Ruhee was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling and lost in her thoughts.

Even if she played all that has happened to her today, it didn't make sense. All she wanted was someone to wake her up and tell her it's a bad dream.

Means, no more brown eyes staring at me.

She signed and rolled over to her right side to stare at the clock hanging on the wall.

10:15 pm

She looked at her mobile again, to find no notifications.

Is he ever gonna text?

Does he not know how to text?

Ruhee suddenly sat straight.

Did he wash his hands and lose my number?

She fell back down on the bed.

There is always a sickening silence before a thunderstorm, and that silence is enough indication for people to take shelter.

That was the exact kind of silence Ruhee felt when she reached home.

It was 3:25pm and Ruhee was 25 minutes late.

I am so dead.

Her father was sitting on the sofa and reading a book. As soon as Ruhee walked into the house, he looked up at her and smiled. And went back to reading.

Okay. Abbu is clear.

She greeted him and went further into the house in search of her main danger. Her Mom.

She peeks into her parents room to see her younger sister, sana, doing her homework.

She peeked into her room to find her brother busy on a mobile call.

She keeps her backpack at its place, removes her hijab and Abaya and hangs it up. She washes up, and looks at her brother saying stuff he shouldn't say to his boss, but luckily after he cut the call.

She peeks into the kitchen and sees her mom chopping with a knife. She moves back and prays.

Allah, I've had an hectic day already.

My Ammi is holding a knife, if I die today, I'd like my partners in crime, aka Afza, Aina and Jian to also accompany me.

She takes a deep breath and enters the kitchen.

"Ammi, I'm home" she says almost too cheerfully.

Her mom gives her a sharp look and slams the knife hard on the chopping board.

Ruhee flinches and takes few steps back.

"You are half an hour late" her mom states, still chopping.

"Actually, I'm only 25 minutes late....." her mom gives her a sharp look "..... But that doesn't matter cause late is late" she laughs nervously at the end.

Her mom stops chopping and turns around to look at her 'in obedient' daughter.

"The fact that you are late doesn't matter, but you didn't even call and inform that you'd be late" her mom exclaims "You had no idea how worried I was for you, I thought that some goons had caught you or something...."

Oh Ammi, you have no idea.

Ruhee felt guilty for making her mom worry about her. She moves forward and hugs her mother and said " I am sorry for not calling and informing, I promise to never make you worry about me again. "

Her mom signed and hugged her back with a smile on her face.

No matter how naughty and troublesome Ruhee was, her family adored her the most, and she new it.

They break out from their hug and her, and her mom asks "Did you eat?"

And Ruhee remembers the untouched burger in her backpack.

Well, I can always give it to bhaiya.

"Nope and I am extremely hungry!!" Ruhee says tapping her tummy and she knew what was coming next.

Her moms look shifted from angry to worry as she said "Ruhee, you very well know that you are not supposed to go without eating for more than 3 hours. You are not like other kids"

Her mom exclaims and start setting a plate of food for her.

"You are not like other kids."

Ruhee, thought with a sad smile. She knew she was not like other kids, but she wanted to believe she was.

I means, that's what they told me when I was young.

Her mom made her sit down and made sure she completed her plate.

" Go take your medicine and rest."

Ruhee goes to her room, takes her medication and falls on the bed.

Ping.

Her mobile indicated a notification.

She opens to find her friends chat room flooding with messages.

Now I have to tell them the whole story.

Ruhee signs.

Ruhee signs, again

She had narrated everything to them and this was how her friends reacted.

Jian - You got married to a sexist!!!!??? I demand a divorce!!! 😠

Well Jian, so do I.

Aina - I wanted to attend your wedding!!!!! 😫

Unexpected reply as always.

Afza - Did something else happen in the room!!? 😏😏

She can never think straight.

But the only reply that bothered her was.....

Aina - How are you gonna tell your parents?? 😳😳

I don't know. Should I even tell them or deal with this myself?

Ruhee took a deep breath and replied.

Ruhee - I have no answer to your questions. Let's just wait for his text and then we'll see.

Afza - What if he doesn't text?

That thought had crossed Ruhee's mind aswell but she ignored it.

Jian - He won't text Ruhee. All men are the same, you cannot trust them.

Ruhee - Let's wait till today and we'll see.

Aina - Don't talk nonsense Jian. He'll text, don't worry.

Seeing that message, Ruhee went to sleep.

She got up at 7:30 and waited for his text.

During dinner time aswell, she kept checking her mobile whenever there was a notification alert, only to face disappointment.

Her mom yelled at her to maintain table manners while her dad just glared at her. Her brother gave her suspicious looks and her sister, was busy separating the carrots and sneakingly putting them in her brothers plate.

Ruhee has now given up hope on him ever texting. She pushes her mobile away.

Gotta think of something else.

Ruhee was thinking about new plans. Whether to tell her parents or not. Or maybe inform only her brother about it.

Ping.

Ruhee lazily picked up her mobile to see the notification. She had received a text from an unknown number.

Hi.