Dedicated to all my readers for their patience :)

Cute new cover by tinyasianempress

•••

The inter-college dance competition was tomorrow. I still hadn't decided whether to go or not. Deep inside, I was yearning so badly to go and watch Shaym's performance. I had heard from Talha that their dance was eminently extraordinary.

I wish to see it myself.

For the past few days, he had been sending me their dance rehearsal video on Snapchat from a distance so that Shaym would not have any suspicions. Most of their practices were from the hostel so, Talha was able to watch them, and as a good obedient boy, he always managed to sent me Snaps without any impediment.

The dance competition was going to held at another college, which was a two-hour journey from my house. I was ninety per cent certain that Baba and Mmaa won't allow me to go there to watch the program. Nonetheless, I thought to ask and convince them. It was always better to ask and try than regretting later for not asking. The answer may be yes or no.

Therefore, we should always try our best as we don't know if luck is on our side.

As this was a huge competition, those who were expert and highly talented in this field were enrolled to participate. A trained and experienced choreographer from outside was also appointed to teach the team.

Luckily, two boys from my class also got selected as they were dancing for competitions like this for years just like Shaym. They were also in his group, and that delighted me the most.

There was a group for female category also. Many girls from other departments were also participating, and few of them were from my class in the group. They specifically requested us to attend the program to cheer them, and they wanted some of us as helping hands in make-up and dressing.

So, I really need to attend this dance competition. Right?

I strolled towards my parent's room and begun by affirming the mandatory dialogue, "My classmates are performing, and everyone from college is going to watch their performance. Please, can I also go with them?"

The program was the next day, and here I was asking the permission the night before the program. This act explains how undedicated I was for the program. My parent's, was not convinced of my pleads as I was asking them at the last moment. And as I predicted, they didn't allow me to go. Feeling anguish, I stomped to my room and decided to ask again in the morning.

As I wanted to ask the permission again, I got up early, went near my father and sprang my pleads. After ampere-hours of begging for consent to let me go, Baba was ultimately convinced and permitted me to go on one condition.

"Don't be late. Try to reach as early as possible and don't roam around much." I hastily dressed in my beige coloured abaya and proceeded towards the bus stop.

For the first time in this entire year, I reached on time for an event. I saw Fathima and Talha, with some other friends from my college, waving hands at me. They had arrived a few minutes ago and were eating hot samosas and slurping tea from the nearby food stall.

The rest of my friends were not coming as they all were extremely lazy to stir up early in the weekend and to travel a two-hour-long trip.

Salma informed me that she would be coming along with her college friends and would join me over campus where the competition was taking place. Just like me, Salma was likewise pretty thrilled to watch the dance performance as it was the first time she was going to see Mr Cute, face to face. She only had seen his photo and never got a chance to see him as she was in another college. However, luckily today, she was getting a chance to see him.

The two-hour bus ride was not as tedious and dawdling as I thought it would be. The reason was, I sat with Talha, and we were talking non-stop, eating cramped snacks like Lays and chocolates in between as he easily gets hungry. I merely urged one question about Shaym, and he began telling me about all the good qualities, how good his behaviour was, during the whole journey.

And, this was why I didn't get bored.

The bus came to a halt abruptly, and I glanced at my watch to check the time. It was 10:00 AM sharp, and we were glad to be on time at the college. Our friends had informed us that their dance program would commence at ten in the morning.

Since it was a big competition, there were unusually diverse categories of dance, which would be held on different stages. To know where Mr Cute's stage among the many scaffolds was, I requested Talha to call Basil and inquire about it. It was undoubtedly a relief that two of my friends were also performing in the same group as Mr Cute so, it was easy for me to get updates about the dance.

After calling, they apprised us that they were in the dressing room and stated that there was a delay in the program schedule. Hence, the dance would not be starting anytime soon.

The campus was huge and had an old touch in the infrastructure. The walls and classes were painted, decorated with posters of different college name. It was a way of cheering for your college, hanging the poster and the spray paintings on every corner.

Every corner had various food stalls in and around the campus, so we all thought to kill time by eating and drinking something. It was nearly summer, and fresh watermelon juice was famous in this season. We all ordered our juice and sat nearby the stall as Talha declared that it would be his treat.

