As per the promise Tevy found The stranger out from the massive world of facebook. Though it took her some thirty days but she was proud of this research. Urooj was also surprised, and it was obvious for her to be shocked, according to her Tevy deserved a Nobel prize for this research because if someone had asked Urooj to find a boy from her street then she would come back empty handed but Tevy did it.

"Khizr. His name is khizr. Nice name na." Asked Tevy while reading the biodata present on the facebook page and Urooj nodded with a nervous smile. She wanted to shrug off the thought of Khizr but couldn't.

"Now, up to you girl." Urooj looked at Tevy on this command. Confused.

"What's up to me?" She shrugged and Tevy grimaced.

"Send him a Rakhi... Okay?" Urooj again looked confused.

"What? Rakhi? But..."

(Rakhi: a band that sisters tie on the wrist of their brothers.)

"Uff Urooj ufff... You're not innocent but Lallu (duffer)"

"Tevy, what am I supposed to do now? I got to know his name and little whereabouts what's now?"

Tevy smacked her forehead and groaned. "Kill me Urooj, just kill me! Have I done all these efforts to tell you his name? Lallu," Urooj blinked blankly. "Send him a friend request." Urooj gasped loudly.

"What? A friend request? No, I can't!" Urooj's heart felt fearful one more time. She still remembered her mother's lesson and the reason behind that lesson too. It was a boy who got a tight slap from Yasir to bother Urooj while he was only trying to befriend her. Yasir couldn't tolerate any boy after his sister.

"You won't send him a follow request, you won't talk to him, you won't hug him... So what will you do after finding him out? Will you see him closely? Or worship him?" Tevy grimaced, she was irritated to see a girl like Tevy in the modern era, this girl was living in the late 90's.

Urooj was silent, she really didn't know what she wanted to do after finding out that Ajnabi (stranger), but she was not going to hug him for sure... Not till the last breath of her life, she thought with determination and saw Tevy.

"May I ask you the reason behind your idiotic decision? Why won't you talk to him? Why won't you send him a friend request?" Tevy asked, a good amount of anger wanted to peep out from her tone however it was still hidden.

Urooj thought of the reason but there was only one reason in front of her. Good girls stay away from boys. And she told the reason to Tevy who laughed out loud.

"What the hell Urooj?" Tevy was still laughing and Urooj was feeling ashamed. The already under confident girl felt more nervous after becoming the subject of mockery.

"What's funny in this Tevy?" She managed to mutter and Tevy pushed away the multicolored hair strips from her face.

"You know what Urooj... You're an idiot." Tevy rolled her eyes and Urooj felt ashamed to be an idiot but in reality she was an innocent. A real innocent girl. "Your mom who gave this lesson is no more. Your brother is not watching you 24/7, Dude he won't even get to know about it. Whom are you afraid of?" Tevy's question was valid but for Urooj was afraid of circumstances. She came from a very conservative background where girls are easy target of the society. She had heard from childhood Log kya kahenge (what will people say)... And people's opinions were her biggest fear. Tevy couldn't understand it and She couldn't explain it.

"But Bhai is on facebook, what if he got to know that I'm sending a request to the boys?" Urooj found only one reason to put in front of Tevy.

"Hayy... Lallu Ram," Tevy rolled her eyes. "No one will get to know." Urooj blinked twice, her heart beat faster than normal, hands shivered and face turned pale. At the same time a few girls of Tevy's gang entered the room, they locked the door and they all pulled out their respective mobile phones which were hidden from the warden because mobile phones were not allowed in the hostel.

"What's going on?" Asked a girl to Tevy who laughed and informed all the others that Urooj didn't even have a facebook account moreover she was afraid of making one as her brother might got to know.

The very next moment Urooj was feeling ashamed of her simplicity.

"Make an account with fake name, your brother won't get to know anything." A girl suggested and Tevy gave her old mobile to Urooj for this work.

