Anisa's POV:

I just decided to bunk class. Would save me the embarrassment. People just want something to laugh about. They're dumb like that.

I decided to walk around the garden. The only peaceful thing about school was it's garden. It was so quiet and peaceful, but only when you're alone there. I sat down on a bench, breathing in the fresh air. Today was the day father was going to return from his business trip, and I sure wasn't happy.

I hated my father for everything. From my mother to totally ignoring me as if I was just a slave he picked up from the streets. If there was something my father wasn't good at, it was parenting. Sighing, I just looked around the beautiful garden which was filled with different kind of flowers of every kind. The aroma here was just too relaxing. It made you forget about troubles in your life.

Sure, there was no specific trouble in my life, but I was still fed up. I would be sure to visit grandma today after school. After all, I had no one to greet me warmly at home. I had only my granny, who loved me more than anything else in this world and I loved her as well. Though, my dad did respect her in front of her, I can tell he doesn't really like her.

Mom had always been granny's favorite child between my aunt and mom. The only children of my granny's. Grandpa had passed shortly after that fateful day. Thinking about it sends shivers down my spine. No one knows the truth about my mother's death, except for me. I was there when my mother died.

But, my father had strictly told me to never spill a word of what I saw that day and I had to obey. Ya Allah! How can people be so cruel? This world was filled with cruel people that had hearts of stone. Hearing the bell for the next period, shook me out of my thoughts. It was gym now and I wouldn't mind to do some excersize.

I was a sport lover and was also good at it. I went to my locker to take out my gym clothes. It was a t-shirt and a trouser. I made sure to buy a long Tshirt since there were boys in gym period. Most of the time, I bunk Gym period, but today I felt like it.

Changing my clothes from the girl's locker room. A few of the girls were whispering behind my back. I felt a bit more guilty for that slap when I "accidentally" heard a girl say "Poor Ali. His cheek has gotten red, by now."

Of course the girls would take his side. You don't see a guy with those kinda good looks everyday. The guy deserves it. Besides, I don't care. They can all go and say whatever they want. I won't care. They should know that throwing food at a lady was a serious crime. One, he totally wasted the food and two, he wasted it on someone.

Thinking about that jerk just got me mad. I walked off to the gym, where the guys were already sitting on the ground. I saw Ali talking to the gym teacher, who was having a fit of laughter about God knows what. To be honest, I don't care. I just walked close enough to the teacher and far enough from the guys.

The girls started coming in, which was good because it was weird being the only female there. As I was looking at my hand watch for the time, I felt as if a shadow hovered over me. I was sitting on the ground as well. I looked up to see none other than him.

The expression on his face was quite unreadable. I had no idea why he was looking at me the way he was. His eyes held a tint of guilt but also anger. Most of it was just blank. I raised my eyebrow at him. "Umm, yeah?" My voice made him take his eyes off me.

He blinked a few times before smirking. Oh boy, here he goes again. "Bunking class is not a good thing, you know." He said to me. I rolled my eyes. "Don't you dare think that I have forgotten the things you have done." I warned him. He just casually put his hands in his pockets and then smiled at me, smugly.

"I am curious to know what you'll do." He said to me before walking towards the end of the hall, making girls swoon over him on the way. I shook my head at them in disbelief. God! Why are people so stupid?

Our teacher called us to attention. "Today will be interesting for all you." He smiled at us. "Boys vs girls! What about it, kids?" The boys cheered but all the girls groaned. "OK, so what do we have to do?" I asked the teacher, Mr. Brown. He throw a ball at me and I catched it.

"Basketball, of course." He smiled. I smiled. This was gonna be good. "Quickly, people make leaders and get out there!"

Mr.Brown shouted. I looked back at the girls. "Well? we need a leader?" I tried to grab their attention. They just looked at me. "You can be it." They all told me in Union. I rolled my eyes. They weren't taking this seriously.

Before snapping at them, I remembered what grandma used to tell me. "Remember, you can't force anyone to go by your rules. Speak to them nicely and they'll follow you." She had said.

"Look, girls. If you just stand there uninterested, we won't be able to win." I told them, calmly. They looked at me. "We all know boys win in sports." They said. I rolled my eyes. "That is the reason they win. We don't believe in ourselves. I am telling you, play with your heart and we will win." I told them.

Some of them smiled and agreed while others just nodded. Good. Guess they were listening. And soon the game began. The girls got tired easily but I could see they were working hard.

