A/n: thank you for 200 reads y'all! Iftar Mubarak, May Allah accept from us. Don't forget to vote and comment ☺️. Second update will come later in the evening insha Allah.
FCHS, the school Baila and Leely attends is a college of health sciences with different schools (or faculties) inside it. But the courses are all on heirachical order, as in you don't expect the fee of those studying Medicine to be the same as those studying nursing or other courses. I just wanted to clear that☺️
Right.
Let's get it🍜
Baila's POV
Swaying trees, well trimmed plants and flowers adding to the landscape, the pavements, the benign sky.... The weather is really romantic today and my school is such a pretty place to be at.
Usually I don't care much about things like this, but lately, I'm learning to find beauty and small joy in the littlest of things. I'm learning to be a human, learning to have a well functioning heart and brain. I'm no longer as miserable and I'm getting to appreciate a lot of things in life.
All my life, I've only been able to find a negligible amount of solace in my grandma. But she's an old woman and she's going to die. I can't be too reliant on her for happiness. I knew I needed one more person. Just one more person. I only needed one person to accept me and I'll be fine forever. I'm not like other people who needed multiple attention. I only needed one. And had it been I got it from my father, I wouldn't be so desperate as to find acceptance from other people.
"Oh no!" Leely pouted
"What's up?" I was quick to ask
"A butterfly... Ta gudu(it fled)" honestly she looks so cute when she pouts. She looked so saddened by the butterfly's action and I think the butterfly was mean for not lingering around more for her to see it. We were walking on these pavements with trimmed plants along it's sides. Some of the plants had red flowers blooming out of them and I guess that was where Leely had spotted her butterfly which deserted her. She's such a girly girl. We have just bought lunch from the school's mini mart and now we're headed to the mosque to eat and go to the lab for praticals.
I lingered behind Leely as we walked because she was on a call and while I was lurking behind her, Mr butterfly came around again. I instinctively pulled my phone out and I was lucky enough to get her a picture of it. When I noticed that she was done with her call, I hurried up to show her the picture.
"Oh my! You got it. Thanks Baila. Do well to send it on my snap!" She happily said. I know she's going to put it on her snap story or something and how happy I use to feel whenever I see her post something I snapped on her story? I know that Leely has accepted me, but those small actions of hers which she might even think is nothing really goes a long way for me.
"Look Baila!" Leely called while I was smiling foolishly for making her happy with the butterfly photo. I quickly looked up to see that she was making a snap.
I pouted for the small video she was making as we walked before she saved it.
It has been two and half months since Leely showed up at my door, and she has been living with me since then. And I have to say, since Leely started to live with me, my life had changed for the best. Magically.
Leely became those streaks of blinding sun rays which pierced through my dark clouds of depression and successfully cleared them all.
During the first days Leely lived with me, I felt extremely awkward even though she seemed pretty okay. Of course, she was living in the general hall before with three other girls in a room so living with someone won't be that much of a biggie for her. What about me? I've never lived with anyone in my life before. Even when I visit my grandma, I sleep in a separate room.
Even though Leely wasn't very familiar with me then, she was very friendly. She would greet me every morning and ask about what I'm doing. Even if it's obvious that I'm watching something on my laptop or my phone or reading or anything, she'll still ask and wait for an answer. And I've never been sarcastic with her. I'll always tell her that this is what I'm doing because to me it shows a certain degree of care. How I wish my dad would care as much to ask me what I'm doing or what I'm up to?
Anything Leely makes for herself as long as it's in our hostel kitchen, she always make sure to keep some for me, whether I would eat it or not. Be it breakfast, smoothie, salad, anything. Even if I don't have an appetite, I would make sure I eat some spoonfuls to not hurt her feelings.
Leely always keeps me engaged. We don't really talk about our personal lives but she always makes sure she ask me about my opinion on things when she comes across posts on TikTok, Instagram or even randomly. Even if she's dressing up to go out or for school, she always asks me if I think this would go with this or not and I really love that.
Leely loves the sky, she loves flowers, she loves everything nature. She literally jumps at any chance she gets to capture serendipity in her phone. She is VERY photogenic. At first I used to find it weird that she could love so many things at once, but I realized that she's getting solace for herself from various sources. That's why she's always happy and bubbly and not easily weighed down by anything. I found myself slowly becoming like her, as I also try to find happiness in the littlest of things. I find myself smiling merely by finding out that the weather is nice, or by seeing cats playing around in front of our hostel and a lot more other things.
One more thing is, Leely has an intimate relationship with her camera. She's always snapping and uploading on her social medias. I felt really awkward at first, but I grew to learn that this is just who she is and also got to gradually reduce my camera shyness. That's why I easily posed for her camera earlier. When you're with her, whenever she's making a snap, she'll never snap only herself as per she's the main character. Sure she makes individual snaps of herself or even ask to be snapped, but she always makes sure she includes a side character on her snap. And she'd tag you too whenever she posts it.
