery.

But when Nayel came over to nag me about something and we walked out to the backyard, Maha seemed to be talking to someone over the phone.

All I heard was something about food poisoning before the call was cut and Maha turned around, surprised to see us.

Wouldn't it be great if our houses were beside each other in real life too ? Then I could see her more often.

My hands instinctively lifted in a wave, forgetting whatever embarrassing stuff I had done over our past few meetings. But I definitely didn't want to make her feel as if I was ignoring her again. I don't think I could handle her avoiding me ever again.

When she got back inside, Nayel continued pestering me.
"Is that Apu related to Amna ? I swear it was her annoying voice I just heard now."

"Yeah they're cousins. And you must be a very good friend of Amna's to be able to recognize her voice from such a distance."

Nayel's ears go pink and he pretends to gag, "Please. Friends ? With that witch ? She's so annoying. All she ever did was roam around school trying to catch a glimpse of Taeef bhaiya. I'm glad your batch has graduated , no offense. I liked hanging out with you guys but the girls in my class literally had no hobby rather than crushing on y'all."