After the game:

Smiling victoriously, I high fived another girl. We had won! "Girls rock!" I announced as I entered the girls locker room. I changed my clothes. I was still breathing heavily. We had hardly won when a girl who had been crying over a broken nail decided to knock her crying off and do something.

All of us were very grateful to her. "Eww! I smell like fish!" A girl cried. I couldn't help but laugh. Walking out of the locker room, I spotted Ali walking towards his next class.

"Hey you!" I called him. He turned to face me, startled that I was standing there. "How did it feel?" I asked him, a grin on my face. He was confused. "What?" He asked. I smirked. "Losing." I replied.

He smirked at me. "Good work for a girl like you. You jus got lucky this time since my boys didn't know you had the spirit in you." He said. "You caught us off guard."

Apparently, Ali was the leader of the boys side. And it just rocked winning. "Besides, you only won because that crybaby girl decided to move." He said. "Either way, we won. Fair and square." I said, feeling all high and mighty.

I called my driver to pick me up and drop me off to granny's house. I was excited to meet her after days. The driver reached here after ten minutes. I got inside the car and he drove off to granny's house.

I quickly got out of the car and rushed inside. Without knocking on the door of the medium sized villa, I entered. "I'm visiting, grandma!" I announced. She walked towards me after exiting the kitchen. "My little girl." She smiled and kissed my forehead.

"Guess who's here?" She asked me excitedly. I shook my head. "Tell me!" I said to her. She smiled and called the person out. "Imran, come out! Anisa is here." She said.

My eyes widened. Imran?! He was here. You might be thinking he was my crush or something but no. He's my nephew who is exactly my age. He was a month younger than me. He ran towards me giving me a hug. "I missed you, Khala (Aunt)!" He exclaimed.

"I missed you too! You've grown taller than before." I told him, breaking the hug. He laughed. "Well, it has been over a year since we met." He said, dryly. I sighed. Daddy dearest is the reason for that. I am forbidden to meet my nephew and my sister!

I have seen her only 9 times in my life, since she was already married and kicked out of the house when I was born. My dad, had some problem with Sis's hubby. Which is the actual reason behind everything wrong in my life.

After spending an hour with my one and only nephew and best friend, I stood up to leave. "Granny, I have to go. Dad's coming home today." I told her, sad to leave. Imran stood up. He sure did get taller than me.

"It really is sad to see you leave." He told me. I winked at him. "Not if we plan to meet again, secretly. Why don't you pick me up from school tomorrow? I'll give you a call and we can hang out some more." I suggested. His eyes lit up. Giving me a thumbs up, he nodded. "Perfect plan." He told me.

Granny laughed behind us. "You young ones have so much energy." She stated. He and I both shrugged. "Guess so." We said in union. Giving granny and Imran a last hug, I went to leave for my house.

Opening the door to walk in, I saw Mrs. Malik stomping one foot on the ground, with her arms folded over her chest. "Where have you been? So late?" She questioned me, eyeing me suspiciously. "Why? Was there anyone to see me?" I asked her, totally ignoring the fact that she was very angry.

"Your father expected you to be home early to welcome him." She spoke, firmly. I rolled my eyes. "He doesn't need anyone to welcome him." I said, mostly to myself. She raised an eyebrow. "Such a disgraceful daughter!" She exclaimed. I walked past her. "Well, sorry about that."

"We need to talk, Anisa Malik." A husky and deep voice stopped me in my tracks, giving me shivers down my spine. I looked up at the top of the huge staircase. "F-father?" I trembled. He looked at me with a serious expression.

"I expect you to be in my office in exactly two minutes." He told me and walked away to his office, probably. My hands were shaking badly. What did he want? Was he going to get rid of me, finally?

Mrs. Malik shot me a sympathetic look and I walked upstairs. She wasn't a bad step mother. She was in fact nice towards me. But, she thinks that I am a disgraceful daughter. Everyone thinks that because they don't know what my father has done.

Knocking on the office door, I take a deep breath. "Come in." He said and I turned the knob. The door flew open. "Yes father?" I asked him, while he motioned me to sit down. I studied my surroundings carefully.

There were a lot of bookshelves. Papers were lying everywhere and there was a table and a chair in the middle of the room, with sofas at the corner. I sat down on one of the sofas.

"I want to talk to you about your marriage." He told me.