I'm always a low-key girl on social media who only monitors. I don't comment on posts, I only save them or like them. And I'm not even that active on Snapchat. I'm mostly active on TikTok and Instagram. Leely had introduced me to Snapchat and how to do things like the most fun part of Snapchat which is the snap streak. She has so many friends on snap so whenever she tags me in her stories, people tend to add me as friends too and that's how I'm slowly getting more people on my snap. I already started the snap streak with her and a few others like my cousins and just random cool people.
I found myself doing unbelievable things like helping Leely sort out her business. Her shipment arrived a month ago and I've been helping her package them. They're thrift items so she'd have them laundried outside and iron them herself, then we package them and apply her brand stickers and have them sent out. It's really stressful because the orders are usually a lot.. you know Leely is very popular and she sells really good quality things, so people are always on the run to order from her from all over the country. And she does really make good money. I like that even though she's an orphan, she's not dependent on anybody as she has established a well paying business for herself. I know with the money she's earning from her thrift business, she can manageably take care of herself and her studies. She told me she was expecting this scholarship and then some circumstances hitched in the way and hindered her from getting the scholarship. Around that time also, she was really broke as she had used 90% of the money she had to order a new shipment of thrift items that's why.
Leely makes sure she stays hydrated, she ensures she eats three meals a day, she jogs every dawn. She's a very healthy person. She's open, outspoken, she never holds back. She's generous and as long as you're close to her, hers is yours.
She's just one hell of a fabulous person.
She's just a little bit inconsistent religiously, but at least she's not as worse as I am. At least she tends to pray more than I do and that's helping me because anytime I see her pray I'm pumped to pray too.
Living with Leely, I underwent some drastic changes. I'm happier, I eat more, I pray more, I smile more, I appreciate life more... I no longer feel constantly depressed and hollow within. Maybe once or few times when I remember that this is all temporary, that we'll be done with our exams soon and I'll have no choice but to go back home; to my dungeon and misery... So I try to cherish these few moments I'm with her and fill myself with all of the positive energy I can in the meantime.
Overall, it really baffles me how just a single person can make shocking impacts on your life.
On our way to the mosque, Leely spotted Muiz. I don't want to judge her, but I really wonder what she sees in him that made him such a heartthrob for her. Sure he's good looking and I love his dressing aesthetic. He tends to dress in really cool dark t-shirts, jeans, bandanas and sneakers.. I don't know if anyone noticed but it's kind of my aesthetic too. I mostly dress in baggy tees and arm sleeves with a veil and bucket hat, or sweaters, coupled with baggy jeans and sneakers. That aside, I noticed that Muiz has highly toxic attitude. Like, he's very very poisonous. Such an angelic person like Leely really doesn't deserve him at all. He's such a collosal narcissist.
Leely is the girl all of the guys are dying to have. Yet she adamantly stuck to him but look at the way he treats her. Like every freaking day he looks at her like he's absolutely fed up and disgusted and doesn't want anything to do with her yet she doesn't give up. Every single day, as long as Leely spots him in school she'd definitely run to him and talk to him with a highly bubbly energy. Of course his responses are always demeaning but hello, this is Leely who doesn't know how to give up. Even if he hurts her with his lackluster responses that wouldn't stop her from talking to him again tomorrow. She's really such a simp.
Sometimes I don't want to blame him though. He studied medicine and the kids from that school are usually too full of themselves. They step on the school grounds with their heads high as if they're the Gods and everyone else is the servant in this school.
There's another person though that I haven't met personally who Leely has night calls with, and I can bet on my life that it can't be Muiz. It makes me really confused as I don't want to perceive Leely as the girl who double dates. Should I even call it double dating since she and Muiz aren't even officially dating? It might be that it's just a harmless crush she has on Muiz while dating someone else and that's actually very normal among girls.
I also noticed that since I started walking around with Leely, I've been noticed the more by our classmates and even those that are not from our school. I know everyone is shocked by our sudden friendship. I mean, who would've imagined that two very polar opposite girls who weren't even talking with each other before would grow this close? Who would've imagined that the butterfly of the school would hang out with the creepy antisocial girl of the school? It must be really baffling, but who cares? No one is saying anything about it, not even Leely's former clique.
We arrived the mosque and at the mosque entrance, we met Godiya and her girls. Her girls because it looks like she's the new leader of their clique since Leely kinda bailed. Like I predicted, Leely reduced hanging out with them after she started living with me. It's not as if I completely stole Leely from them because she still talks and laughs with them here and there. I do regret that I was unable to steal her from them totally because we're all aware of how they're all rotten to the core and how they all don't deserve her.
