Unlikely [Formerly Known as Nerd Next Door]

Chapter Fifty-One🌻

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious and Most Merciful, the Fifty-first chapter of the story begins, please do enjoy it.
Good luck!

Taliha's POV:
Subhanallah! Where is Arif?!

I thought in my mind as I looked around the hall, Arif was absent.

When everyone noticed that Arif wasn't around, they started looking for him as the hall got noisy. Even Mr. Garrick was confused.

"Hey, where is Arif?" He said.

I was astonished that Arif was missing because he was supposed to be present in the lecture hall for the announcement. I was disappointed in him because I thought he would take his studies seriously. Unfortunately, he was still the same Arif I first knew.

I thought that he would be attentive in class and attend his lectures after we became friends in a short time. Unfortunately, he didn't come today.

Indeed, we are meant to be enemies because our worlds are different.
I thought you changed Arif, but you are still the same...

I started trembling with my hands shaking because I was upset, but I was trying my best to calm down. The fact that he didn't attend lectures, was pissing me off every minute.

Mr. Garrick sighed feeling disappointed, "Well anyways, if Arif isn't around, then Taliha should be present. So is she here?"

I was shivering without saying a word as I felt my body boiling hard inside of me. It took a while before Mr. Garrick finally spotted me standing but I wasn't aware. I was in a trance because I was lost in my mind.

"Oh, Taliha Hussein!" Mr. Garrick said with a broad smile, he liked me after I became my class' top student.

I didn't respond to him and he noticed my silence in the hall, so he sighed before he continued his speech.

"Congratulations, you did very well in your practical. I knew that you would impress me, you and Arif are my best students of this set."

The next minute, students in some rows started clapping while some were murmuring. Everyone was in a state of confusion, especially me. Arif's absence was a shock to everyone in the hall.

An hour later, I came out of the hall with my bag placed on my shoulder...tightly. My day didn't go well after I discovered that Arif was missing, but where could he be?

'Hey, look Oliver.'

A voice whispered as I passed by a group of students. I wanted to turn to the person speaking but I couldn't do it, then another girl said in their group.

'So Arif and she are the power couple? OMG.'

They were talking about me. Because Arif and I were recognized as the best students in our hall, we were called a power couple. We earned the name after we were partners in the chemistry practical.

After hearing their statements, I had to walk ahead. I didn't want the attention...at all.

Suddenly, I almost bumped into a bloke so I stopped in the nick of time. At first, I thought it was Arif. So, I gazed at him carefully. I was upset with Arif, so I didn't want to see him again.

C-ould he be Arif?

I adjusted my glasses for a while before I got a clear view of him, then I noticed his sandy brown hair color. Since Arif had dark brown hair, I realized that he was a stranger, so I took some steps back instantly. After he saw me walking backward, his smile faded. His spotless white teeth were concealed and he held a confused look.