The Shades of Spring

Day one, greenie. Rise and work

Sidra kept texting her mother hourly to assure that she was fine and that she was with friends. Growing up in a conservative household meant she didn't stay out after dark and certainly never visited carnivals without a mahram.
Today, as colourful fireworks lit up the sky and showered the stars with new companions who lasted maybe a few seconds, Sidra's heart beat nervously under the baby blue dress, causing cold sweat to roll down her back.

The carnival would peak in the next hour, where people were acting like zoo creatures, albeit with a splash of decency. Musa stood a few feet in front of her, his form silhouetted by the the dazzling lights outside, and his hands rolling up the tent flap while Josh tied it in place. The men seemed to get on candidly well and appeared to enjoy the noise and the life with no regrets. Tying up the flap, Musa retreated into the tent to fetch his cellphone from the table, walking past Sidra and Hafsa. On his way, he flashed a Sidra reassuring smile knowing how much she hated the noise and the crowds and perfectly understanding her parents' concern.
Sidra grinned back.

She was still keeping her eyes peeled for Ayaan, hoping he'd make his appearance sooner because she was starting to feel terribly out of place in the carnival. To give due credit, Josh and Musa spent most of their time standing outside the tent, letting the girls have the tent all to themselves without having to worry about running into either of the men every time.

Hafsa's eyes were glued to the giant ferris wheel that took centre stage out in the green. Lit at the base, the wheel was painted like a twisted candy cane and stood grandly against the sky that remained stubbornly dark even in the floodlights. She looked like a kid with that starry look in her eyes, Sidra almost wanted to buy her some candy from a passing vendor.
At the thought of candy, her stomach grumbled loudly making a small frown turn her lips downward.
Shut up, she thought.
Hungry, it defended.
Shut it, she thought back.
One hot dog, it pleaded.
Stop! she mentally scolded.
Hungry? it questioned in a baritone voice.
Sidra scowled in displeasure at her ill disciplined twin living in the recesses of her mind.

"Hungry?" the voice repeated louder, finally making her realise she was being spoken to by someone who didn't live in her head. She turned to find Musa eyeing her amusedly.
"Kinda," she acceded with a scowl.

He grinned and held out a packet of chips to her, "Bin Malik to the rescue. Split this between yourself and your friend."

She gratefully accepted the food and began to tear the packet. "Which one? I have three in the tent."

Musa deadpanned at her. "Sidra, you're insufferable."

"Honoured to know that. But-" she popped a few into her mouth "-please specify which friend."

"Next time, I'll let you die by hunger rather than have you annoy me."
A small laugh escaped her lips as she watched him walk away in mock annoyance, without making an effort to mask his smile. Hafsa trudged to her without a glance at the man crossing her and asked Sidra what his problem was.
"Nothing," said Sidra to which Hafsa replied that it didn't seem like nothing. Sidra held out the packet to her and she was praising the taste before asking "These are really good. Where'd you get 'em from?"
"Bin Malik," Sidra answered coyly watching her friend's reaction. Predictably, Hafsa's face soured for all but a second before she sighed and munched on adding, "When it comes to food, I have no shame."
Sidra punched her in the arm playfully when Ayaan strolled in with a stacked clipboard.
"Spoke to the boys. All good for you two?"
Hafsa gave him a thumbs up with chips in her mouth.

He looked at the clipboard for a few seconds before turning back to the first page and fully facing the two girls. His face was tired but also pleased. Like all other organisers, he was dressed in comfortable jeans and a college jersey with his middle name printed across his back with Executive Head stamped under it. In the opinion of the majority, pink was a rather unorthodox colour for a college, but Ayaan pulled it off with no damage to his sleek, masculine features. Hours of being on his feet had made his shoulders droop a little but he made up for that with the extra bright smile.
"Time for your tour. Cassy is waiting for you. But I'll be tagging along just to be on the safe side."

Sidra waited a beat for him to tell her something about what she'd asked him earlier in the day, but he didn't appear to have anything to add, so she followed him out. Musa threw her a look that silently asked her if she needed anything else, but she shot him a grateful smile and mouthed it's okay. He pointed to his breast pocket that held his phone and watched their backs until they disappeared from his sight.

Sidra's dark hijab was soon lost to him in the eager crowd that milled about but Hafsa's bright white scarf remained visible a while longer until distance blocked them from his sight. He sighed quietly and almost immediately looked at his phone. Hafsa was begining to draw his eyes again when he turned and walked back inside.

Cassy was a hyperactive penguin in a the same dress code as Ayaan, who pointed out every single attraction to the girls while Ayaan silently led the way. His tall figure covered the world in front, more to Hafsa who was a little shorter than Sidra while Sidra managed to steal peaks over his shoulders when they rose or dropped with his gait. There was no trace of the earlier droop when he walked; only the solid build and body language of a confident young man who knew his way and knew who was in charge. Deep in thought, she almost collided with him when he came to a stop in front of the wheel that Hafsa was dying to try.

"This is the main attraction, obviously, cuz it's like the giant in the normal sized crowd. Anyone want to ride?" Cassy rattled.
Sidra turned down the offer when a memory of her early childhood came back in full detail where she had demanded she be allowed to "go" in the big wheel and ended up puking and crying after one cycle because she was terrified of heights. Hafsa grumbled something about Sidra being a spoilsport, while Ayaan tried to smother his smile at the way Hafsa was acting.
"It's wiser not to," he offered at last, "Maybe next week come with your dad or brother. Then I'll let you ride."

Hafsa quickly coloured at the hint Ayaan threw her about behaving in public and nodded at him. It was Sidra's turn to smother a smile.

They took the full VIP tour and headed back to their tent with armfuls of snacks and little gifts Ayaan insisted on buying them as a gesture of thanks. Sidra fought politely to pay her bill but Ayaan refused to back down. All the way back to the tent, she wondered if he'd forgotten about what she asked but was too shy to remind him because, one, she didn't want the others to know she was looking for opportunities lest she failed. Two, she did not want to sound clingy and desperate and irk him while he had so much to juggle.

Musa was relieved to have them back and with another reassuring smile, left to take his own tour with Josh while Cassy left them too and only Ayaan remained to keep them company.
"What if they get lost?" Hafsa inquired.
"They can text me. I'll send a rescue team," Ayaan shrugged.

Hafsa proceeded back into the tent and after a beat, Sidra followed suit a little dully. The sole reason she wanted in on the carnival business was to try and get in touch with a college insider who could help her out with the course search, and here she was at the end of a full day with no answers after pulling through the whole couple of hours with that one hope.

"Sidra," Ayaan's voice floated at last, as his eyes left the clipboard and settled on her back. She turned on her heel trying not to seem too desperate.
He came a little closer until they had a modest amount of space left between them, but he could also speak to her without raising his voice.
"About what you asked earlier. None of the other faculties came today, I'm sorry. But I asked around and got hold of one girl's number from the Tech side-" he handed her a note with a name and number written in clear handwriting "-and the Linguistics and....yeah, Science kids might show up next week."

Sidra read the note and thanked him. "JazakAllah khair. Almost thought you'd forgotten."

"I made a note," he answered holding up his clipboard with a list of To Do's where, at the very end, he'd hastily inserted Look into the Fac for Sidra. P.S- keep it to yourself with a small square in front of it; which he happily ticked off.