Shayba's P.O.V.
I wake up at the buzzing of the alarm I set in my iPhone. It is 4:45 a.m. I have to pray my Fazar's prayer. My hands automatically search for Anu beside me to wake her up too. But when I fail to feel her presence, I become startled for a moment to find myself in a completely new place. Then I remember what happened yesterday and suddenly my heart sinks deep down.
I miss each and every single part of my home! My bed, my desk, my huge cupboard, my dressing room and most importantly my washroom! Only girls will know how it feels without one's personal washroom.
I look around to find my two roommates sleeping soundly. I've met them only yesterday and now I'm living with them in the same room and probably going to live for the next few years. I, who has always been dad's princess is now gonna stay in this old soot-covered dark room and use its small yet thousand years old wooden bed with a teeny tiny bedside table. There are three small lockers attached to the wall for each of us which are really rusty. Allah knows how old they are.
I've already set my brand new highly configured personal computer on the table which totally doesn't match with the atmosphere of my room. Neither my stuffs and personality do.
Winnowing these things from my head,I go into the horrible looking washroom to perform my ablution and a healthy bloated lizard runs forward to greet me. Aaaaaaaa!! I jump two steps back in fear and stumble with a hard chair. Ooouchhh!! THAT HURT!! That freaking dinosaur almost pulled out my heart from where its cage! I was barely able to stop myself from screaming so that my roommates don't wake up and get annoyed with me. My heart cries out,Oh Allah how am I gonna live here???? I hate lizards the most...!
After finishing my prayer, I recite Ayatul Kursi several times. I need strength to start this new life.
Then sleeping again for more than an hour,I get up at 6:30 a.m. Now I have to get ready for my 1st day at university. This life is a dutiful one. You have to wake up by yourself, get your own clothes pressed, bed organized, books arranged and bla bla bla. In a word, every single thing has to be done by yourself. No one is going to do it for you.
I take out my black and royal blue kurti and press it with the iron. Thankfully mom sent this iron too, otherwise I would have nothing to wear as all my dresses have been crinkled. Jazakillahu Khair mom, I thank her mentally.
Then I put on my black Pierre Cardin pant with a blue hijab and lastly put my black cardigan on that I bought when I went to the U.K. with my full family last year. This cardigan flashed back a thousand beautiful memories in my eyes. How pleasant the trip was! Mom, dad, Bhaiya and us- a perfect family vacation, probably the first and the last one in my life.
The winter air is shivering now and it is the perfect time to wear this. Later I apply my favourite nude shaded lipstick and bam! I'm ready for the very first day.
Taking my Gucci bag and putting on my watch and ring from the table, I pull out the iPhone from the charger. Next I put on my black kitten heels and get out of the room with my other two roommates named Nadia and Farhana and lock the door.
We three descend the stairs having a little chit chat among us and head to the canteen to have our breakfast.
Seeing the canteen, my heart sinks again. Oh man, is this hygienic?? Is the glass clean?? Should I rather go out and eat some plain cake from a general store?? Lots of questions start to pop up in my head. I am soooo confused!!
Finally fighting my inner battle for several minutes,I decide to eat here. If I'm gonna live here, I should get used to it. Yes,I can handle this. I won't get homemade food forever! I am dad's strong girl and I can eat both grand buffet and velpuri (one kind of street food) with the same hands of mine.
I look at Nadia who is already enjoying her sandwich as well as looking at everything around her with a happy smile on her face. Her silky hair is opened and she is looking really beautiful in her pink kamiz.
Farhana is a serious type of girl who starts eating paratha with some vegetables after fixing the spectacles on the tip of her nose. She, I think, doesn't care about her appearance at all as she has come here in the dark green dress which she was wearing yesterday. Even she didn't hesitate once coming out without combing her hair,rather she made it a messy bun on the top of her head.
As soon as I was going to sit on the chair, I heard a male voice behind me, "Hey pretty ladies,come here! Introduce yourself to us." Anger raises in my head as I glare back. I find a group of guys, must be seniors sitting on the table beyond us.
"Awww what are you looking at??? Am I that handsome??" said one of them and the whole team burst into laughter. So this is ragging, huh?? I try to keep my head cool and focus on my food without giving any reply. I don't want to create a scene on the very first day of my varsity life.
"What?? Are you three deaf??" "Tell us your names." "Where are you from??" "Come on, show some respect to your elders."shouted those jerks behind me.
I look at Nadia who has been pale white in fear. Then I glance at Farhana who is looking at me, maybe hoping that I'd handle the situation.
Leaving a sigh,I look back again and say as polite as possible,"Assalamu Alaikum brother. I'm Shayba."
"Ooooww,nice name",said the first one with a smirk on his face without replying to my salaam and pissing me off again.
"Where are you from?"
"Banani."
"What does your father do?"
"Business."
"What kind of?"
"Electronics." I reply as shortly as possible.
"Oyeee looks like this beauty is from a rich family guys!!"he exclaims and others clatter,"Woohooo!" bursting into claps and whistles.
I am so embarrassed right now because everyone in the canteen is looking at me and at the same time furious because of their behavior.
