Aishah

I LEFT THE car and joined Fareedah and Rauf who's waiting for me

"Who is he?"Fareedah asked as soon as she saw me coming towards her

"No idea,he wants to be my friend"I said as we started walking together

"What did you tell him?"she asked anxiously while I rolled my eyes

"Do you think I will just say yes to him,I told him to try harder"

"Try harder"Fareeedah halted glaring at me and I laughed

"I know he is handsome but I can't just say yes to his friendship"

"So you are playing hard to get"Fareeedah teased while Rauf coughed to make awareness of his presence

"You're not comfortable with our girly talk"Fareedah teased Rauf and snickered

"I rather go after my friends,you ladies are boring"Rauf said walking away and we both laughed

"Rauf is something else"I said and Fareedah laughs more

"So as we were saying"Fareedah stressed

"Yeah,I'm playing hard to get"

"Wow!"she gasped"that means you love him"she said almost making victory dance and I stopped her rolling my eyes

"You know there is a word called like right,yeah I like him he is the kind of guy I always dream of"

"I can feel the chemistry"she laughs once more and I blushed"tell me what you like about him"

"He's handsome"I started and we both sit under a tree"he looks cool, decent and well my kind of guy you know I don't like tall guys"I said

"Yeah he's height is average,are you sure he will come after you?"she asked

"I'm not sure and I hope he does if not I will regret not giving him my contact when he asked for it"

"My friend is crushing o"Fareedah starts to laugh and I joined her

"Finally,you better date him I can't imagine you leaving yourself single after breaking up with Nabeel since secondary school"she said smiling

"Yeah,I have been single for long,you knew how much I loved Nabeel he was just too stupid to cheat on me"I said and my chest tightened,I still feel the pains from our break up

I remembered when I broke up with Nabeel in SS2,I caught him kissing Zainab one of my rival in the girls restroom,I was so devastated back then,I cried bitterly for months before finally gaining myself back

"I heard the dude is schooling at Bayero university, he's reading pharmacy"Fareedah said

"I don't care,he is my past and I'm not ready to duel on him"I said trying hard to numb the pain I'm feeling

"But you still love him"Fareedah said breathlessly"you better grow up and forget about that dude, likely he have already dated different girls by now"

"You are right,I will use Abubakar to forget about him"I said smiling

"Who is Abubakar?"she asked

"Idiot, that same guy that came for me minutes ago"I said and we both laughed

"Go girl,I'm with you in this one,if he tries to hurt you I will just arrange someone to beat him black and blue"Fareedah said and we started laughing

"He dare not I trust you"I said after our laughter cool down"l want to go home,I'm hungry"I said

"I can prepare you something in the hostel"she said,Fareedah is staying at the hostel she says she prefer it more than staying at home but I am not keen with the idea

"And also I miss my bed,today have been a long day and I have been working my head off for this presentation,I deserve a better sleep"I said and she nodded

"Let's look for a tricycle"she said and we stood up

Few minutes later I saw a tricycle and told him my location I waved Fareedah bye and soon enough we were fast on the road

The tricycle stopped at the front of the gate of my house and I paid him,I knocked on the gate and as usual Danjumo was there to open the gate for me

We exchange our normal greetings and I went straight to the house,I opened the door and I met my dad and mom with a man at the age of my father sitting in the sitting room

"And she's here"my mother beamed at me and I was confused

I greeted the three of them kneeling down,I stood up and went to my room

I untie the veil I tied on my head and took off my clothing,I sigh reliefly wearing a white towel and went straight to the bathroom

I took my bath and wore a pyjamas,I went to the kitchen and met my dish in the microwave I took it and went back to my room eating and going through my phone,the dish was Jellof rice and chicken

I took the Chivita in the mini fridge in my room and sip it as I was busying myself with social medias

I stopped several minutes later as my eyes started getting heavy,I lay on the bed and slept off

*********

I started hearing the sounds around me and suddenly my eyes open on it's own will,I sat on my bed stretching myself and yawning

I went to the bathroom and brush my teeth,I checked the time and it was magrib time,I performed ablution and prayed before going to the sitting room

My favorite program will be starting soon,I met my mom,my dad and brother watching the news with their full attention

I rolled my eyes as I sat on one of the sofas,I don't just know what's so interesting about the news that my family loves,I was the odd one my elder sister too loves watching news

