#FewWords
Not everything is as it seems, similarly, not everyone is as they seem

Recap
"Will you be able to show up? We are actually going to meet at that club" Hauwa invited her
I
"I'll try to, I don't want anyone to find out, if my mum finds out, it might be a bit light but my dad...?"

Hauwa laughed at what she said, Maryam went ahead to tell her that Aunt Zee and Zayn were around so she was taking things slow so they can't find out what she does.

Chapter Twenty Six
Third Person's POV
The big day of the game came and two schools were against each other, the stadium where the game was taking place was one hell of a beauty.

"Dude, this stadium is wow" Hammad turned around as they got almost halfway to where the team including the students that accompanied them and their coach, basically everyone from their school was meant to sit in a particular selected section. Everyone was in front while Nasir and Salma were at the back.

"You are right on this one Ham" Jackson chuckled and snapped his fingers which made a few students laugh lightly. Jax and Brenda were right by Hammad's side

"You are right Hammad" Brenda smiled at Hammad, Hammad wasn't really surprised because before Nasir was transferred. Jackson and him were just really cool guys, never got into any problems. They had small football fights that ended at the field. Hammad agrees Jax is one hell of an idiot but Brenda was a cool guy. If it wasn't for Jax, he also hardly would have ever had his name in bad records that weren't formal. Jax always forced him to join him in his bad plots.

"Soooo, is this the first time you are in this stadium?" Nasir asked Salma who was a few inches away from touching his skin because the place was packed with people who were trying to go in or out of the stadium

"Nope, Being to a lot, I normally join the football team on their travels because they usually have two competitions just like this" she answered in a strange low voice

"Oh, you mean a game and presentation like the one you had, on Monday" she nodded her head in agreement

Salma's POV
I actually felt a bit different when Nasir was walking with me and the weird feeling became strong when we started chatting. My voice was very low while I was talking to him. Funny he thinks this is my first time here

"So, do you love football?" His husky voice came quiet this time

"Hmm, I can't say I do and I can't say I don't..."

"You feel indifferent about the mighty game" He completed my sentence and I felt him stare at me.

I didn't look up, Nasir could actually look into my head because he's about 6ft7 while I'm about 6ft. I can still remember one time I was in the library and a few girls were talking about the tallest guys in school and how each of them had crushes. I just laugh when I remember.

"Why are you smiling?" He bent down and asked me.

"I just remembered something" I flatly answered, I'm finding this a bit weird now

"We should catch up with the boys" I suggested

"You don't want to chat with me?" He asked and put his hands on his chest acting hurt in a dramatic way

"Stop acting like Jackson, he's the only one who does that"

"Nahh, you just haven't spent enough time to know me better" he said and I kinda agree with what he said.

"You are doing gooooooodddd" Jackson quietly sais taller than the people around so it wasn't difficult to see him.

Actually, the tree of them are tall, very tall for people their ages. Hammad and Jackson are 6ft3 and 6ft5 tall. I just realized Nasir is the tallest, to be honest. My set has a lotta tall teens.

"Don't you think you are way tall for your age?" I randomly asked and immediately regretted when he laughed out loud attracted a few people around to us.

"How old am I?" He asked

"18"

"Wrong, I'm actually just seventeen, I'll be eighteen in October, October 10th to be precise. Hammad and Jackson clocked eighteen in March. Hammad 3rd March while Jackson, 7th" Nasir smiled

"Well, November 3rd is my own Birthday" I told him before he even asked, I guess that's how they do it.

"Wow... that's cool, how old are you?"

"She's the youngest in our class" Hammad answered, I didn't even realize we caught up with them

"Really?" Nasir looked at me

Jackson want ahead to tell him that I'll clock sixteen in November, he also told him how I found myself in their set

"Wow, that explain why she has a big head and a baby face" Nasir commented and they all laughed, including a few girls and boys around. I felt ashamed for a second but the feeling left immediately.

"Sweet Sixteen in November" Hammad nudged Nasir and I just bent down. I don't like it when people tease me of my age. It feels so weird because I usually find myself around older people. Most of them don't even know my age because of my plus height, yeaaahh, people say plus size and I say plus height.

