Strings Attached

~Chapter 11~

But the hard luck that I have, Turtleneck arrives the same moment I pull my chair forward to talk to her. And all conversation is postponed till the Attendance is called. But the man's being in class is similar to there being no teacher in class. In other words, it doesn't affect me. Though I'm forced to behave since it was in his class that the fateful incident occurred.

I don't let that affect my spirits though. It only makes it all the more fun. And thinking thus, I place my chair right beside the veiled girl. She immediately shifts her weight to the other arm of her chair. Glad to know she can sense things. "Hey, I didn't catch your name yesterday. And you snatched your books from me so fast, I had no chance to look inside." As expected, she doesn't say a thing.

"How about we start all over? I'm Daniyal Hasan... and I'm sorry I hurt you with my rash move yesterday," I tell her in a convincingly soft voice. And she turns to look at me, her eyes slightly wider than before. That's the first time she's looked at me knowingly. I think I've accomplished something here. "Care to introduce yourself?" I ask her in return. She pushes her book towards me, silently giving me permission to look inside. Yes!

'Hidayah Ali' is scrawled in a neat and loopy handwriting on the top of the first page, inside. There's another name on the book in a rather hasty handwriting, totally opposite to the girl's, but it's been crossed out with a single line passed through it. The book has been borrowed. Either she hasn't had time to buy her own books, or she's not financially well-off. My curiosity is piqued now. I want to know more.

"So... that's all you'd tell me about yourself?" I enquire once again. She slowly writes something on a piece of paper and shows it to me. 'That's all you need to know', she's written, stressing on the word 'need'. Stubborn girl. I'm still in a fix as to how she's still unaffected by me! She maintains her distance.

I mean, I really do arouse girls' attentions wherever I go, even without wanting to. But she hasn't spared me a look that may have lasted longer than two seconds... three- tops. She doesn't even care that I'm showing interest, or whatever girls call it when dashing boys talk to them. Looks like I've mastered the art of reading girl's minds. What can I do? They're too vocal when it comes to me.

Once a girl even told me she wasn't having her monthly thing ever since she sat beside me in class. Height of desperation. The statement was uttered in the hallway. I didn't even know she was sitting beside me, nor do I know even now what she looked like. Some girls have no self-respect. Flinging themselves at anyone who doesn't look female.

"I think you're wrong there. I do need to know you," I state self-assuredly. She makes no sign that she heard me. I thought I was going somewhere. She's irking me now. "Look, let's make this easier for the both of us." I look around if anyone is listening to our conversation, or if Turtleneck is looking at us. Everyone is busy in their own world. Turtleneck's writing something on the board, all the while saying something in his nasal voice. And nobody really cares for what he spouts.

To my increased chagrin, Hidayah has begun to ignore me completely, and is now listening intently to what Turtleneck has to say, scribbling down something in her notebook from time to time. I never knew his lectures were this important. As weird as it may seem, I wish I was Whitmore right now. She'd have paid me some attention then.