The juice stall was very crowded as every student standing in the queue were thirsty due to the extreme heat from the sun. Even though we got a seat in this crowd, it felt like we were sunbathing, ready to grill our body under the sun.

Barely half an hour passed, we peculiarly had nothing to do in this extra gargantuan college, therefore after an endless session of debating on, want we should do, we came to a resolution to explore the college.

I was glad that we decided to explore the college as the college was vast than we thought, and when we wandered further, we came across a forest-like pathway. The route looked creepy, and no one was there near the forest area.

"Let's be adventurous and trek through the forest!" We all declared in hysteria.

We hiked for half-an-hour, and abruptly, my phone started ringing. I glanced at the screen and saw it was Baba.

Why is Baba calling me?

But what scared me was he never used to call me whenever I was out with my friends. I got astonished and stared at my phone pondering on whether I should attend the call or not.

"Should I attend the call? He never calls me like this." I spoke to my friends.

"Answer the call Naiza. It won't be anything serious. If you don't answer, then he will suspect that something is off," Talha replied.

I instantly answered the call before it would end. But surprising me, it was my Mma.

"Did you forget that your uncle is going to Dubai today evening? Don't you want to see him before leaving? So, come back now itself," Mma declared.

What?! Do I need to return home now?

"But Mmaa, the program hasn't started yet," I gloomily replied.

"Why did you even go there in the first place? Come here as soon as possible," Mma sternly declared.

I plainly said, "A-okay" and ended the call.

"What happened Naiza?" Talha and Fathima asked in unison. I explained to them what the matter was about, but the problem was, I didn't know whether I should go now or not. I was struggling for a decision, and Mma too never asked me to come back like this from a program. As this was the first time, I was grappling within myself.

"We have already come this far, so let's watch their performance and go as soon as it ends," Talha spoke to which I sighed nodding.

After one hour, Salma reached along with her friend. The girl's group dance was going to start, and even Salma's college girls were participating in this category. Literally, both of our college's were competing with each other. However, there was no rivalry between us, and we wished the best and deserved one should win.

Considering a team had ten minutes to perform, the program was getting a bit late. The time was now half-past two. I felt a vibration from my bag, betokening a call. The call was from mom, and she ordered me to come immediately without wasting any more time. I assured telling her that I would come, as soon as possible, and I ended the call.

Should I go back? Will his dance start anytime soon?

After a little while, Talha got a call from Basil and informed that their dance performance would be next after four more contestants. The chest number they got was ten. The fun part was, they were not calling the contestants in order. The program had a total of twenty-five plus contestants, and amidst the total number of teams, their team was the last one to perform.

Indeed, the best performances should be last. Also, everyone was eager to watch their dance.

Without wasting a second, we spontaneously ran to the allotted stage where their dance was going to take place. It was not exactly an open stage; it was a stage inside a colossal classroom. The room was extremely congested and packed with students. Heeding the sight in front of us, we assumed that none of us would be able to enter inside the room. Additionally, the crowded room was brimming with countless boys.

We were here to watch the boy's group dance so, of course, the place would be occupied by more extra boys than girls, and that's an irony.

Along with Salma and Fathima, we squeezed our way through and somehow entered the room. Pushing some people and excusing ourselves in the crowd didn't matter to me at that time. My only aim was to anyhow reach near the stage.

Gladly we stood in the back of the hall. However, I was not even able to see the stage accurately. The reason was because of the boys who were standing in front of us, blocking our vision. Nevertheless, we decided to stay in the back and watch as there was still time for Shaym's team to come. We stood watching two group's dance and one amidst that dance was amazingly sumptuous except the ending part as one boy tripped. If that boy didn't have tripped, we were damn sure that they would be receiving the first prize. Furthermore, we can't predict who may win as everything is unexpected and in the hands of the judges.

Shortly, after one of the team's dance was over, people who sat on the last bench got up and left. Fathima and I hastily ran and sat on the seat before anyone else snatches away the place. But being short, I was still not able to see the stage clearly. Only half of the portion was visible to me.

Urgh! Now, what will I do? I want to watch his performance.

