The Nerd And The Nincompoop

chapter three

Luckily, I saw Nawal get out of her car just as I parked mine.

I quickly got out of my car and jogged towards her.

"Hey," I said and she just looked at me before returning her gaze to her path. How am I going to tolerate this attitude?

"I'm talking to you," I spoke again but she didn't reply. She was getting on my nerves now.

"Nawal!" I said before grabbing her arm, making her face me. Her eyebrows creased and she looked angry. She jerked her arm away from my hand.

"Don't touch me or talk to me ever again," she told me, clearly pronouncing each word before walking inside the campus.

Don't make me hate you any more than I already do, Nawal Siddiqui. I'll make sure you regret it.

The rest of the day went as usual and I decided to work on the challenge tomorrow.

NAWAL

"So, how was the party?" Ashley asked as she sat beside me while I waited for Dad to come.

"Let's just say you were lucky you had to babysit your nephew," I replied and she chuckled. "Let's work on that Business assignment today?" I asked her. Ashley and I live in the same block so we usually study together.

"Sure," she replied. "Your place, 7 pm?" she asked.

"Sounds like a plan," I replied.

We talked for a little while before Dad arrived.

"See you in the evening," Ashley said and I replied with a smile.

I got in my car and Dad drove me to work.

I had started working right after university as it seemed more convenient than going home for a while and then leaving for work.

Dad dropped me at Jeff's, the big-box store I worked at.

"Hey," I greeted Whitney with a smile who was about to leave.

"Hi!" She replied.

I took my spot on the cash register and began working.

---

It was almost 6:30 pm and my shift was about to end in a few minutes.

Dad came to pick me up and we went home together.

We had dinner and then Ashley came home.

We worked on the business assignment for a couple of hours.

"I think that's enough of business strategies for today," Ashley spoke before she yawned. I chuckled. "I'm gonna go now," she added.

"Okay," I replied.

We went downstairs and I walked Ashley to the door.

"Bye," I said.

"Bye, see you tomorrow," she replied.

She left and I shut the door behind her.

I walked to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of juice and sat at the counter drinking at. I surprisingly wasn't so sleepy right now.

I went back to my room and picked my laptop up. I lay on my bed on my stomach and checked my social media. It had been a while since I last logged in.

42 notifications, 6 messages, 11 friend requests.

I checked the notifications -- they were likes, comments on my last post, and Ashley had tagged me on different memes.

When I was done checking all the notifications, I opened the friend requests. I went through the names, accepting the ones I knew.

Huzaifah Haroon. I sighed and rolled my eyes before declining the request.

When I checked the messages, he had even sent one.

I opened to read it.

let's be friends?

I wanted to reply a simple 'no' but he sent the message eight minutes ago which means he was probably online and I was in no mood of having a chat with him.

Why is he so desperate to become friends with me all of a sudden, though? I thought to myself.

Brushing off the thought, I logged out of my account and went to sleep.

---

*Beta: it literally means 'son' in Urdu but is commonly used by grownups to affectionately address people, male and female, significantly younger than them.