A Thing, Beyond Forever

5.

Has it ever happened to you? The sudden realisation of how little of something you have lived? How you had the moment in your hands but you took it for granted and never really appreciated it while it was still there? That is what I go through each time I remember the time I spent with my friends. The same 'friends' who are not friends anymore. The same 'friends' I spent almost six years of school with. 

"You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends talk to me, But we are never ever ever getting back together"

Me, Zeenath & Noor were singing the infamous Swift's song in a union during the lunch break. I was sitting at my writing desk and they were sitting on the table with their respective lunch boxes and it was our daily gossip time.

"Hey, Zoo! Fais said me that you played a prank on that cute guy?" asked Zeenath when we were done with the singing. 

I choked on my food badly. "Cute? Who?" I asked with my eyebrow raised. 

" I'm talking about Yazan", she said, batting her eyelashes dreamily. 

"Oh", I rolled my eyes, "Him?" I couldn't help but chuckle. "He is cute?" I drank a few sips of water from the water bottle before I continued, "I think you need to get your eyes checked Zee!"

 She gave me a death glare which meant I better be not kidding about my comment on his looks otherwise I would be dead. I pursed my lips in a tight smile and kept quiet. 

"Yeah, I made him sit in the girls' section and he got a warning from Miss Rhino", We kept her pet name as Miss Rhino because she was huge. Her real name was Miss Sasha.

"Oh god, poor Yazan!", said, Zee.

"Since when did you started feeling pity for the people I tease?", I asked with my eyebrow raised.

"Yeah exactly! even I was going to ask her that", Noor joined in. 

"Umm...He is a new guy and uhmm...yeah..I... I do find him cute ..okay?",she shifted uncomfortably.

"Okay", both me and Noor said in a collision not being able to believe that Zeenath was having a crush on a guy who had been in the school for just a day. 

"Heyy...Talha is cuter than Yazan okay?" said Aisha interrupting our conversation. All of us turned around to where the voice came from. She came in with Khadija and joined our group resting her hand on my shoulder casually. 

"Keep talking Aish! All the girls are already fawning over the Yazan Shaykh", said Zee. Which was only half the truth. Girls were gushing about Yazan and Talha both. It felt like a tradition in school whenever a new guy came.  I never understood why Junior girls always went for Senior boys. 

"Okay, girls! Quiet! I...I..I..uhmmm...am..th..thinking..hmm thinking..of.. apologisingtoYazan", I stammered and then ended the phrase real quick so no one understood what I was going to say. 

"You what?", Noor, Aisha, Khatija and Zeenath, all four of them said together in a union which sounded more like a chorus of a song. All of them responded with the same kind of shocked and surprised reaction. I had to keep my hands on my ears. 

"Yes, you heard me right!" , I said not making eye contact with anyone who were, in turn, staring at me with their jaw dropped.

"Is there anything wrong Zuki?", Khadija asked, keeping her hands on my shoulders, demanding a reply. This girl was my sensitive spot. Sometimes she made me feel as if she knew me more than I knew myself.

"Zuki, you are kidding, right? I mean.. "The Zukroof Hussain" is going to apologise? sounds impossible to me", said Noor. This girl was my partner in crime. Almost every prank that I have ever done throughout the course of my lifetime, she had to be a part of it.

I didn't reply and just turned my face away from them. I didn't want to end up looking like a crybaby in front of them.

"Zuki? What happened? You have never said something like this. It's like... it's like.. oh god what's wrong with you?" inquired Zee. This girl loved me a lot. I bet,  if she was a boy she would have gone down on her knees with roses and chocolates to propose to me.  She gets hyper if I lose my nerve. You hurt me and she will kill you. She's that type.

"Calm down you girls! I didn't say anything unusual that is making you guys go all furious on me? I just felt so because he was new and might have been nervous about his first day at school and I think I didn't do justice to him", I said, still not able to make eye contact with them. 

"I knew it. There's always a reason behind everything you say or do, Zuki, I'm with you bro!",  said Aisha, my better half.  She inspired me a lot. She was always very calm and considerate. She was not the kind of people who lose their temper quickly. I wonder how people stay calm in situations that demand rage and frustration.  Aisha was a master in this skill.

"Hmm...you are right but, seriously Zuki, you know what comes after apologizing? You LOSE! you don't even know if he was really nervous and without knowing anything how can you say if he felt bad about you playing a prank? What if he is one player too? He might be thinking of a revenge and here you are my mate, you are thinking of apologizing to him! Nah! Never. Zukroof Hussain is not going to apologize. You get me?", said Noor folding her arms on her chest.

Zee turned to her with a cocked eyebrow. The thing she did whenever she was suspicious of something. "I'm sure Faisal has said his Noor ayuni some spicy stuff here. Mind telling us Noorie?", she said giving a sheepish grin.

Noor blushed because ever since Faisal and Noor became more than just friends, Faisal called her Noor ayuni which was Arabic for light of my eyes.

"Yeah, it seems when we were having our PT class, Yazan pointed out Zukroof and asked Fais who she is"

 My eyes widened. The collective lecture mum gave me came in front of my eyes. My heart was beating fast thinking about the what ifs?

"What did he say then?", I asked in a low voice.

"Fais replied saying it's Zukroof, my best friend"

"Oh" I breathed relief. I was not afraid of getting punished or him complaining to the principal,  All these years principal had known me and she remembered my name like a dhikr on her tongue. What I feared was the consequences of what will happen after the punishments and complaints went to the principal and that was mumma's lecture.

"Yeah and you know what? It seems He also said Fais  'your best friend has played a prank on me in case you didn't know... and I want you to let her know that she will be having one coming from my side" said Noor, wiggling her eyebrows at me.  I smirked, so that was the reason why Noor didn't want me to apologize. It was obvious now that I was not going to.

'Has one coming from my side'  seems like we have a competition to Zuki in school", said Zee giggling.

"Little does he know who is he messing with", Aisha joined in.

I smiled, "You know what guys? I'm going to convey through Fais that I'm waiting for his stroke"

Bring it on Yazan. Let the game begin.

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