Unsealed Fate

Chapter 2: The Good News.

Behind every glory, there's a story. Strategic changes often come with huge sacrifices

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The Good News.

Thankfully, the exam had not even started when I got to the class. So, I made my way to my usual seat in the front row of the class. Moments later, the invigilators came in with booklets and answer sheets. Soon, the answer sheets and booklets were distributed to everyone. Luckily, for me, the exam wasn't as cumbersome as I had anticipated. As soon as I finished my exam, I headed home. I didn't bother looking for Imran because I knew he might be busy at that time and he also had an exam by noon.

I was almost starving to death by the time I got home. Teslim and Mum were beading a necklace in the living room. My mum was a nurse and usually would be in the hospital by this time of the day but it turned out she was on a night shift.

I was excited that I was through with my exams. After weeks of intense work and study, I was finally going to take a break. I was only left with two years to graduate from the university. The thought of graduating at twenty-one made me even more excited. I really could not wait to graduate and get a job as soon as possible. This was my plan all the way, it was my biggest wish to graduate early and start earning to save my mum the stress of providing for my every need. For some reason I was tense; Maybe the thought of me being independent and all.

I have never been on my own before and I have no idea what the future has in store for me.

I lazily plopped down on the cushion in the living room and rested for a while before I headed to the kitchen to fix something for myself. Teslim had already prepared some delicious porridge but I didn't want to eat it. I hate to admit it but she was a good cook, unlike me. She took after my mum.

Moments later I heard Mum yelling; "What is going on? Are you trying to burn down the house again?"

"What! No! Just that something went wrong with the toaster" And before I knew it there was smoke everywhere. It finally dawned on me that I was the one getting toast, not my bread. Oh no! Mum will be so mad. Luckily for me, the toaster was still functioning.

What just happened? How did my toast get roasted?

"What have you done?" Teslim rushed in and started opening the kitchen windows so the smoke could escape. Great! Look who's here to play the hero.

"Don't give me that crap. I honestly don't know what just happened here. One moment I was making hot chocolate, the next thing I knew my toast was roasting." I didn't realize I was shouting until I choked on my breath.

"You still don't know how to cook, do you? Is this how you're going to end up in your husband's house?" She folded her arms to her chest and shook her head at me.

"Oh No! Please don't go there." I breathed in smoke and started coughing heavily.

"Mum was complaining about you to me. She said you're stressing her a lot these days. You don't do your daily chores. You end up procrastinating until the day runs out and you always leave her to do the laundry for you. All you care about is your academics." Oh wow! I made the news headline. They've been discussing me, or should I say they were gossiping about me.

"That's not true." I furrowed my brows and started to walk away. I couldn't just take the heat. Those words hit differently. It could have been best if I didn't know what they said behind my back.

"So, you're saying mum is lying? Get back here we're not done talking."

"Well, that's for you. As for me, I don't wanna have this conversation." I walked out of the kitchen and started to head outside.