NADIYA'S STRUGGLE

Chapter 10

"And who is that lecturer?" Nadiya asked.

"Hello guys." Zaliha greeted. Though she doesn't like Khadijah, she doesn't want Nadiya to know and feel bad as she's her cousin.

Khadijah hates Zaliha. She feels Zaliha is snatching Nadiya away from her. The worst part of it was that, she shows it instead of atleast hiding it. One day she approached Zaliha in school warning her to stay away from her cousin.

"Zaliha I'll be right back. I need to get my book from a course mate. Wait for me here." Nadiya said to Zaliha as they're about leaving the school. Zaliha nodded and Nadiya went off.

Just then, Khadijah came to Zaliha.
"Oh hi Khadijah!" Zaliha greeted her with a genuine smile but instead of reciprocating, Khadijah only huffed which didn't go unnoticed by Zaliha.

"I know you and Nadiya are best friends and are very close but I want you to know that I'm more important to Nadiya than you. By the way, she's my cousin sister and we grew up together and our bond is more stronger." Khadijah said emotionless.

Zaliha couldn't pinpoint why all this is coming out from Khadijah. Like, why is she suddenly saying such things to her. Is she jealous of her?

"Khadijah why are you saying this to me? What do you exactly mean? What have I done?" Zaliha could not stop herself from asking so many questions because of how shocked she is.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about and I know that, so it's better you stop pretending and stay away from my cousin sister. Do you get it?" Khadijah said while pointing fingers at Zaliha.

"I know Nadiya is your cousin sister but that doesn't mean I can't befriend her. You also can't tell me to stop mingling with Nadiya as she's my best friend and we also grew up together. And what is it you say? That she's your cousin sister? As far as our bond has reached, Nadiya is not just my friend but my actual sister because she's more than a best friend or a cousin to me." Zaliha retaliated. She can't take this anymore. She can stand anything but not when it comes to Nadiya. She can't simply stay away from Nadiya because of Khadijah. That's a no go area!

Seeing how furious Zaliha has become, Khadijah decided to leave the place. Not because she's scared of Zaliha, but so that Nadiya won't show up.

"Hello best girl!" Nadiya squealed and engulf Zaliha in a tight hug which made Khadijah jealous. While Zaliha was returning Nadiya's hug, they made eye contact with Khadijah and Zaliha smirked, enjoying Khadijah's jealousy.

"How are you doing?" Zaliha asked after releasing the hug.

"I'm doing just fine. Thank God you came. We were talking about something interesting." Nadiya said to Zaliha while looking at Khadijah.

"What could that be?" Puzzled by the way she looked, Nadiya spoke.

"Actually, Khadijah was telling me about a lecturer that asked her out today!" Nadiya beamed cheerfully while telling Zaliha about Khadijah. If only she knows that Zaliha has nothing to do with Khadijah or her love life!

"Wow." Was all Zaliha could muster because at that moment, she wanted to act numb to show that she doesn't care but then, fearing that it will hurt Nadiya as she didn't acknowledge her or even more, Nadiya will get suspicious, she refrained from doing that.

"I know right. So Khadijah, tell us the lecturer that proposed?" Nadiya turned her attention back to Khadijah.

"You know, most people say there is a lecturer that always proposes to every girl he sees in that department," Khadijah looked and saw that Zaliha was only pressing her phone and not paying attention to what she's saying and she looked at Nadiya, she noticed that Nadiya is waiting for her to continue, so she did just that. "At first I thought he's the same lecturer whom people are talking about, but my friend, Hikmah told me he wasn't."

"Wow. So you're happy he isn't bad or what?" Nadiya seems to be enjoying this conversation because right now, she wants to hear more about it.

"Yes. It's good he isn't like the other lecturers if not, I would not have answered him in the first place when he stopped me." She turned and this time around, Zaliha tucked an earpiece on her ears. Probably listening to music. The audacity of shunning her!

"That's great. So what was your reply?" Nadiya asked again.

"I told him I'll think about it." She simply replied.

"Okay then. I hope it's for the best." Nadiya prayed.

"Amin." Khadijah replied and that was when Nadiya touched Zaliha and said she's bringing food for her. Zaliha replied with an okay and Nadiya left the room.

Khadijah was irritated by Zaliha and how she's shunning her even though she doesn't care, but her ego is kicking her right now. It took them a minute before Khadijah finally spoke.

"Hey you." She snapped Zaliha which made her shudder.

"What's wrong with you?!" Zaliha asked, glaring at Khadijah.

"I should be the one asking you that. Who do you think you're to shun me as if I'm a trash?" Khadijah was seriously angry by Zaliha right now.

Zaliha was beyond surprised at what Khadijah said. As if she wasn't the one denigrating her about staying away from her niece and now, she's angry at her for not talking to her. She will never be able to understand this silly girl!

"Are you seriously telling me this? Have you forgotten what you told me at school the other day? And now, you're feeling hurt just because I didn't talk to you?" Had it been it's something different, she would have laugh about this situation because she finds it ridiculous.

"I don't know. I just feel upset when I'm sidelined." She uncomfortably said. She felt stupid at that moment. Zaliha is absolutely right when she said all that. Well, she doesn't care as it's just her nature. She extremely hates it when someone intentionally and refuses to talk to her. She just hates that and that's why she's always jovial with people around her, though she's blunt at times.

"Well, keep being upset because I won't forget what you told me that day." Zaliha being a straight forward lady, said to Khadijah which surprised her.

Nadiya came into the room holding a tray which contains three plates of food and another is three bottles of water and three bottles of Coke for the three of them. "Salamu Alaykum." She pushed the door with her right leg because her hands are all full to open the door.

"Wa'alaykumus Salam. Let me help you." Zaliha said quickly and rush to help Nadiya with the tray.

"Oh! Thank you sis. I needed the help." Nadiya said while laughing. The three took each plates from the tray and started devouring it. Nadiya didn't get the chance to eat when she returned home though she was hungry, because Khadijah came to her and started disturbing her about what happened to her at school. Khadijah also couldn't get to eat, because of what happened to her at school which made her anxious as it has never happened to her. Same goes to Zaliha who immediately after coming back from school, changed, freshen up and decided to come straight to her friend's house without eating.

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Assalamu Alaykum
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