"Sorry Zara, I can't come, I just don't feel like going out" Zara was insisting me coming with her to an exhibition and I was least interested.

"I'm not listening to anything, you have to come with me, " She pouted like a baby and I put a small glance at Wajahat who was busy with his phone and paying the least attention to us.

"No,"

"Pleaseeeee, pleaseeee," She started whining like a baby.

"Zaaaraaa," before I could say anything, my phone rang.

"Who is this" she raised her eyebrows.

"Ummm... Azlan," I replied shyly.

"Ooooohh" she teased me, "Pick the call and put it on the speaker," she said with a mischievous smile.

" Nooo wayy," I sent her a fake glare.

"OMG your cheeks are looking like a tomato," she giggled.

" Shut up," I slapped her hand and answered his calls.

" Asslamalaikum," his beautiful voice brought a small smile to my face.

" Walekumassslam, how are you doing?" I calmed my breath but my voice still came out like I was running in a marathon race.

"Actually I wanna ask you something," before I could reply, Zara, snatched the phone from my hand and put it on speaker.

I shot her a death glare but it was the only thing I could do. I was also embarrassed cuz Wajahat was sitting beside us and he could hear everything.

"Yeah, go ahead," I let out a deep breath but my heart was still pounding.

"Are you free today?"

"Umm, yeah..." I ignored Zara's looks and replied.

"Umm, there's an exhibition, Would you like to come with us?" He asked in his usual nervous voice and I didn't know why my heart fluttered a little.

"Yeah, I would love to" I smiled without caring about Zara who was giving me dirty looks. If looks could anyone, I'd be dead right now.

"I'll pick you at five, be ready," he said and hung up the call.

" I would love to..." Zara mocked me and started hitting my arms.

"Stop, stop...I had no choice," I pushed her away.

" No, you're ditching me, me?? Your best friend for him? Noice, they were right, love is not only blind, but it also makes people selfish, mean, and bitch," she pouted and I pulled her in a hug.

" I can't ditch you dumbass, you're going to join us," I pulled her cheeks playfully.

" You kidding me?"

"No, I'm not going anywhere without you," I smiled.

"He's asking for a date and you wanna drag me along with you guys, Do I look that dumb Zaynah?" she rolled her eyes.

" First of all it's not a date and the second thing it's not only two of us, his best friend Mishal is also joining us," I sighed.

" Best friend??? But why and how could you say this?" She stared at me with confusion in her eyes.

" Didn't you notice " us" in his sentence, it was so obvious. Also, his friend is very possessive, she's not gonna send him alone with me," I grinned reluctantly.

"Wtf, she's a friend, not his mother," Zaynah wrinkled her nose.

" I don't care tbh, leave it and let's plan the outfits for the evening," I tried to change the topic.

" Wajahat, Are you coming with us? " Zaynah asked Wajahat and I just realized that he heard everything.

But it was okay, he must know that I have got a guy in my life who treats me like this.

Bro! Please, he doesn't care about it.

Stop thinking about him.

"No, I'm not free," his tone was firm and hard.

"But why? You told me that you are going," Zara had an annoyed look on her face.

" It depends on Farwa actually, she will decide. I'll let you know, " he smiled and headed inside and the small sadness rushed into my heart.

I didn't know why I was still thinking about him when I have someone like Azlan.

*****

"Arghhhh," I was taking bath when my phone rang again. It rang almost twenty times, I cursed under my breath and slid to answer.

"Hello,"

"Why were you ignoring my calls bitch," it was Asiya.

" I was taking shower," I snapped back.

"Whatever, your dad is sending our lawyer, just sign all the papers," she ordered me.

They had taken all the properties and the house of my mom and now they wanted my bank balance and I couldn't do this. I had a career and I knew no one would help me. It was the only asset to continue my studies and I couldn't let them take it away from me.

"Listen, I've told you hundreds of times that I'm not gonna sign any papers, stop wasting my time and yours as well," I growled.

" So the whore got the mouth, you daughter of slut...." I hung up the call and threw the phone on the bed. They were torturing me mentally and I was feeling drowned.

I wish my mom was with me. I need you mom!

The first time I was missing my mom without any hatred, I was tired from fighting, I wanted to laid down on her lap and wanted to close my eyes. I wanted her hands on my hair...

I pulled myself from those thoughts and started getting ready for the exhibition. It was going to be a long evening.

*******

"Hiii Zaynah," Mishal hugged me and kissed my cheeks and my body stiffened under her touch.