Leely is too innocent. She's such a carefree person, so carefree that she doesn't even notice the tension and awkwardness whenever she talks with them. They wanted her to be ruined, but Allah brought her back on her feet and shamed them. Were they feeling ashamed for wishing bad for her, or were they feeling weird that she might actually be aware of their evil wishes on her and hence why she bailed on them? I really wonder what the reason is behind their edgeness.
They always try to look as if they've accepted Leely's decision of not hanging out with them wholeheartedly, but I never miss the bombastic side eye they throw at us whenever they see us.
Anyways, as she stopped to talk briefly with them, I with my chin up wheezed past them, ignoring their existence and making my entrance into the mosque. Alongside everyone else before, they also ostracized me. But after I began hanging around Leely, I've noticed how they've been trying to start talking with me. I don't know what they want to achieve by doing that, but unfortunately for them, they won't get a chance because I don't have time for pathetic hypocrites like them.
Leely came back, we ate awara with some salad Leely made from our dorm and prayed. We then fixed our labcoats and veils and headed into pratical.
"Psst, Baila" a girl beside me whispered. I gave her a blank look with a pokemon face and turned away at what our practical teacher was directing us to do. I absolutely hate any kind of distraction when I'm in class. Especially coming from this Jamila aka Jams girl from our class. She's a lowlife with a fake American English accent that she's so horrible at. She knows she's not good at it and meanies in the class have said it to her face to stop trying hard, but she would just not stop. I absolutely hate her voice and everything about her just gives hypocrite vibe.
"Baila" she called again. No she would not give up. She actually quietly picked her stool and brought it closer to me. She couldn't afford to make a screech and earn herself a curse from our cranky practical lecturer.
I also noticed that people are calling me Baila these days. Again, kudos to Leely's influence.
Wondering where she is? We don't actually sit in the same place in class. Remember I said I hate sitting in the front because I hate attention? Well Leely actually prefers to sit in the front because she feels like she assimilates more there. So we sit on different sites in class. We really are the polar opposite of each other aren't we?
"Baila, I've been wondering...before I thought I noticed that you and Leely don't talk. Now all of a sudden y'all seem to be the best of friends. Did you always knew each other? Were you two close outside campus and decided not to show it on campus?" She went on, rambling, making me roll my eyes. My eyes mistakenly spotted Godiya staring at us intently, but she took them off immediately I looked. I told y'all Jams is a hypocrite. I can bet on my life it's Godiya that sent her.
"Also I heard that you've been living alone in your dorm at the VIP hall but Leely joined you all of a sudden, that too after the hostel clearance. Did she really pay before moving in with you?"
I intertwined my fingers together, covering my face and snickering evilly. I'm glad to be such a cool person. I'm happy to be such a loyal person. I'm happy to not be like the likes of Godiya. I'm glad I don't have a runny mouth.
Even if I had not caught Godiya staring, I know I'm not someone who'd just spill such sensitive beans to anyone, talkless of a parrot like Jamila.
"Please answer me, I'm really curious!" She added desperately after I've been silent for two minutes.
"Do you seriously want an answer from me?" I asked her with a smirk.
"Of course!" She eagerly said
"The answer I want to give to you is, I need you to get out of my face and tell whoever sent you to mind their god-damned business"I threatened darkly with gritted teeth. I'm going to show her that I'm not referred to as the "meanest and scariest girl on campus" for nothing.
She frowned instantly, angered by my response. Wow, her face was quick to change there. You see the thing with hypocrites is that they're so double faced? They're damn good at switching their faces.
"See Baila, it's not only you that can curse. And I also have an information to tell you that you're such an arrogant bitch. Who do you even think you are? Kinata wani jiji da kudi ke kadai adda kudi ? Indai har takama kike da kudi me yahana kiyi medicine(you just have stupid ego as if you're the only one with money. If you're really boasting with money what prevented you from studying medicine)?" She retorted. Both of us were trying to talk in an undertone so as not to be sent out by Mrs Janice, our pratical instructor.
She then grabbed her stool to shift away from me, back to her original place. I gripped her tiny wrist , squeezing it roughly. She tried to yelp out of pain but quickly supressed herself.
"Now I have a class to pay attention to, Jams. But you're free to come meet me at VIP hall to repeat what you had just said so I can answer your questions, show you your place and also show you who I really am"
Noticing the terror in her eyes after my sound threatening, I released her hand, satisfied. She hurriedly grabbed her stool and left my side completely. She doesn't have the balls to show up at VIP hall. But even if she decides to back up, I'll be so ready for her.
I know she'll discharge the news appropriately. And everyone will know better than to be nosy regarding mine and Leely's affairs again.