Zaria

I don't even know how the time passed by and it's already my appi's Nikah (Nikah means marriage) today. Alhamdulillah after Zayan bhaiya's accident that stalker didn't sent me any message. Maybe Allah listened to my prayers for which I'm grateful. But still I'm afraid, I was avoiding bhai these days which didn’t go unnoticed by him. Bhaiya asked me if he did anything wrong and I didn’t said anything. He is upset because of this, I know it. But I'm doing this for his safety.

I won't let anyone ruin my day today. After all my sister won't get married everyday so I need to enjoy while I can. I was attending all the guests, now I have to do it since appi is the bride and she is on stage. After talking to my khala (Mother's sister) I turned around only to get shocked when I saw my professor Safia ma'am in front of me. She is also shocked to see me. “Assalamu Alaikum ma'am.” I greeted her. “Walaikum Assalam Zaria. What are you doing here?” She asked me. “The bride is my older sister.” She seemed surprised, I mean obviously she will be surprised. “I'm from Zayan's side. His mom is my childhood friend.” She said after noticing my confusion. “MashaAllah! You are looking so pretty.” She complimented me making my smile widen. She is the first one to compliment me today.

We were talking with each other when a guy approached aunty, “Maa I was look-” That guy stopped speaking as soon as his eyes fell on me. I looked at him back for a while then looked away. Why did he stopped talking when his eyes fell on me? Is something wrong with me? I can't tell what he is thinking cause he looked expressionless. His eyes looked so cold that it scared me. He was looking at me like I did something wrong. But why? I don't even know him.

“What do you need, Aaran?” Safia ma'am asked breaking the silence which this guy Aaran created. “I was looking for you. I told you to sit and not move from your place but you didn’t listen to me.” Aaran said in an angry tone. Safia ma'am is probably sick that's why he is being like this. If my maa was sick and she was roaming here and there, I would also get angry. “I'm fine. Don't worry so much.” I looked at him again only to find him still staring at me. What is wrong with this guy? Can't he avert his gaze from me? “Aaran stop scaring the poor child.” Safia ma'am scolded him. I'm not afraid! Maybe I am. The way he is looking at me is making me nervous. “Why do you care if she is scared?” Okay, this guy is now getting on my nerves. There are guests everywhere that's why I'm not starting a fight with him. “Don't be rude. She is my student, Zaria and Zaria, meet my son Aaran.” Oh so he is her son. He doesn’t look like her son by his attitude. Ma'am is a kind soul however this guy seems arrogant to me. Though I shouldn’t judge anyone like this without knowing them properly.

Since Safia ma'am introduced us I should say something otherwise it would be rude of me. I don't care about this guy but I care about ma'am. “Assalamu Alaikum.” Silence... I was right he is arrogant. “Walaikum Assalam.” He only greeted me back after ma'am had hit him on his arm. “Aunty you already met Zaria?” Zayan bhaiya asked as he approached us. Safia ma'am told him everything that how she knows me. “You never told me that Zehra's younger sister study in my university.” Zayan bhaiya was scratching his neck nervously, “It slipped from my mind. But now you two met na? So it's okay.” Ma'am nodded her head then turned her attention towards me. “Outside university if we meet call me aunty okay?” I nodded my head with a smile on my face. “Aaran, how are you?” Zayan bhaiya asked that arrogant guy. “Fine.” Can I slap him? I mean he can answer politely but no he have to be arrogant.

Baba is calling me so I excused myself going towards baba, attending other guests. I enjoyed a lot! I took many pictures, talked and enjoyed with my cousins. I was standing near the stage taking appi's picture when I felt like someone is staring at me. So I turned around to see that Aaran guy is staring me. But something is weird. His eyes looks different now. Just by looking at him I'm getting a different vibe fron him like he is another person. Weird right? I must have lost my mind. “He is my other son, Asael.” I didn’t even realized when Safia ma- I mean aunty came beside me.