"Hello," I smiled forcefully and looked at Zara who was giving us weird looks.

"Hi Azlan," Zara smiled at Azlan who had also the same confused expressions.

"Meet Zara, my best friend," I held the hands of Zara and introduced her to them.

" Hi Zara, I'm Mishal, best friend of Azlan," Mishal gripped Azlan's arms and gave me a known look. She was behaving like some protective girlfriend.

I was thankful to Allah that I brought Zara with me or else Mishal would have ruined my evening like she was acting like a creep. She didn't even let us talk or look at each other.

"How are you tolerating that bitch, I wanna smack her pretty face," Zara gritted her teeth and whispered in my ears.

" Leave it," I shrugged my shoulders, also I never felt jealous of her.

"Heyy Wajahat is here," Zara shouted suddenly.

" Who?" Mishal narrowed her eyes.

"My brother," Zara replied curtly and waved at Wajahat who was holding the hand of Farwa.

Please ignore us,

I wanted to kill Zara at that moment. She had no idea what was she going to do.

But unfortunately, Wajahat and Farwa moved their steps towards us and my breath got hitched.

"Ohh, you guys are also there," Farwa eyed me up and down and I felt uncomfortable under her gaze.

"Damn, there are so many people, I'm confused...." Mishal sighed dramatically.

" Let's go to the nearby restaurant, I'm hungry and we will get to know each other," Zara spoke my heart out. I was starving too. I love this girl, she was my spirit animal.

We were walking silently to the restaurant and I peeked from the corner of my eyes to look at Wajahat.

Damn, He was looking smoking....hot...

Dear heart, Don't embarrass me! Calm down and focus on the road.

I started imagining fake scenarios in my head when my leg twisted and I was about to fell when two different arms caught me from both sides.

Yeahhh! Wajahat and Azlan caught me at the same time.

They exchanged looks at each other and Mishal eyed us suspiciously.

"Sorry," my voice snapped them back to reality.

"Let's go guys," Zara whined and we followed her.

" Who likes pineapple pizza? Seriously Zaynah you like someone who likes pineapple pizza?" Zara whispered in my ear and made a gross face.

"It doesn't matter Zara," I hushed her.

"It does matter, like Ewww," she rolled her eyes and I laughed out.

" Two cheeseburgers, three plates chicken nuggets, one large cheese burst garden pizza, four bottles of coke and one chocolate pastry and two brownies," Zara was telling her orders and I mentally facepalmed myself.

"Wait, is it all for you?" Farwa raised her eyes with surprise.

" Tf no, do I look like some cow? It's for me and Zaynah, " Zara gulped the whole glass of water in a single breath and replied.

Zaaaaaaraaaaaaaaaa.... Is she dumb?

"Wow, Noice," Mishal smirked and exchanged looks with Azlan and Wajahat.

"No, I'm not gonna eat that much. I'm okay with burgers only," I pinched Zara's thigh.

" Why are you pinching me? And why are you acting like you can't eat this. Bro I didn't even order half of the food we eat," she replied innocently and I just wanted to put the tape on her mouth or wanted to disappear right now.

Like yeah! We are foodies but how could we be like some immature girls in front of these boys and these decent ladies.

I lowered my head and started gazing at the floor. I didn't dare to lift my head.

Our food arrived and they all shared known looks which made me more embarrassed.

"Mhmm...this is so tasty, try it Zaynah," Zara passed me the plate of nuggets and I sighed. She was my spirit animal but she should know what was she doing, how couldn't she see the weird expressions of Mishal and Farwa?

"Take it," Zara nudged me and I shot her death glare. Was she really that dumb or playing with me?? I knew she was doing it on purpose, she couldn't be that dumb.

But why? Why did she want to make me embarrassed in front of Azlan? What was going on in her mind???

I shoved the large piece of burger and it stuck in my throat. I started coughing and my eyes filled with water.

"Take this," Wajahat handed me the glass of water and at the same time, Azlan passed me water. My breath got hitched and I didn't know what to do. I ignored Wajahat completely and took the water from Azlan.

"What the fuvkkkk Wajahat," I tilted my head at Farwa's shocking voice.

Wajahat's hand was covered with blood and the fresh blood was still dripping from his hand. He had the broken pieces of glass in his hand, his face was expressionless and he was gazing at the table with his stone-like eyes.

My eyes widened from the shock and I looked at Wajahat's hand again.

Blood...red blood...blood...

" Wajahat...."I didn't think anything and screamed with full force.

All eyes were on me and they all were giving me strange looks.