"Woah! Jackpot! Are you single?"suddenly this question pops up from my right side and all these guys again start clapping with laughter. "Woah!! Looks like our Zawad is interested in someone!!"they whistle and clap bringing my rage terrifically out. Being fiery, I glare to my right and find a guy in blue t-shirt sipping coffee and staring at me with an evil smile on his face.
I give him an ice cold look and said gritting my teeth,"Yeah definitely, brother. I'm a MUSLIMAH." I put an extra stress on the word 'Muslimah'.
Being surprised at my reply, he just says,"Ohhh!" and then glances the other way. Maybe lost courage to enquire about me more. Haha! Why? You afraid?? All the guys gradually stopped laughing maybe seeing THIS guy quiet. He must have a great deal of influence over them. Well I don't care. That's a win for me after all!
I turn to my table and walk away snatching my sandwich from the plate. Nadia and Farhana follow me at once. I'm burning like a volcano right now. Though I have a feeling that I'm probably going to regret my arrogance. To be honest I am a bit scared too. What if they try to take their revenge on me? I don't have my brother or driver or guard backing me up here.
Keep calm,Shayba.... Keep calm.... Take each step carefully....
Zawad's P.O.V.
Whaaaat???? How the heck am I gonna know if she has a boyfriend or not?? There are tons of girls who roam around wearing burqas covering their body from head to toe but still manage boyfriends. I thought she was one of them too. When I heard her saying 'Muslimah', I was quite at a loss of words as I really don't know how to deal with innocent and religious type of girls. It's ok with the girls who are outgoing type, but what will I say to a girl who brings her religion and some weird verses in this fun and make us all look stupid and hopeless?
Being the first boy in the class, I am always surrounded by beautiful girls who pretend that they don't understand their lessons and come to spend time with me bringing fake problems in their studies. I don't mind either,in fact I admire their company.
Girls like me for my height, look, grades and probably the most because I am a skater. I'm kinda popular among guys too as I play basketball. I always used to play this game in both my school and college team. I have played in the district and division level, not to mention, won the championship trophy once too. Moreover teachers appreciate me for my grades. The truth is I get everyone's attention and value wherever I go. There's a respect and popularity of me among the boys and girls and I don't wanna lose that at any cost. That's why I think it would be better if I don't mess with that hijabi anymore. I have millions more options.
Shayba's P.O.V.
I enter my classroom 10 minutes before the class starts. My head is filled with fury because of the previous incident. At 8:06 a.m. our teacher enters the class. I try to concentrate on his words but my brain keeps thinking about those jerks. How dare them talk to me in that way???? My dad and brother would have sent them to graves already if they knew what they said to me.
I respond to my roll no and start listening to the teacher.
At 1:00 p.m. we are spared from the class. I get out with Nadia and another girl I met in the class named Biva. She is a sweet one too. And humorous, incessantly cracking jokes about our teachers.
Laughing and talking I first go to my room to pray my Zuhr's prayer and then join my friends in the canteen to eat lunch. By and by mom calls and enquires about every single thing. "I am doing good mom. Don't worry."I fake console her. After all I can't tell her what happened today. If she hears this, she'll come at once to take me back to home.
After that Annaba snatches away the phone from mom and shouts,"Tell me everything. What happened in these past 12 hours,huh? Are you dating already? Hehehe!" Telling this,she starts laughing sardonically like an insane.
Being annoyed,I said," Nope,not yet. But I have found someone who totally matches with you."
"Really? Who is he? Is he handsome? Tall??"
Still cracking sarcasm with me,huh??? Well I am not in this mood.
"I can't tell that now Anu. Just let me get back to my hall, I'll explain everything." I say with boredom and she exclaims with joy. Idiot.
We decide to roam around the campus to be acquainted with it. It was really fun with these girls. They are so friendly that I don't feel any hesitation to talk to them at all.
As we are coming back, a group of guys block our way. It is a new group I see. Oh not again!
One guy whistles staring shamelessly at Nadia and my blood starts boiling.
As I am standing in the front,he asks me,"What's your name?"
"Shayba."
"Wow! Nice name! Sing me a song Blue Bird."
I can't believe how he is talking to me! If only my brother was here, he'd have killed him right now. I glare at him and say sternly,"I don't sing."
"Oh I see! Then you, Pretty Pink, dance for me." Saying this to Nadia, he took out his phone and played a Hindi item song."Come on. Show us some moves."
And the volcano erupts in my head.
"Let. Us. Go."I say with fury.
"Oye i just wanted to get introduced with you. And you're showing your attitude! Is this how you show respect to your elders? You three aren't mannered at all I guess."
"Look girl,"he said coming near me,"I'm only sparing you as it is the first time. But later if you show this attitude again, I swear you'll regret for that."saying this,he went away with his friends.
I come to my room and throw away my bag. Then I go inside the washroom and tears start rolling down automatically.I can't help myself from crying. I want to go back home right now! I can't handle this anymore! I look at the mirror and see a disheveled state of mine. This is totally different from the Shayba I was just 2 days ago.