Urooj glanced at the mobile in her hand, her personal mobile phone, which was not even worthy to use Google search, was resting with the warden. It was the first time when she gathered the courage to follow the footmarks of Tevy. She was on the fence, on one side her timid and fearful heart was pounding fast with the thought of negative consequences but on the other side she was trying to get fitted in her new company. She was an odd one out among these girls, if she could be fitted with them by making a social media account and sending a friend request to khizr then what was harm in it?

For a moment the teenager eyes were twinkling with some beautiful and colourful dreams. A face was not leaving her alone. Every night when she slept someone knocked on the window of her dreamland and when she opened it he enters her heart without permission. His handsome face had a hint of cuteness which was enough for Urooj to forget that she was in Dehradun for study. She tried many times to forget the moment when they were too close to each other, his cold hand against the dry lips still shivered her but this shivering came with a different twinkling in my heart. She couldn't stop smiling at that feeling.

How could one be attracted to a stranger within a few minutes?

This boy came to her room as an intruder but left my room as a thief.

A thief who stole her pure heart, peace of mind and slumber of nights.

Urooj looked up, all the girls were laughing and gossiping, only she was an odd one out among them. She took a deep breath and decided to became like them a bit however she didn't want to make an account with any random name. It pained her to start a relationship, whether friendship or otherwise, with a false identity. She didn't want to abandon her true self just to connect with someone.

She was Urooj.
Urooj means Height...
Whatever reaches a height gains Shine like a Fortunate star...

A smile crawled to her lips.

There is a beautiful word of Arabic for Fortunate - Talia... And Shine means Zia.

A fortunate shiny star always resides at Urooj (height)...

Talia Zia- an inseparable part of Urooj.

With no second thought she made an account and looked at Tevy, she was busy snapping selfies with weird pouts and poses.

"Done. What now?" Urooj asked, all the girls looked at Urooj.

"Sent him a friend request?" Asked Tevy.

"Not yet." Urooj whispered and shook her head.

A girl from the group snatched the mobile phone from Urooj's hand, she sent a friend request to Khizr along with a message 'hello, how are you? Can we talk?'

Urooj was shocked. What was the need to sent this text?
"What will happen if he accepts my friend request? What will he think of me? You shouldn't send this message." Urooj asked nervously. She was scared. She couldn't unsent the message.

"Come on girl, take a chill pill. If he responds then good and if he won't then..." the girl took and pause and shrugged "Explore the world of facebook... There are many more interesting boys other than this, try to find out about them too." She winked at Urooj and her heart started drumming like insane. She wasn't on facebook to explore boys. Good girls stay away from boys.

Urooj ignored what Tevy's friend suggested and returned the mobile to Tevy. She already wasted a good amount of time for today, she should be making notes at this time.

"What?" Instead of grabbing the mobile Tevy asked. Confused.

"I'm returning your mobile."

"Keep it, now it's yours." Urooj blinked in disbelief. Was she really so rich to give away an expensive mobile to her roommate? But how could she take someone's favour? It was again her rules. She was already afraid of being indebted. Debts ends with death. She had witnessed her parents life after being indebted.

"Tevy, I don't keep others' belongings..." Urooj muttered and she looked at this simple girl. 

"Okay, so pay for it." Urooj gulped fearfully, she wasn't as rich as Tevy who got half of a lakh on just a phone call, Yasir sent her a small sum of money every month in which she hardly manage the expenses. "Let's make a deal. You have to give me all your notes. I'll copy your assignments for the next two years." Tevy put the offer and Urooj took a deep breath then thought for a few minutes.

Did she really need this mobile phone? She didn't know. But some part of her teenager heart was begging to see khizr again. And facebook was the only way for this.

"Deal" Urooj and Tevy shook hands. Tevy was happy, she was going to get free notes and assignments for the next two years but Urooj was disturbed.

She was restless. On one hand Khizr was making her crazy without even coming to her life on the other hand her morals were stopping her to go after a boy.

These tug of wars are never easy.