The anchor announced chest number ten which was our college team. Out of nowhere, all of Shaym's friends appeared near the stage, occupied themselves, holding their phone to capture pictures and videos. They all were standing near the side of the stage. It was easy for boys to get a perfect spot in the crowds by pushing away other people.

I stood up from my seat as I was getting agitated.

I'm not going to watch his dance sitting like this, seeing only half. I firmly declared.

As soon as I got up, three girls from the Zoology Department who were from my college rushed from behind. They shortly took my seat, giggling to each other as if they accomplished something, big. I noticed that two among them were remarkably felicitous when they got a seat, took out their phone and was now ready to take the video of the performance. The excitement and eagerness to watch the dance were quite evident from their grimace.

Ohhh, now I get it! One among them is the one who sent that Sarahah message to Mr Cute and said she would come and watch his program.

I took out my phone and gave it to one of the girls to take the video, but she told me she would not take it. How rude.

Talha came from the back, stood on top of the desk in the corner. It was where most of the boys stood. Woah, standing there, I could watch his dance clearly without any hindrance. Without any shame, I also climbed on top of the desk and stood near to Talha. All the boys who were on the desk were shocked to see me, a girl standing on top of the desk along with other unknown boys. Meanwhile, Fathima and Salma were still hunkering on the bench. Salma also wanted to stand with me, but there was no space for her.

The dance started, and amidst the ten members dancing on the stage, Mr Cute's posture and face were the only one which was visible to me. All others were practically invisible. He had a rude stance, sort of serious expression on his face. His dance moves were exceptionally keen and on point. The audience was cheering and screaming while watching the dance. Even though he completely concentrated on his dance moves with aggressive expression, it still was an inclination to the dance.

The dance was reputably mesmerising, pleasing our eyes as all of their steps were unquestionably incredible. It was more than prodigious, more than outstanding, more than bizarre and anything you could describe by witnessing the performance. As their team was the last one to perform, the results would be out soon.

As soon as the dance ended, I along with, Salma hastened outside the room to go home. The time was already four in the evening, and I had to reach back soon. Fathima and Talha stated that they would go home later with other students from our college.

I wanted to see Shaym one last time before leaving just, to see his sparkling face if he wins. But, I had no other choice than to leave.

When we were nearing to the entrance gate, Salma stated that she had to meet some of her friends and say to them her goodbye. She then began talking with all of them, completely forgetting that I had to reach home early as possible or else Mmaa was going to kill me.

All at once, I heard a howling shriek noise from upstairs. I guess some team won the dance. Within no time, I got an incoming call from Talha.

"Naizaa, Shaym's team got first prize!!!" Woooahhh. My lips curved to a wide smile as I got overjoyed. Momentarily, I felt like staying here as I wanted to see him and maybe congratulate him, but I knew it was not possible.

After Salma's endless selfies with her college friends, she came and announced, "Okay, Naiza, let's leave."

We were soon out of college and marched towards the bus stop. Whilst in our scramble walk, Salma got a call, and when she answered it, her expression changed to despair.

"What happened? Everything alright?" I inquired worriedly.

"One of my friend, who performed in the dance, fainted and is in the dressing room. I need to meet her now, and I'll come back quickly," She stated, and we strolled towards the big five-story building outside the college. It was the place which was allotted to students as their dressing room.

I stood outside as I didn't have a reason to invade that huge building, and Salma went inside. Precisely after a few seconds, she came back running.

"Naizaa, Mr Cute is inside!" Stating this, she dragged me inside the building, which was brimmed with long stairs, but he was nowhere seen.

"I think he left," saying this, I marched outside and stood there like before.

The next second, I received a call from Salma, "Naizaa, come here inside! Mr Cute is upstairs!" she squealed. Without ending the call I sprang ascending the stairs. As it was a five-level, square building with stairs, we could see the opposite side of the floor whilst climbing.

I climbed the stairs quite rapidly, and as soon as I reached the first floor, I literally screamed and asked Salma on the phone, accidentally looking up, "WHERE!?"

On the third floor, Mr Cute stood alone, gripping his phone to his ears and talking to someone. The scene seemed like I asked the question to him rather than to Salma. Because I directly stared at his face whilst asking the question on my phone.

