Fated

Ch.2

'Are you going to spend the entire time in the room? Come on, they are here' Ramsha slammed into my room, interrupting the presentation that I was working on.

'How many times have I told you to knock before coming into my room?' I saved the presentation and turn off the computer.

'Plenty but who said I'll listen to you?' She sat on my bed and stared at me.

'What?' I leaned closer to her.

'You should change' She came closer to observe my clothing.

'It's fine' I looked at my plain light pink suit.

'You look like you haven't brushed your hair in ages...clean up a bit...these people are all so well dressed, at least try to look neat and clean' She remarked.

'I am fine as I am, and clean...cleaner than you' I still got up and neatly tied my hair up in a bun and brushed my hand over my shirt to smooth it out.

I went to see the guests before she could judge me further. As soon as I made a turn to enter the living room, I bumped into the same guy who told me to leave the classroom earlier. Him! 

'You' He and I said at the same time.

'What are you...' I said in a loud voice and stepped forward while he remained still.

'Maya...move out of his way' I heard my mom say from the back and I glanced at her and back at the guy in front of me.

'Excuse me' He walked around me and went outside to the veranda to talk to someone on the phone.

'That was...' I asked Anum as I sat next to her after briefly greeting her parents.

'I thought you recognized each other...that's my brother Zain' She said, and I wish it was a lie. But it wasn't. It wasn't. The sweet and playful kid I once knew turned out to be a complete moron grown up, how sad.

'Oh...no I didn't recognize him.' I replied to her.

Minutes later once Zambo aka now Zain returned to the room and I tried my best to not look at him but failed. As soon as he sat down across from me, next to my dad, I caught his eyes. Now that I carefully looked at him, I noticed that a tiny little mole on top of his lips was still there. He used to get teased about it sometimes when we used to play with other kids in our neighborhood.

'Kids grow up so, fast don't they?' Jamila aunty looked at my mother and Zain and I both looked at her and then back to each other before looking away. Well, that was awkward, I didn't mean to stare, I was just observing...comparing the image I had of him when we were kids to now.

'They do, Maya is just a semester away from graduating and Ramsha is in grade eleven' My mother replied.

'What are you studying Maya?' Zain's father asked.

'Economics' I quickly said, feeling nervous for some reason. I felt anxious whenever people asked me about my plans for the future.

'And what are your plans after graduating?' Zain asked me this time and I had to look at him.

'I don't know yet...I am just trying to get through college right now' I said, feeling a complete judgment coming from him.

'You'll figure it out...I was like that too, it's okay to take things slow' Anum rushed in and I was thankful for her.

'Really what did you do after graduating?' I asked her.

'Well...I got married' She hesitantly responded, and I felt the tension growing in the room. I shouldn't have asked her this question if I knew it was going to lead to this. I didn't mean to hurt her.