She was a Mirage.

PART 8- Her Value...

On Monday morning, I lazed my way to Psychology class and the only thing I remember being on my mind was why Ayesha was living in dormitory so neither she could give me a ride nor keep me entertained in the morning.

I entered the class to find Ayesha lost in her world of earphones and her poetry book. I left her alone and took my seat on the second bench behind her to catch a few minutes of sleep before Mr. Omar started class. I felt someone occupy the seat next to me and instantly I got on alert, realizing that my partner was none other than Ali. I opened my eyes only to see him looking at me intently with a thinking face on.

"Why are you staring at me?"

"Why did YOU say yes?" he didn't look angry while asking this, in fact he looked more confused than disturbed or furious.

I informed him about how I had taken the decision with the help of Allah and with a silent Alhamdulillah he focused on Mr. Omar who had announced our project for the day.
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It was two weeks after the engagement, Ali and I were no more than frenemies but things had been reduced to just sarcasm and mini pranks and just playful meanness. I was at the university record room waiting to fetch a file for our principle and Literature teacher, Ms. Maria, when suddenly Mr. Liam, the record room administrator was called for some work and a passing by Ali saw me waiting in his room. Ali decided that locking me in the room would be hilarious and a good comeback for a stupid comment I had made earlier about him. So he locked me in and ran away, quiet proud of himself.

The hour and half I spent in that room was torture due to me being claustrophobic. It was a small room with only a pot of semi warm coffee brewing in the corner with tall metal shelves held files and papers in them. A desk sat in the opposite corner with a computer on it and everything organised.
My phone refused to catch any signal so no calls or messages were sent. Sometime during the time there I manage to faint, so when Ayesha was whisper- shouting at Ali for pulling such a prank, I could only semi-focus on their words.

"Ali I didn't think you would be immature enough to do this!"

"Ayesha it was a joke just calm down." Ali replied although anyone could detect worry in his voice as well.

"I am not being hyper but just because she made a comment about you; you thought this would be okay?"

"I said sorry okay, why are you even still scolding me? She is just your friend no need to get so over-protective." Ali replied in a temper.

By this time I was as conscious as I could be and realized that Ayesha transferred me onto Ali' lap and got up to leave.

"Give her water and some juice. Don't make her eat anything yet and if you do, make sure its fruits." After telling all this Ali, she left.

After I had gotten better I confronted him.

"Ali you don't get to joke with me like that and then speak in that tone with Ayesha. She is not just my "friend". She is my sister. I am closer to her than I am to some of my family. She is my family."

For days after that, Ayesha wouldn't talk to Ali. She wouldn't even look him in the eye anymore. People might think she was avoiding or ignoring him, I knew better. She was trying to control herself from snapping at him. She always did this so she wouldn't scream at the person and/or hurt them with her words.
Yes even in her times of fury, she worried about the other person. When I tell you I never understood her, I mean it.
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One Monday when she was shooting hoops with the basketball team, Ali called her to the side. By the smile on Hamza's face I understood he had much to do with what was happening. By the end of the conversation, I saw Ayesha sport a smirk (which wasn't very common), then I saw them coming to court and talking to the others. My eyes widened when I saw the team scatter on the outskirts of the court leaving only the former two behind.
I finally understood they were going to play one on one.

I wasn't shocked or worried because Ali would win, I was nervous because I knew Ayesha wouldn't lose.
They started the match and people sitting in the bleachers and other players started cheering for their player.It was quickly evident that Ayesha could not only play basketball but also win the match. Her tall stature and her experience with basketball stood out while her clean sweeps made everyone chew their nails. Ali wasn't a weak component either. He was pretty quick too and of course his experience stood out too.
Soon enough they were in their last few minutes of the game with Ayesha,3 point above Ali. Needless to say, Ayesha won that match and the respect of many people,including Ali, all while fixing her friendship with the latter who had accepted defeat the first time in his life, as stated by his brother, Hamza.
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About 3 months later, our friend group of us 4 and also Dishita and Ritwick who had been introduced to us by Hamza had been formed and we were pretty strong.

One random day as I was eating chips with Ayesha while watching Barbie movie on T.V my mum informed me that Ali and my parents had decided to not delay the Nikkah anymore and finally get it done as a small ceremony in the nearby mosque with a few of our friends and family. I no longer felt nervous and agreed to the offer of that Friday being the date. This time before I could come up with a reason not to, my mum had decided to send Ayesha and I shopping to find a dress for the Nikkah. I looked at Ayesha for escape plan from shopping for a dress since I thought it was boring and was lazy, even though I liked shopping,

She winked at me and took control just as I had hoped,

"T Aunty don't you think it would be more symbolic if you bought the dress. It would hold more value and might as well get Maa  on video call and make it more special."

Of course with Ayesha's persuading skills I sat in my room that Friday wearing a dark lavender dress and purple Hijab with heels.

As obvious as it was, I was nervous,I would no longer be single, so many life changes and things came to mind that I couldn't stop shivering every so often while my hands remained as cold as ice. My parents, came and talked to me. There were tears,of course, then Waad came with Bhabhi and along with blessings and lots of teasing they also left. What they said is a story for another time.
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With my loving family and Ayesha by my side,
The Nikkah went well and there was a lot of cheering and screaming and few tears.
But the end of the day, it was a day full od happiness and blessings...
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