The Love I Was Looking For (Halal love story)

||Chapter 5: Replaced||

Days have passed since Sajid confessed to me. Not for a moment does it slip my mind. I can't stop thinking about it, or him—his soft smile and pretty eyes. I blush, quickly hiding my face in my desk. What am I thinking?

I know in Islam, love or having a crush on someone is permissible, but letting that love turn into something else is prohibited. As long as Sajid and I don't do anything or say anything out of line (zina), we should be good.

But the way he called me jaanu... I smile. No other boy has ever called me that before. It feels nice, honestly. Not going to lie, I was never intending to fall in love or seeking love at the moment. All I ever wanted was to do my best and get into the top fashion school. But I fell for Sajid.

That sweet idiot. I look at him, hiding my faint smile. I hope he didn't notice. I wouldn't want to embarrass myself. I watch him as he helps the other guys in the class.

On weekends when we don't see each other, we text on our socials. At one point, we exchanged our Roblox usernames and played games together. Like he said before, he is rich on Roblox. He definitely wasn't lying.

In this one game called Bloxburg, he owns two mansions. It was insane—they were so huge and beautiful. He would always carry me in the game and show me around. It was a role-play game, so he always hired a maid or driver or even both and paid them like it was Pakistan.

We'd laugh and joke around for hours. Even though we just met, it feels like we've known each other for years. Life right now is perfect, Alhumdulillah. My grades are good, I have so much inspiration for new designs, and most importantly, Sajid is in my life now. Ya Allah, thank you for a happy life so far. I'm so grateful for it.

The bell rings, and I slowly get up and put my backpack on. I yawn, rub my eyes, and start heading out the door. I waited outside for him by the wall.

He comes out and looks down at me. "I thought you were going to leave without me." I smiled and walked off. He runs behind me.

"Aik second intezar karo (Wait one second for me), jeez." I laugh, "Kyon? Ap jari rakh sakte hain (Why? You can keep up)."

He rolled his eyes and started walking faster, getting ahead of me. "Slowpoke." I start walking faster, and here we are, running to class. The fact that I almost fell, though. We don't talk about that. The bell rings, and we make it to class. Honestly, school is so boring. It's the same routine every single day.

I took out my phone out of boredom and went on Instagram. I start scrolling, seeing nothing really interesting. I scroll some more and stop at this one post. Mariam? I look at the account to double-check. Yep, it was her. I go back to her post and look down at the caption: "My First Pool Party," and it's with all her friends. Except me. I look down at the floor.

Damn, she's been talking about this pool party for months and said I'd be the first invited. Now this? Maybe she just forgot or something?

I sigh, close my phone, and put it away in my pocket. I look at the board as the teacher teaches. Did I do something to make Mariam not invite me?

I try to focus on class but can't. I know I shouldn't let little things bother me like this, but Mariam's been my friend since middle school. This isn't like her. I put my head on the desk aggressively.

The teacher appears in front of my desk. "Aisha, can you tell me the answer to question 4, please?" I looked confused as hell. Everyone was staring and whispering about me, noting how I wasn't paying attention. The embarrassment was real. I looked at Sajid, and he was mouthing the number 6.

"Umm, is it 6?" I looked at the board. "Yes, you got it!" I sighed in relief. Sajid just looked at me and smiled. I smiled back and put my head back on the desk. Can today get any worse?