And He Created Them In Pairs

C H A P T E R 7

Ahmed you idiot. He is the cause of all my problems, the embarrassment at the party, the engagement, the heart racing and now my friends. Oh no. They probably think I was lying to them! 

"What? You're engaged?" Arwah asked, slowly coming into the apartment. Her tone indicated she was shocked, but it wasn't rude. It was curious. Isra and Saima followed her into my apartment. 

"Hey guys! Um, yeah, I wanted to actually talk to you guys about that." I explained in a low tone. Isra looked at me with annoyance, and rolled her eyes. Saima looked at Arwah and made a confused face. 

"Why didn't you just tell us you were engaged before? Do you not trust us or something?" Saima asked, looking down at her feet. 

"Oh my god, no! Of course I trust you all! I just need to explain, just give me five minutes!" I said to the three girls. I turned around and faced Ahmed. 

"You should go." I tell him. He looked down at me and understood that I needed to talk to my friends. But I could tell he wanted to talk about what happened last night. "I'll text you later, just please go" I beg him. He nods and begins to head out the door. 

"Bye Laila" He said in a low voice. 

Once he was gone I closed the door and told the girls to make themselves comfortable. Isra looked really mad, and its probably because she said she had a huge crush on Ahmed. Saima and Arwah just looked curios. 

They all sat in the loft area. Nobody said anything. Saima and Arwah were staring at me waiting to explain and Isra was looking down at her phone. 

"So...you're engaged?" Saima asked, with a hint of a smile. Okay, so she's not mad. 

"Well. Sort of. I guess??" I furrowed my eyebrows and shrugged. "Last night, my mom called me and told me that Ahmed is my fiance, and I never knew! And it turns out, he knew for a couple years. Our families made some alliance a couple years ago." I said all in one breath. I just hoped they understand. 

"Oh my god! That's crazy!" Saima said, looking at me with empathy. 

"Woah. Thats. A lot." Arwah said after a few minutes. 

"Yeah, I didn't even know I was engaged to Ahmed, if I did obviously I would tell you guys!" I exclaimed. 

"Yeah, no don't worry we're not mad!" Saima and Arwah said and came up to me to give me a hug.

"Congratulations, I guess haha" said Saima. 

"Isra, are you okay?" I asked, since she didn't say anything. She was still looking down at her phone but I know she heard everything. 

"Isra, don't be mad, she didn't even know about her own engagement!" Arwah scolded. 

Isra looked up, she let out a sigh. "I was mad, but I don't think I'm allowed to be with the circumstances you're under. Sure, I had a huge crush on Ahmed. But I don't anymore. I just felt embarrassed because I thought you were with Ahmed this whole time!" 

"I can't believe you didn't even know about your engagement! That's crazy." Arwah said with wide eyes. 

"Atleast he's cute, what if he was some random dude from back home? Atleast he's from here, is super tall and has nice hair" Saima laughed. 

"and nice eyes" I added. The three looked at me and we all began to laugh. "Okay guys, the thing is. I don't know if I want to stay engaged to him. He wants to be engaged to me and told me to take time and think about it, but I just don't know." 

"Well, you can stay engaged for a few months and get to know him. He's a complete stranger in your life right now. Maybe get to know him before calling off the engagement." Saima explained. "You could go on a couple dates, ask the important questions, and see if you guys are even compatible. If not, you both can go your separate ways. 

I felt so much better after talking to them. I think I might actually take Saima's advice and get to know Ahmed in that way. Maybe we do end up together, and maybe we don't? Who knows, but I should give it a shot. 

Isra got up and put on the newest Halloween movie on the TV and we all sat on the sofa and began eating our snacks and making fun of the characters. 

I'm so grateful for these girls. 

-------------------------- 

Ahmed's Point of View

I just got back to my apartment that I shared with Zain and Ali. They were my best friends, and I told them about the engagement last night after I got home from Laila's house. They weren't completely shocked, they just assumed I was already engaged this whole time since I never had any girlfriends. 

"Heyy Ahmed, you're back. How'd it go at the MRS?" Zain asked me, as he was walking back to the sofa with a can of pepsi and a tub of ice-cream. That boy has the sweetest tooth, how does he not have diabetes. Ali was sitting on the bean bag on the floor, scrolling through instagram.

"Um, horrible. Her friends came over and she was yelling at me" I explained as I sat down grabbing a spoon for the ice-cream. 

Ali scoffed. I looked over to him and saw he rolled his eyes. 

"What?" I asked with a mouth full of ice-cream. 

"Nothing, its just that. I don't think she wants to be with you. And that's a first. All the other girls on campus would go insane if they were engaged to you." Ali said. 

"So?" I question.

"So obviously, she's not interested in you" Ali replies. He comes over to the sofa, for the ice-cream. 

"Maybe she just needs time to adjust. I mean, she didn't know about the engagement this whole time" Zain managed to say while adding popcorn to his ice-cream. Disgusting. 

"Yeah, probably." I say hesitantly. I let out a sigh and put my spoon down. "She just doesn't know me. Once she does, I'm sure she'll fall in love" I say cockily.

"Oh yeah? I bet you won't be able to make her fall in love before the next MSA event" Ali counters. 

"I can, and I will. Watch me." I retort back to him. 

"Okay, lets make this official then. You have to make Laila Malik fall in love with you before the next major MSA event, which is in 3 months by the way. If you do, Zain and I will both give you $200 and I'll give you the bigger room. If you can't make her fall in love with you...." Ali stopped, thinking of what he can add to the bet. 

"You have to give up your presidency and let Laila go." Ali said with cold eyes, looking up from the sofa.

"What? What do you mean 'let her go'?" I asked him, narrowing my eyes. 

"I mean, you can't be with her if she doesn't fall in love with you within the next three months." Ali replies, raising his eyebrow. 

I know she likes me, I felt it last night. But three months? I think that should be enough time. I'm sure she'll fall for me by then, which is the only reason why I reply.

"Deal."