The next day, the rumors were gone. It was as if they had never existed, like a storm that had passed and left clear skies behind. Everything seemed normal again—no whispers, no sideways glances. It was just me and Nadira, the way things had always been. We were close again, and for a while, it felt like nothing had changed.
But even though things looked the same on the outside, I was still carrying those feelings inside me, the ones I could never quite express. Nadira's seat was right in front of mine, and sometimes I caught myself just staring at her back, wondering how she didn't know—how she couldn't feel the weight of everything I wanted to say.
I couldn't bring myself to tell her. Not yet.
But I tried to get closer in small ways. When no one was looking, I would place my hand by the side of her chair, right next to the wall, just close enough to feel like I was making some kind of contact. It was subtle, and I knew no one could see me—just a quiet, private gesture between us. I wanted her to notice, to feel that I was reaching out in the only way I could.
Sometimes she didn't notice. Other times, I wondered if she was ignoring me on purpose. Maybe she could sense what I was trying to do, but chose not to respond. I didn't know. But I kept trying. Day after day, I'd place my hand beside her chair, hoping for some kind of reaction, but unsure if it would ever come.
I knew she was probably more aware of her body than I was. As a girl, her space was more sensitive, and I didn't want to push her boundaries. But in my small, quiet way, I kept trying, just waiting for her to acknowledge it.
And then, one day, something changed.
She moved her hand toward mine. It was subtle—just a small shift, but enough for me to notice. She wanted me to hold her hand. There was no doubt in my mind anymore. It was the smallest of gestures, but it meant the world to me. No one else could see us because of how our seats were placed, right by the wall, tucked away from everyone else's view. It was a moment that belonged only to us.
For a second, it felt like everything I had been hoping for was finally happening. We didn't have to say a word. We didn't need anyone to know. That quiet connection was all that mattered.
But then, just as quickly as it began, it was interrupted.
A new student had joined our class—a newbie who walked in just as Nadira and I were finally finding that small moment of connection. The moment was gone, and we pulled away as if nothing had happened. My hand retreated back to my desk, and we went back to our usual routine, as though nothing had changed.
But in that brief second, everything had.
Her name was Rahim Samira. She was the newbie who interrupted that quiet moment between me and Nadira. From the very beginning, something about her didn't sit right with me. She was a bit too forward for someone who had just joined the class, and while everyone else seemed to like her, I couldn't shake the feeling that she didn't belong.
One day, I spoke to one of my imaginary friends—the other me, the one I called Amir. He was always there when I needed to talk things out, especially when I wasn't sure how to feel about something.
"I don't like her. Do you?" I asked him.
"If you don't, then same here," he replied, always siding with me when it mattered most.
But it seemed like I was the only one who saw Samira that way. Everyone else in class liked her. They liked her energy, her vibe. She quickly became friends with just about everyone, blending in as if she had been there all along. Everyone except me.
I wasn't interested in getting close to her. I had this unspoken rule—I was always the last person a new student talked to. It wasn't anything personal, I just didn't like jumping into friendships too fast, especially with people I didn't know. And in Samira's case, it was more than that. She had interrupted something important between me and Nadira, something I hadn't yet figured out how to express. I couldn't let that go easily.
As time passed, it became clear that she didn't care much for me either. She gave me the same cold attitude I was giving her. I could tell by the way she looked at me, the way she never tried to engage with me the way she did with the others.
It wasn't long before she heard what the rest of the class was saying—that Nadira and I were a couple. Even though we weren't one yet, that didn't stop the rumors. People had been calling us a couple for a while now, and I didn't mind it. Maybe a part of me even liked it, the idea that others saw the connection between us, even if we hadn't made it official.
But Samira? She didn't like it. Not one bit.
She started making comments, little remarks about how I was "always about Nadira and no one else." At first, I tried to ignore it, but it became clear that it bothered her. It was almost like she couldn't understand why I wasn't interested in her, why I wasn't giving her the same attention I gave to Nadira.
And honestly? I didn't care.
