After what Abby told me about the story behind Muntaseer Muhammad you will think I'll change my attitude towards him right ? I'll start being nice to him and look at him as a son of my Abby's savior. The stark opposite is what I'm doing right now , my hatred increased. The mere sight of him turns my mood sour , it baffles everyone around us that I hate someone with a sweet soul like Muntaseer.

Going to and from school have become like hell to me , I will be super uncomfortable and mean to him while he will disregard me and pretend as if I'm not in existence .Simran had tried her best but to no avail so she let me be.

I'm currently now sitting under a shade reading a power point getting ready for test when I heard a soft voice saying " Assalamu Alaikum Manal " I turned my attention towards the owner of the voice and I saw that it's one of my course mates whom I've never talked to or even bother to waive at despite the fact that whenever she sees me she'll try to smile at me which I never return or make an effort to communicate which I pretend not to notice.

" Wa alaikissalam" I answered sounding uninterested in whatever she comes to tell me.

She nervously fidgets with her fingers and eventually summoned the courage to speak further " Ahm Manal please if you don't mind I want us to be friends. I know I'm not as influential as you're but I've been admiring you right from our first year , the way you carry yourself with dignity and poise and the way you never mingle with bad company and you always ace in your studies " she finally said in one breath as if she's afraid when she talks slowly she might forget what she had revised over and over and over again to tell me whenever she gets the chance .

I wanted to shout at her , so desperately its like a lump in my throat ...but its high time I add a friend to our circle besides now that Simran is siding with that Muntaseer I can't wait to have a friend whom I'll hold on to when Simran choose to be on the enemy side.

I smiled up at her and patted a space beside me gesturing for her to sit " Alright its not a problem what's your name by the way ? " I asked

" I'm Hauwa Sani but you can call me Jiddah " she beams at me

" Nice name Jiddah " I said turning my attention to the power point I was reading before she came

." Now that I'm getting to know you , you're not actually that bad compared to what people are saying about you " she observed looking at me with a smile .I smiled back and shook my head telling her that people can judge but who cares what they think ? she laughs and said no one my dear no one. She started making small conversation and we get to know each other better, she is an only child too , lost her mom at a tender age , loves writing , loves colors and is a bookaholic . To be honest I kind of like Jiddah.

Later on Simran joined us and her being nicer than I am immediately bond with Jiddah and even snapped us some selfies and posted them on IG tagging us. After classes we exchanged phone numbers and promised to call each other since it is Friday .

*

On our way home Muntaseer as usual asked me how my day was as he usually does and I inaudibly answered " it was okay Alhamdulillah " not minding whether he heard me or not .

He cleared his throat and started " Manal I don't know what I have done to deserve such a cold treatment from you , whatever it is please do tell me and if you can't I'm apologizing please forgive me , I know it's not easy when a total stranger suddenly comes into your life and your parents start sharing everything you always have to yourself with that person .I am sorry Manal can we be civil with each other please? " he pleaded waiting for me to give him an answer when it seems like I am not going to answer him , he just sighed and dialed a number handing me the phone mouthing 'its umma ' I took the phone and greeted the sweet woman on the other end

" Assalamu Alaikum " on the other side a sweet female version of Muntaseer's voice answers with " wa'alaikissalam my daughter how have you been ?! finally I got to talk to you " I smiled as if she can see me and replied with " Alhamdulillah Ma hope you too "

" Mashaa Allah habibty I just want to thank you for taking care of my child , he is all I have got and he has been telling me how well you've been treating him, jazakillah bi jannah dear, may Allah bless your life "her voice is so full of emotions and to say I was shocked is an understatement .I answered with Amin and after further inquiries we ended the call.

I was so surprised, shocked even ...how can he tell his mum I'm treating him well? why will he treat me better and never want his mom to know that I have been nothing to him but rude and arrogant ? why didn't he tell her ? why cover for me when I actually don't deserve it ? why is he like this to me just why ? I wanna hate him so badly but with him being this super nice humble and gentle with me I don't think I can keep hating him for long. Yah Allah what is wrong with me ???

I was deep in thoughts not knowing that we've already reached home , I turned towards Muntaseer who's tapping the dash board gently , I smiled weakly and said

" thank you and I am sorry " He smiled widely with his teeth open and said " It's not a problem Manal , can we be friends ?" he asked and I shook my head shyly suddenly feeling shy of him and ran out of the car straight to my room recalling all the events that happened that day .

I prolonged my sujood that night and fervently asked Allah to cleanse my heart and change me for the better .I prayed that I should be nice to those who are nice to Me, to have a kind heart and treat people better with that and the usual du'as I make every night whenever I wake up to pray late at night I finished praying and neatly fold the praying mat ,removed my hijab and wrapper which I tied on top of my PJ's before climbing back to my bed and a message popped up on my phone, it was Simran warning me not to ever call her late at night if she didn't ask me to...I swear that girl loves sleeping more than she loves any homosapien on earth.

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The next day was a Saturday so I slept till 12pm

. With groggy eyes and stomach grumbling for food I came down to the kitchen shouting for Ammy as usual but there's no answer, I shrugged muttering that the old woman is still sleeping I guess and made myself a cup of hot steaming coffee ,I decided to sit in the kitchen then an idea popped into my head, I want pancakes and since am the best when it comes to making them ,I couldn't resist the urge.

After I gulped down my cup of coffee I started preparing my special pancakes humming to myself, skipping here and there because I'm happy ! I was oblivious of what's happening around me until I finished making the pancakes and I was trying to take the syrup from the top shelf of the counter when a male voice says " here, let me help you " before I answered Muntaseer had already walked past me and taken out the syrup

." Good morning Sleepy head I can see that you've already risen and you're super shining today " He says with a smile handing me the syrup. It was like there's a super power preventing me from saying something , I choked on my spit trying to find something to say but nothing came out so I just opted for a small smile.

He looked amused at my reaction .I started eating my pancakes and he cleared his throat, I couldn't look at him and he kept on clearing his throat till he finally asked " where is my share ??"

I felt ashamed that I didn't ask him to join me but hey ! don't blame me I don't know how to act in this type of awkward situations .

" Come and help your self " I squeaked out .

He smiled and helped himself with a large share .

" isn't this too much for your stomach ?" I asked and he gave me the are you kidding me look saying " since the princess of the kingdom seldom cooks I should make good use of the once in a lifetime opportunity I get don't you think ?" He was laughing and I couldn't resist but laugh with him too.

That's how we had our breakfast or brunch making small conversation here and there and I asked him the dumbest question a person who just start warming up to someone should ask

" when are you getting married ?" He blinked at me not once not twice and finally laughed out loud saying " do you have any girl in mind sister "?I made a funny face saying " all the girls I know can't marry you " he looks amused and asked " but why sis I'm hot don't you think so " he says emphasizing the 'hot' like its too obvious for me not to notice.

I shook my head at his dry sense of humor and said " whatever bhai , you should keep dreaming maybe , just maybe you'll get that fairy princess to call you hot in la la la land " with that I dashed out of the kitchen shouting let me take a bath and I heard him saying " that hurts pumpkin it hurts seriously "

I smiled not saying anything and I bumped into happy looking Ammy .After I greeted her the first thing she says before answering my greetings is " am glad you too are getting along it is not that hard Manal, you really should be nice to people I love this side of you my dear" I shyly ran to my room because I am too happy and I want that moment to myself, secondly I have a foreign feeling inside me. As I was about to enter the bathroom I heard a beep indicating an incoming message its a new number and the text reads

I love this carefree , playful and nice you pumpkin please keep it up!

Yes ! you don't need to ask and I don't need to tell you that the message is from Muntaseer.