Our eyes locked at that moment, as I was directly staring at him. It was the first time ever we peered at each other's eyes. I stood there like a statue, the phone still in my ears, tongue-tied and tried hard to keep a normal expression.

The next second, he smiled glancing at me. Out of nowhere, he beamed so widely, his cheeks swirled into curves and eyes became small. He still was holding his phone on his ear. The smile was quite different than the last time. This was a smile which relinquished his eyes and his grimace was gleaming because of the smirk. I tried hard not to melt or blush and slightly smiled back.

That's when I noticed Salma was standing yonder on the left side of Mr Cute and was now grinning like an idiot. Woah, perfect! Now, he may have heard her saying that he is here and me asking her 'where?'

I briskly climbed the second floor, and without looking to the opposite direction, I surmounted to the next floor where Salma was waiting for me. The time when I reached there, he was already gone.

I ran to Sama and screeched, "Yay! he smiled at me! He smiled so widely!"

"Yeah, I know girl! I saw it. Say thanks to me as it was because of me," Salma stated, and I thanked her a thousand times.

We soon got on the bus and took our seats. I promptly took out my phone, opened the WhatsApp group and typed the message, "He smiled at me!"

I locked my phone and glanced at Salma as she informed me before getting on the bus that she wanted to tell something.

"What is that you wanted to tell?"

"Actually, Naizaa, There's a problem. I did something stupid," she confessed, and I asked her what was the matter.

"When I reached the third floor, Mr Cute was washing his face near a small tap outside the room. I got excited as soon as I saw him and without my knowledge, I immediately screamed 'Naizaaa' while looking at him. Soon, he stopped washing his face and stared back at me," she remarked whilst grinning.

"What?! I'm so dead now! And you are smiling!" Being appalled would be an understatement.

"So what, he smiled at you, right? That's what matters," Salma replied and again smirked.

Huh, now, how will I face him?

•••

To my luck, Mmaa didn't scold me for reaching late. I reached exactly, one minute before Maghrib azaan (call to prayer). When I opened WhatsApp, I came to know that the girl's team from our college also won first prize for their dance. So, I thought to upload a story of both the team as they won and hoped that maybe, Shaym would reply to it. Both of the team's picture was already on my phone, and I decided to upload it instantly.

First, I unwittingly uploaded Shaym's group photo with the caption "Congrats." Realising my stupidness, I deleted that and replaced the girls' group photo as my first story. Later, Shaym's group picture was added.

The time passed from one hour to two hours to three hours, and still, he didn't see my story. I got anxious as this never happened before as he always used to view my story within one hour.

I guess he is busy. I assured myself.

It was almost midnight when he uploaded a group picture in his story with the caption "Alhamdulillah." I thought to reply and say congrats, but then, I thought he would eventually see my Instagram story later and might reply with a 'thank you.'

Next day, at college, it was storytime. I elaborated and told the complete incidents to all of my friends. Due to my dramatic describing, they stated that they were able to picture the events in their eyes. I laughed at them and was proud on my way of describing scenarios.

But still, I was sad as he didn't see my story. I thought my story might have gone far away from his feed as I uploaded it a day ago. Therefore, I uploaded a selfie with Salma in my account again, thinking that he might see this time because of my new story as my name would come on his newsfeed.

He didn't come to college today and from Talha, I got to know that the reason was Shaym and his team were  tired after all those boisterous dance practices.

After I reached home, I again checked whether he saw or not, but disappointing me, he still didn't view any of my stories. I should have congratulated him when he uploaded the story yesterday, I wistfully pondered.

Did he really smile at me?

Or was it to the person on his phone?

Or was he smiling because he won the  competition?

Was he thinking something else and accidentally smiled at me?

I spend the rest of the night pondering on these things.

Assalamu Alaikum

Thank you so much for the 3.67k reads it really means a lot to me💕

I'm so sorry for updating after so many days. I just lost the will to write.

So I have a question,

There is 2 or 3 more chapters with Naiza's dramas So, should I write it or skip it? Am I lagging it?

Share your views and if you liked it pls do VOTE AND COMMENT

Lots of love💕
Thatabayagirl