Sidra was mumbling all around the house with her notes in her hand. Today was her first final exam of her final semester.

“Sidra! Beta naastha krlo aaram se. Phir revise kr lena.”

She heard her ammi call her and she nodded absentmindedly while walking towards the dining table still mumbling.

She bumped into a hard body and rubbed her nose.

“Dekh kr chalo!”

“Ji sorry!”

The man scared her. He was almost a foot over her and that forever etched glare on his face intimidated the hell out of her.

She had her foot while still muttering what all she had learned.

“Sidra! Gudiya rakho isse side aur naastha kro pehle.”

“Ji abbu bas-”

“Nhi! Ab hum kuch nhi sunenge. Bhut taiyaari ho gyi. Sab achha hoga. Ghabrao mat itna.”

She smiled and nodded. Just then Zeeshan also joined and sat on the empty chair beside her. She squirmed and looked at him through the corner of her eye.

Why was he so serious all the time? Would it lessen his height to smile a little? Maybe! She shrugged and refocused on her food.

Taking blessing from her ammi and abbu, she moved out of the house followed by Zeeshan.

They sat in the car and he drove towards her college. All throughout the drive, her leg kept bouncing due to nervousness. Zeeshan noticed but didn't comment.

He stopped the car in front of her college and she stepped out muttering an ‘Allah hafiz!’

“Ruko!”

He called and she turned, giving him a confused frown.

“Idhar aao!”

Scrunching her nose in confusion she walked closer towards his side. 

“Ji?”

“Ghabrana mat. Aur apne paper mai dhyan dena. Koi zaurat nhi hai jyada maseehah banne ki aur dusron ki madad krne ki. Jaao ab.”

Sidra blinked and then nodded, walking away. When she saw his car drive away, she twisted her lips in annoyance.

“Ghabrana mat! Koi zarurat nhi hai maseehah banne ki. Jaao! Huh! Thoda pyaar se nhi bola jaata kya inse? Insaan kisi ko motivate toh dhang se krde. Par nhi! Inki akad kam nhi honi chahiye! Sadu kahi ke!”

She cursed him and then looked at the time rushing inside the building.

Her exam went well. She was so thankful it was over because this was the most difficult paper. But she had to study for the rest of the exams also.

She was in her room studying for the next exam when she heard a knock. She made sure that her apperance was decent because she looked homeless when she studied and then allowed the person in.

And entered the person she had least expected at that time. Zeeshan. He had that ever persistent serious look on his face.

“Exam kaise tha?”

“Ji achha hua.”

“Hmm. Agla exam parso hai na?”

“Ji.”

“Good! Padho!”

And with that he left. Sidra sat there staring at the door. She then twisted her lips in annoyance.

“Padho! Huh! Kabhi toh pyaar se baat ke le insaan.”

Her rolled her eyes but then smiled softly when her gaze fell on one of the photo frames kept on her table.

The two people she called her parents for the first 5 years of her life. The parents that life snatched from her in that tender age.

She was very young and doesn't remember the events properly but from what her ammi and abbu had told her, her parents and Zeeshan’s chachu, i.e., her abbu’s younger brother were involved in an accident resulting in their deaths on the spot.

She had no memory of the accident, because well, she wasn't in the car when it happened. She was at school. 

She did remember the moment she had entered this house for the first time. Merely 5 years of age, scared and shaking because of seeing so many strangers. Being told that she had to now live with them because her ammi and abbu were not in the world anymore.

It didn't take her time to gel up to her Anabia ammi and Shakil abbu. They were the sweetest persons in the world. They never officially adopted her but cared for and loved her like a real parent would.

The only person indifferent to her in the home was Zeeshan. He was 15 when she entered their home for the first time. With an age gap of 10 years, they never really had much communication apart from work or birthdays.

She sometimes felt like there was something he was hiding. Maybe the trauma. She had heard that Zeeshan was in the car with her chachu when the accident happened that took his life. She had heard that people got silent after traumas like that.

Maybe it was that. Or maybe something else.

Sidra had come down to refill her water bottle and take a break from continuous studying when her ammi stopped her.

“Aakhri exam kab hai tumhara?”

“6 ko last hai ammi.”

Sidra replied and took a big gulp of water. Her throat was parched because of all the studying.

“Achha! Toh uske baad kya socha hai? Job wagerah krni hai ya aage aur padhna hai?”

Sidra shook her head.

“Nhi! Aur nhi padhna mujhe. Aur job bhi thodi time mai. Abhi toh mai kuch mahino ka break lungi. Apply krke chhod dungi. Kahi bhut achhi jagah mil gyi toh thik nhi toh baad mai hi dekhungi.”

She replied and Anabia nodded.

“Toh phir rukhsati aur walima hi kra de? Ya wo hhi ruk kr krna hai? Abbu puchh rhe the.”

Sidra turned red at the mention of the events. How could she forget that she was married?

“J-jaisa aap aur abbu thik samjhe.”

“Arre! Isme hume kya krna hai? Ye toh tumhara aur tumhare shauhar ka decision hai na.”

“Toh aap unse hi baat krle. Wo jaisa kahenge thik hai.”

She had no clue why she was feeling so shy all of a sudden. Anabia chuckled and nodded.

“Achha thik hai. Baat krke batati hu tumhe. Padhlo aaram se.”

Sidra ran to her room at the first instance and bit her lip in shyness. Soon, she would graduate and would be married off. She was already married but wasn't living with her husband. Things would be different after her rukhsati.