When we fell from Earth

The Gash Between the Worlds

The Shadows may rise or may perish,

by a friend, foe, or someone they cherish

-Second Stanza in the RulersOFall prophecy of the return.

Laila Ragheb hated waking up and going to uni. What Laila hated even more was waking up late for uni. She was sure as hell that she had set her alarm last night. But here she was, laying on bed, staring at the ceiling with her phone in hand indicating that it was 7:15 am.

Laila sighed. Being late like this meant that she wouldn't have time to make herself a cup of coffee. It also meant that she had to drive to uni, and Laila loathed driving. It took Laila fifteen minutes to get ready.

When she found out that she actually took thirty minutes to get ready, Laila finally broke and cursed out loud. Why would she need thirty minutes to get ready to go to uni?

Laila texted her bus friends, Yasser and Nadim, hoping that the bus miraculously would be late, and she could catch it. Yasser and Nadim didn't reply to her messages, which meant that they were either sleeping in their houses or sleeping on the bus. Laila walked past her late dad's picture as she made it to the door and smiled, "Bye, daddy." She opened the door, and behind her the window flung opened with a sudden gust of wind that almost broke the glass. Laila was startled, letting the door go and it was shut with a huge BANG!

Laila screamed, jumping back a step. She rushed to the window and closed it, but the damage had already happened as her brother, her mother, and her cat, all made their way to the living room to see what's happening. Laila explained everything, but they just brushed her off with an angry scowl and went back to their peaceful sleep. "I am leaving," she announced and opened the door.

Her brother replied, "Don't come back if you're going to make noise like this again,"

Walking from the parking lot to the B-Building, Laila couldn't help it but admire the green area: The huge garden in the middle of the German University in Cairo's campus and Laila always found joy sitting there.

The B-Building, unlike the rest of the buildings (C and D), was located near the green area and had a glassy front that reflected the sky. Laila sometimes predicted how the day would go from looking at the reflected clouds. That day, the clouds gave a hue of red as if they were on fire and Laila thought that it wasn't a very good sign.

Pushing the door, Laila walked in the B-Building's heart, the B1. The B1 was a two-floor lounge for students to wait for their lectures and tutorial, to study, to cry over their unsubmitted assignment, have breakdowns, have breakups, finish projects, cry over the projects, or just hangout.

Laila looked around, spotted her friends, and walked to them.

Finding a table with seats in the B1 was a miracle, but since it was 8:10 in the morning, it was a little bit easier since most of the sane students were already on their way to their tutorials since they all started at 8:15. On both sides of the lounge, there were bars that offered either hot drinks or snacks, and Laila contemplated which one she should raid first. Laila's put her bag down and sat. Till now, only four of her friends were present.

"Slept in?" Nour asked. Nour and Laila go way back when One Direction was a thing in 2014. They met on a Facebook group and became friends since then, their first official meeting was in uni, however. Nour was still as short as Laila remembered, with Hijab that always matched her clothing. Nour, as usual, held her Starbucks thermo cup that was probably filled with thé au lait. Nour sat with her legs folded beneath her, sipping her tea and sleepily reading something off her phone. If anyone saw Nour without any context to her personality, they'd say she is a very careless person. Little would they know that Nour was the top-ranking student in their major.