"Now, you both are partners." A girl from Tevy's gang announced. They all were grinning ear to ear but Urooj was faking a smile. This was the starting towards breaking the rules. And breaking rules for a disciplined girl could be a guilt ride.

Before they could talk further they heard footsteps in the corridor. Tevy pushed her mobile under the pillow in a hurry, copying her act Urooj covered her mobile with the blanket, so as the other girls and... at the same time the door of the room was opened the warden. If they was only a moment late then it was Urooj's doomsday. Ma'am Rajni, their warden, was no less than a jailer and the hostel was no less than a jail in her presence.

She was tall and heavy built lady with big eyes. Her wheatish face had a big red birthmark which covered the whole left cheek and neck. A whistle was always hanging from her neck just like a Sports Teacher and with every blow of whistle she could stop at least one heart of beat with the normal rhythm. When she glared at Urooj for the first time she felt like she wouldn't take the next breath ever.

Ma'am Rajni ran her eyes everywhere in the room then looked at the gang of devils and then Urooj keenly. Her hands shivered. Has she understood that now I also have a mobile phone?

Her breath hitched. Urooj followed the sharp gaze of warden which was fixed on her bed. Is my mobile visible under the blanket? Does she have x-ray vision? Or she used her sources?

Almost everyone in the hostel beleive that their warden had secret source who passed her news of hostel girls. No one knew who were those girls but the news always reach to her at correct time.

Unwillingly, Urooj remembered the night when khizr was in my room. This lady got to know about the boys and she caught one boy too but he was hidden in the washroom and didn't reveal the name of his girlfriend so no girl was suspended but the thing was... She was a dangerous lady.

"Tevy. In my office, right now." She glared at Tevy. "And you." Urooj's heart stopped to beat. It has been just ten minutes when she used the mobile phone in the hostel, how did she got to know? Her heart raced. She didn't want to get suspended. She didn't want to dishearten Yasir who was doing everything for her. The finger of warden still pointing out Urooj. Her eyes were about to pool up when she looked at her bed.

"Just look at the condition of your bed. Watch the position of your legs while sitting." She glared at Urooj. Her eyes dropped two tears. A messy bed? Just it?

Urooj sat down with cross legs, set the pillow at its correct place, collected the empty wrappers of snacks, and picked the books but didn't touch the blanket.

"You're a nice girl so behave like one!" She instructed strictly.

"Sorry Ma'am, I'll be careful now onwards." She lowered her gaze and wiped the tears. Her heart still racing.

"And you all... Back to your respective rooms. Fast." All the girls stood up but didn't move, of course waiting to collect their hidden mobile phones.

The warden glared at Tevy one more time, "Tevy... In my office within a minute." They all heard a bang of the door as the lady walked away while adjusting her reading glasses. Utooj took a deep breath and let it out while my hands covered her face. She could feel her heart beating against her ribs... She wanted to ask Tevy about the reason behind this anger of the warden but her condition wasn't allowing to do so.

"Why are you crying?" Tevy asked but Urooj didn't reply. She couldn't. Without even asking Tevy told Urooj that the warden already summoned her a few times but she ignored it so this time the lady herself was there to summon her, however Tevy never reasoned it. Soon she left, so the other girls. Urooj removed the blanket with my shivering hand and picked the mobile up.

Within a part of a second she decided to return this mobile to Tevy before it was too late. She decided to delete the facebook account and forget about this boy who was making her smile with every thought.

Shaking her head she took a deep breath and decided to take a control of her heart. She couldn't forget the reality for an imaginary world. Deleting the account looked best option at that time. First of all, she didn't know how to delete the facebook account but she opened the facebook and gasped loudly. He accepted the friend request and the other notification was showing his friend request. A message was also there reading "Hello."

Her fingers, which were iching till a moment ago to delete the account, suddenly accepted his request and her heart which was beating like a drum with the fear of being caught by the warden suddenly started waiting for him to sent something else after that "Hello".

<><><><>

I know it's short...
But I guess it's okay for now

_Naaz Jamal