Him & His Muslimah

45

Zoya

Zoya rechecked the time on her wrist watch as she rushed into the lecture hall, panting for air. She almost didn't make it as there was a lot of traffic on the way but fortunately, she was exactly five minutes early. She hurried past the rows and smiled upon seeing her friend Kei waving her over, her pastel purple hair recognisable from miles away.

In the first semester, Kei Yamada was merely a friendly classmate but when the two girls were assigned a project together, they seemed to develop a stronger friendship. They were grouped together with two other guys who were both uncooperative. They had kept making excuses to slide their way out of work and even pushed Zoya to complete their part of the research until Kei had put her foot down and forced them to finish their part overnight.

With the project ending well with an A+, the two grabbed coffee together and stuck close throughout their classes.

"I heard somebody got married over the break," Kei teased with mischievous eyes and her high-pitched voice squeakier than usual as the flustered Zoya set her belongings on the table. Zoya turned to her animated friend. "I did invite you, you just didn't show up," she playfully rolled her eyes.

Kei nudged her apologetically, "My family spontaneously visited Japan to see my grandmother during that time! Even begging my dad didn't make him surrender," she explained and then shrugged. "Anyways, how does it feel to be a mrs? From the pictures you sent, I can tell he's crazy in love with you!"

The mention of her husband caused an embarrassing smile to uplift her lips as she recalled the events from earlier this morning. Zaib had been so sweetly, preparing all the things she needed for the day. Even in the car, he had reminded her numerous times to keep her ringtone on and text him when she could.

"He's... great. I couldn't ask for anyone better." Every time she was asked this question, her brain fessed up a five hundred words essay to answer but she realized that would not be smooth enough and could only muster up synonyms of all good words from her vocabulary.

"Oh, look at you! You're getting all fluttery just thinking about him." Kei giggled at Zoya's starry-eyed frame. "By the way, you're so lucky he took you to Switzerland. I've always wanted to go there."

"My great grandparents were Swiss." A voice called out from behind and the two ladies turned their heads to get a look. It was Evan, the brunette genius with dimples setting down his books and pulling up a chair next to Zoya.

"Hi, Evan." Kei's liveliness died down a bit at the sight of the dimpled man.

Kei disliked him as he was her number one competitor in their class. They had been bumping heads since the first day when they both volunteered for extra work but their professor had unapologetically chosen Evan.

"Hey Kei," he addressed her rather coldly and then turned his attention to Zoya. "Hey Zoya, haven't seen you in a while. Hope you're doing well." He grinned at her, his dimples deeper than the ocean. "Likewise," she responded, shifting her position a bit as he was too close for her liking.

Evan, however, didn't notice and stayed settled, opening his newly bought notebook. Kei just rolled her eyes at his obliviousness and pulled Zoya away. "Good morning!" The professor's voice vertebrated across the hall.

The lecture officially started with a rough rundown of the syllabus.

---->>

"I feel so bad for you Zoya. You got paired with Evan for the research. Watch him complete the whole thing without you and even volunteer to present it." Kei shook her head while patting her friend on the back, expressing her condolences. The girls manoeuvred their way through the crowd to get to the main entrance.