"Have you prayed?"my dad asked

"Yes,I prayed before coming outside how was work today?"I asked

"Alhamdullilah it was fine,how was your presentation?"he asked too

"Masha Allah,it went as planned" I said

"I should have come"my mom said and I roll my eyes internally

"It's not like it's a convocation"I replied my mom

"Aishah you know you are not too young anymore"my dad has started again,the smile in my face left immediately

I don't know why my dad just love giving her female children off to get married early,my elder sister Qadirah got married at the age of eighteen though hers was better because she got married to the love of her life and finished her university in his house

Dad wants thesame thing with me,he wants me to get married early too he always says it's better to get married early than breaking up with boyfriends after sleeping with them,though I don't agree with his terms

"Dad I'm still young"I said slightly frowning because I know where the discussion is heading to

"To you but to me you are already a woman and you need to find yourself a husband"he said

"I'm just eighteen dad, please at least wait till I am twenty"I almost yelled at my dad

"Will you shut up and listen to your dad"my mom scolded and I sealed my mouth immediately

"Since you can't provide yourself a husband I will help you on that"my dad said

"Arrange marriage?"my eyes were already welling up

"Yes,I have found a good boy for you to marry"my father said and I remain quiet

All I could think of is how scattered my life have become in just few seconds,I know when my dad orders no one can say no and I just hope he doesn't push this far

"He's name is Ibrahim"my dad said and I swallowed,lump forming in my throat I couldn't face him,my gaze was on my fingers that were busy shaking even though I clasped them together

"The man you saw earlier"when my dad said this my eyes shot open immediately and I land my gaze on him,I hope he wasn't about telling me to get married to someone as old as him because I could still remember vividly how the man smiled contentedly at me

"He is my childhood best friend and we grew apart after finishing our primary school,we met at Dubai when I went to purchase my goods last time,he was nice enough and decided to pay me a visit"my dad stopped for awhile and the lump in my throat grew larger,I just want to start crying already

"He asked about my family and of course I told him about you and he said he has a son of twenty three years old that he wants him to get married early,since I wanted you to get married early too and this can also strengthen our relationship I brought the idea of matching the two of you"my dad said and I gasped,the lump in my throat decreases not that I was happy I was getting married soon but the fact that I'm not marrying an old man makes me feel a little better

"That's the latest development and he also agrees to it,I will talk to him later and get to know what's the next step to take"after dad said this I knew I wasn't escaping this marriage any time soon

My emotion struggled in and I couldn't stay at the sitting room anymore

"I will excuse myself"I said and ran out of the sitting room

I went to my room and slumped on the bed and started crying bitterly,I'm going to marry someone I don't know or love

I always wish to get married to the love of my life,I always wanted to get married to someone who loves me right from the start and we will also understand each other but now I am going to marry a stranger and there won't be any Abubakar anymore

I was actually looking towards my relationship with him,I had this tiny crush on him when we talked in his car earlier

My door creaked open and I tilted to see who it was,it was my mom

She came inside and sat beside my bed

"Aishah"she called gently but I ignored her

"Aishah you should know by now your dad will never do anything that will hurt you,he loves you so much that he wouldn't put you in any form of danger"my mom said and I scoffed

If only she knows how hurt I am right now

"I know it's a hard pill to swallow but trust me there's what we call love after marriage,the moment the both of you start sleeping in one roof the feeling will surface, don't work yourself up on this,cheer up my angel your dad will never hurt you"my mom said and I nodded smiling weakly

I wanted her out of my room so that I can have enough time for myself,I don't want her to keep pestering me

"Are you feeling any better sweetheart?"my mom said and I nodded

"My head hurts,I want to sleep"I told my mom and she nodded in understanding,she stood up and left the room after kissing my cheek

I started crying all over again and decided to text Fareedah about what's going on,not less than a minute her call came in and I lazily picked it up

"You don't mean it"she actually screamed like she was angry

"I don't know what to do now"I said sniffing and the tears came out the more

"Why don't we talk more about it when we see each other tomorrow,please don't cry too much and make sure to sleep"she said

"I will try my best"

"I love you and you should know I will always be there for you"she said and I smiled genuinely

"I love you too"I ended the call and lay down back on my bed crying my eyes out all over again