Third person's POV:
Anisa huffed.
She did not like this. Why was it that all the girls at school only liked the one guy she ever loved? Her eyes ran back from the ground to Ali, her frown still on her face. "I know you don't want me to go through this, but all this is frustrating. Am I going to spend the rest of the year like this?"—was what she wanted to say. But the sincere look on Ali's face didn't let her.
She didn't want him to feel under pressure that he was the reason behind what was happening. Instead, Anisa just sighed.
"I'm hungry." she finally said, breaking the two-minute silence. Ali, instead of suggesting to go to the cafeteria or something, asked something completely different. "Are you okay, Anisa?" he looked genuinely concerned. At that, Anisa couldn't hold herself back.
Her heart fastened its pace and she felt her stomach flip. It was amazing how a little gesture from Ali could do that to her. She smiled at him. "Yeah. Why do you ask?"
"You went to the nurse's office. I wanted to come after you but the teacher didn't let me. When the class ended, I came out looking for you." he explained quickly. Anisa chuckled at that. "I said that I needed to go to the nurse's office. Didn't you check there?"
He shook his head, a little sheepishly. "I didn't know you were actually going there. I thought it was just an excuse to get out of class." then he paused and looked like he had to say more. A little tint of pink appeared on his cheek that was almost invisible on his slightly tanned skin.
"I was looking for you in the garden. You usually went there. But I couldn't find you there either." he finished. Anisa's eyes widened. "How did you know that?" she was surprised that Ali would know that she liked to roam around the garden. The last time she went there was before her marriage so it was a shock.
Ali rubbed the back of his head. "I just saw you going there a couple of times." he looked embarrassed as if it was something he didn't want to tell her maybe because he thought she would guess he used to stalk her even before they got married. And that wasn't something to be proud of.
Anisa smiled at him, making his heart skip a beat. He couldn't strip his gaze away from her innocent face. Especially when her round eyes glistened with such affection. "I'm fine, Alhamdulillah. Just annoyed. I'm fine now, now that you're here..." she trailed off when she said the last part as it wasn't that easy for her to address her feelings so casually like that yet. Her flushed, red face moved something inside Ali and he had to fight the urge to kiss her again.
"I love you, Anisa." he knew he had said it before but at that moment, it was like he had to say it again. Anisa blushed harder. "Me too."
Ali pouted. "You're supposed to say I love you back. It's a rule." he joked. Anisa started walking as if trying to avoid her embarrassment, her back facing him. "I love you too." she rushed over her words, not wanting to look at Ali's reaction because she knew he would tease her for it.
"Where are you going?" he asked. Anisa did not stop walking. "To the cafeteria. I'm hungry," she told him. He started following her and when he was walking by her side, he took her hand and stopped her. By now, they were standing in a relatively quieter and isolated corner of the corridor, away from the stares of all the students that were passing by.
A small ceiling light, a few feet away was the only thing that provided them enough light to make out each other's faces. Anisa looked a little confused but she understood when she saw Ali looking at her so intently. "Weren't we going to the cafeteria?" she asked, despite knowing why he had stopped the both of them. He nodded once.
"We will but first," he leaned in closer to her face, bending a little as she was shorter than him by a whole foot. She looked small and tiny by the way he hovered over her, blocking the little light from behind.
"First?" she asked.
"I want a kiss." he didn't feel the least bit hesitant as he spoke out his mind. Shivers started spreading all over her body when he didn't stop looking at her in the eyes with a smirk on his lips. He was teasing her but she knew that he wasn't kidding about wanting a kiss.
"We just... Did it." she reminded him shyly. He pouted at that. "But, that was just for a second and everyone was watching us. It doesn't even count as a proper kiss." he almost whined. She rubbed her other shoulder slowly. He was right. And honestly, she wanted to kiss him too especially when he looked so adorable whining like that.
She looked back up at him.
"We shouldn't be doing this at school. What if someone sees us?" she said. Ali knew that she had been convinced so he let go of her hand and brought both of his hands to her face, cupping it. It made her soft, pink lips pop out a bit and that was even more irresistible. If it were in his hands, he would've already started making out with her but he knew that she wouldn't approve of it in the school corridor.