Samira could be pissed all she wanted, but my focus was on Nadira. I wasn't going to waste my energy on someone who had interrupted the one person who mattered most to me. But even as I brushed it off, I couldn't help but feel the shift in the classroom. Everyone else seemed to like Samira, and her presence was changing the dynamic. She was always the center of attention, always pulling people in with her loud laughter and confident attitude. And me? I stayed on the sidelines, watching as she grew more comfortable in her role as the new star of the class.
It wasn't that I was jealous. No, that wasn't it at all. It was more that I didn't trust her. I didn't like how quickly she became everyone's friend, how easily she seemed to fit in. There was something about her that didn't sit right with me, and I couldn't shake the feeling that she had disrupted something between me and Nadira—something that had taken me so long to build.
The class still called me and Nadira a couple, and that only seemed to fuel Samira's irritation. It was like the more she heard about it, the more distant she became from me, as if the idea that I cared about Nadira and not her was something she couldn't stand.
But again, I didn't care. As long as Nadira and I were close, as long as we had our connection, I could handle whatever Samira threw my way. There were moments, though, when I wondered what Samira's problem really was. Was it because she felt excluded, or was there something deeper going on? I didn't want to think too much about it, but her attitude toward me never seemed to fade.
I had to remind myself of what mattered most—Nadira. She was the one I was focused on. She was the reason I showed up every day, the reason I kept trying to reach out, even when things didn't go as planned.
Samira might have been the newbie, the loud voice in the room, but Nadira was still the quiet constant in my life. And for now, that was all I needed.
As the days went on and my life kept going the same way and trust me I never actually regretted the day I actually met Nadira, she's made my life so much fun and everyday seemed to have moved faster with her and I always wished time could move slower when we had a little bit of togetherness. My birthday was moving very close and she had been asking what the day would be like, actually the whole class was asking that, I was a very reputable guy in the class and the school as a whole as well, they'll ask; yo Amir, where are we going to celebrate that birthday of yours?, I don't know maybe at the school's cafeteria, I'll reply. As one of the top creative writer of the class, not even one, I was the top creative writer of the class then, I wrote short stories enough to fill dozens of books, I sold them to some of my friends who wanted to keep them, there was little income but didn't last long because I couldn't keep up and I had a lot going on in my head.
The day arrived, my birthday was here and things didn't go as planned for me that day. I got lots and loads of blessings from my parents, it was another day for me to celebrate my existence and starting from home it went well and it was outburst of fun when I got to school. My friends wished me a happy birthday and some of them came along with gifts and some just wished me and that was they could but I was only expecting one more birthday wish, the wish that could surpass that of my parents, Nadira, it seemed there was traffic on their way to school and that might have delayed them, I knew she would wish me today and I was very eager for to come and do so, one of the inner friends told me, yo uce, you gotta calm down. if she's gonna come, man she's gonna wish you and if she wishes you you gonna do what in return, I don't know, Amir look here uce, we here, we not the ones, you both are, no one can come between you two and I'm sick of watching you guys smooching around without your first kiss, Jey, we're not a thing yet, oh I see that, yo guys, you heard Amir, he says Nadira and him aren't a thing yet, yet, when are you gonna be a thing man, I'm gonna let you on something, if you don't grab her by her waist, I can by the atmosphere of this school, uce, you'll lose her, Jey, I understand you uce but I have to take this nice and easy man, she's my first desire, you can also tell she's into me and I don't know why she's holding back, I wanna respect that, alright uce, if that's the reason why, I gat you.
The door to the classroom opened ajar and there she was, Nadira, with her beautiful smile just as always, her face glowed and that seemed more like a daily routine to me. Happy birthday Amir, thank you and good morning, morning Amir. That short conversation ignited a spark in me that i've never felt and I loved it. My day was going very well and it was fun, Nadira then sent Rashid to me to ask what I wanted for my birthday, I laughed but made sure no one heard then I told him; you know I love writing stories and it has become a part of me, so just find me somewhere I can publish my stories, that's what I want for my birthday, he went back to her and told her what I said and as expected she said she can't do that, I knew she was never going to agree to that because it's far way beyond her power, I didn't want any other gift from her and her wishing was definitely enough for the day but something else was starting to come up after my birthday which was building a rift between us and I didn't want that so did she.