I'm so confused! Asael? Other son? Did aunty lost her mind or me? Isn't Aaran her son's name? Then again Asael? He looks exactly like Aaran. “Asael and Aaran are twin brothers. That’s why they look alike.” I kept staring at her dumbfounded. Aunty started laughing. “Sorry you are looking so funny right now that I couldn’t stop myself from laughing.” I'm feeling embarrassed. I made a fool of myself. Didn't I? “It's okay. Often people get confused like you.” Safia aunty spoke after she stopped laughing. “That's why I felt like he is a different person. Their vibe is different which anyone can tell by looking in their eyes.” Aunty looked at me surprised. Now what? Did I said something stupid again? “You are the first one to say this, Zaria. Besides me, their baba and their best friends no one can tell a difference about them not even their cousins. They all get confused that who is who.” Now it was my turn to be surprised. Wow I have a new talent of knowing the difference between these two twin brothers. “Come let me introduce you to him.” Should I go? I can't refuse her though. So I went with her now standing in front of Asael. 

Asael stood up as soon as he saw aunty approaching him. “She is the student I told you about.” Aunty told him about me? Why? Also is that why he was staring at me? I looked up at him. He is so tall. I only reach till his chest. Why guys are so tall? Why Allah didn’t make girls tall too? That's unfair. “He saw me talking to you earlier and asked who you are, that's when I told him about you.” Aunty said making me snap back to reality.

I looked away from him. I shouldn’t look at a non-mehram guy for too long. “Assalamu Alaikum.” Whoaa his voice is so deep, so sex- Astagfirullah! What was I about to say. “Walaikum Assalam.” At least Asael is nice. He greeted me first. He seems like aunty's son. I mean I don't know if he is kind and cheerful like aunty but he is at least polite unlike that Aaran guy. “Maa can't we leave now?” Speaking about him and he appeared. Again he was staring at me. I could feel it. Ya Allah make this man look away, please. He is making me feel uncomfortable.

“It's disrespectful to stare at a girl like this. Look away right now. You are making her feel uncomfortable.” Asael said coldly. My respect for Asael increased. He is not that bad. “I'm sorry on behalf of my son, Zaria.” I shook my head, aunty shouldn’t apologize. He should be the one apologizing to me. “It's okay. I should go baba or maa might need me.” I lied to get away from there.

Appi is leaving now. Baba and maa is crying so badly even me. I hugged her tightly. “Promise me you will come to visit us.” Appi nodded her head. “Don't hurt my appi or else I will hit you.” I told Zayan bhaiya while glaring at him with my teary eyes. “Okay little monster you can hit me if I ever hurt your dear appi.” I hugged appi one last time before she got in the car. I wiped my tears now handling my maa who is still crying. Baba calmed down already. “Stop crying, Nazeera.” Baba told maa trying to calm her down. After maa calmed down we left the wedding venue and left for our home. It was a long day. I'm tired now. I just want to change my clothes then sleep. Alhamdulillah everything went well. May Allah keep my appi happy always, Ameen.

I put my phone on charge which was dead as I took lots of pictures. I will see the pictures tomorrow morning. With that thought I laid down on our bed. Our bed- now it's not our bed. Appi won't stay with me. No one will calm me down if I feel scared after watching a horror movie. I won't be able to fight with her daily. She won't nag me because I read books all day. These thoughts were making me feel sad. I never thought I will miss my appi this badly after she leaves. I won't tell maa to stay with me at night even if I feel scared. Only appi used to understand me well. ‘That's because you never share anything to anyone other than your appi and Arin.’ My subconscious mind mocked me. It's true, I can't blame my maa for not understanding me when I don't tell her anything even though appi used to share everything with maa. I was different since I was a kid. I felt like I disturb maa whenever I tell her about my problems. And no my maa never scolded me. She always try to help me. It's just me who doesn’t want anyone’s help not even my maa or baba. With these thoughts running in my mind, I fell asleep unaware of what's waiting for me in the future.

___________________________________________

Zaria's Outfit For Nikah