"No one will see us," he replied to her question. She had a worried look on her face. "But it's a possibility." she pointed out. He shook his head slowly. "Everyone's at the cafeteria right now. No one's going to come."
As much as she wanted to, she was scared that they would be caught. And being Muslims it was important for them to be modest. After all, that place wasn't their bedroom. She didn't want them to kiss in front of the students a while ago either but it happened so suddenly that she didn't have a chance to object.
"Ali... We shouldn't..." she said softly as he came closer to her face even more. She shook her head in disapproval but that didn't stop him. His lips touched hers and that was that. Automatically, her hands flew up to his neck and she hugged him, her eyes closing. She gave in because honestly, she couldn't resist it either.
Thankfully, no one came. When both of them were finally done, they pulled away. "I don't want to stop, Anisa," Ali said with complete honesty. She didn't reply but kept looking at him in the eyes, their foreheads resting on each other.
"I don't know how you do it," he went on in a low voice. "How you make my heart race so fast or how you make me worry about you so much. It's like I can't let you out of my sight for even a second. I want you to stay with me every moment of the day." his words made goosebumps rise on Anisa's skin.
She couldn't believe her ears. It was like he was penning down her own feelings. She felt the exact same way but the only thing was that she was too shy to admit it as he did.
"Ali, I feel the same way," she replied. "I can't imagine a life without you and it makes me so mad when I see that you have such pretty girls waiting in a line for you. It scares me that one day, you'll get tired of plain, boring me and find yourself a new—" she was cut off when Ali placed a hand over her mouth.
"Don't say that ever again. You're a thousand times better than all the girls combined." his voice was stern and he looked like Anisa's words really affected him. "You're prettier than them. You're nicer than them. And most importantly, you're the one I love. And besides, what happened to the Anisa who never wavered once in front of all the bullies?"
Anisa's eyes widened. Was the person standing in front of her Ali Hassan? The same boy who bullied her for years? His words created a spark in her and she understood what he was trying to say.
"How am I going to save you from these girls?" she asked. "They'll snatch you away from me before I know it." he shook his head, caressing her bottom lip with his thumb. He looked at her with emotion-filled eyes. "Trust me, I'm not stupid to not know the difference between people who are serious about me and those who aren't. All this time, they've been after me but I know that they're just doing it for the same reason I flirted back with them."
Anisa listened quietly as he went on. "They want to look cool in front of others. And the reason they're after you is that they're jealous. Jealous that you were able to make me crazy about you and they failed." he winked at Anisa at the end and she smiled with a blush.
"Thanks, Ali." she was really grateful. She needed that pep talk and it was surprising how Ali was the one who gave it to her. Ali smirked at her.
"Do I get a present in return?" he asked just to make her turn red all over again. "We just kissed! We can't keep this up forever," she exclaimed to which he started laughing. He looked at her with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes and started walking towards the cafeteria. "I could."
Anisa knew he was being serious because he wasn't one to shy away from speaking his mind. "We have our whole lives for it, Inshaa Allah," she replied with a little giggle. He nodded. "Inshaa Allah. But I don't think I'll ever get enough of you."
Anisa had started walking behind him. She took his hand and entwined her fingers with his, their shoulders brushing with each other as they walked. Ali gladly accepted the gesture and held on to her hand with a strong grip.
"You better not," she warned him playfully. Then suddenly, she didn't know what got into her. She stood up on her toes, lifted her head to reach his, and leaned in to plant a small kiss on his cheek. It was the first time she had made a brave move like that. Ali was taken by surprise but he recovered quickly.
"Don't look too surprised. It doesn't suit you." Anisa said with her eyes closed and a wide smile on her face. Ali blinked twice but then his lips formed an amused grin. "That's more like the Anisa I know."
And she agreed. With a fluttering heart, she thanked Allah. It almost made her feel guilty that she hated that marriage at first. She had no idea that it was because Allah wanted her to find her true love. He wanted her to have the best. Handsome, caring, and thoughtful, and not only that, a person who looked like he wanted to change himself for good.
It was still a bit weird that she was walking the same hallways with her hand in Ali's, where he used to trip her over or make fun of her hijab with all his friends gathering around to enjoy the show. She was sure, that the person standing next to her wasn't the same guy he was two months ago.
Anisa's bully, Ali Hassan had changed for the better.