"Four schools are playing today?" I asked Nasir who was sitting beside me when I saw another set of two schools dressed in their jerseys.

"That first set played fire mehnnn" I squealed and the boys looked at me

"Leave me alone" I shrugged, I'm 200% surprised at how I'm becoming, very free around these guys.

"Yh, 2:1" Jackson said

"The first school is disqualified already, another school will be disqualified making a number of two schools that'd remain. Tomorrow, the same process while on Friday, the final set will be revealed" Hammad explained

"I didn't even know this was the process, so basically on Saturday is the finale while Sunday is the award day"

They nodded their heads and I totally understood the entire process.

"There's a 30 minutes break, let's go eat something" Jackson, the foodie suggested.

After the break, we quickly went back to our seats for the first half of the second set that was playing.

The time is so fast and the Game was very tough and interesting because none of the teams scored in the first half, after they came back for the second half, all the players were so determined to win but in a game, there's always a winner and the other person. At the end of that day, things went smoothly, the two qualified teams were so happy.

"I love the way that guy in the second team played, the one that was disqualified" Nasir spoke out of the blue when we were having dinner.

"Which one of the guys?" Hammad asked while he chewed a cube of fried meat

Third Person's POV
"Hmm, I think his name is Amir or so, I think that was what I saw at the back of his jersey" Nasir explained, the conversation about the mysterious guy continued without either Jackson or Salma paying any attention or even saying anything.

Jackson was on his phone chatting with his brother who was giving him an update on how things were going over there.

"Guys, let's have a video call with my brother, he'd be very happy" Jackson suggested and they all agreed.

Salma was hesitant at first but they convinced and told her it was a first time meeting Jackson's brother, more like an 'introductory call' as Jackson termed it.

"Let's go to the cafe down there, they provide private sections for their customers" Jackson said

"How do you know?" Salma faked a yawn

"This guy is an explorer, I'm sure he has gone there" Hammad said and Jackson's silence and smile powered what Hammad said. They chuckled with Salma shaking her head.

"Heyyy, are you guys new here?" A young waiter asked them when they walked inside the cafe. She had an accent that was a bit unidentifiable.

"Yes, we are new here" Jackson tried to mimic her, the way he did it made a few people laugh. The young lady laughed and said "funny... funny"

In a few seconds, they were lead to their section, Jackson was right because the cafe provided enough privacy to its customers.

"I love such places, so private!" Salma sat down

"And the chairs are so fluffy too, such serene environment" she looked around with joviality

Nasir just stared at her as he was directly opposite, his eyes were filled with a mysterious and fascinating sense of a strange feeling. She didn't feel his eyes for the first few seconds but when she did, she bent lowered her eyes a bit and went into her cocoon. The Salma that was known by everyone came back from a long trip.

"Eehhimm" Nasir coughed when he realized what was happening, he was so lost in her that it felt like he was looking at the beauty of a princess shown to others by her proud father for years.

"Heyy bro" Alex smiled when he heard his brother's voice, Jackson immediately understood the smile and immediately started whining

"Don't say it, don't say it... don't..." He was in the middle of telling Alex to stop what he was about to say when the words came out of his mouth

"Hey son" Alex laughed out loud when he saw his expression.

The entire group laughed, they introduced Salma and Alex teased saying he was very glad a girl joined them, he was about to go on with his teasing when Hammad saw a figure pass by.

"Wait, wait... who's with you?" Hammad squealed

"Don't tell me! Who's she?" Jackson was about to scream but Nasir was faster because he shoved a cookie right into his mouth.

"Keep quiet please" Alex was trying to calm them down but he couldn't so he laughed and just ended the call.

"We should start going back, it's late and I'm so tired" Salma dropped her head on the table.

"Alright, you guys pray Tahajjud for your game please" Salma turned when she was about to leave the elevator. They all nodded their heads including Jackson, Salma just had a tight smile and left.

The next day came very fast, as instructed or advised, Nasir and Hammad prayed Tahajjud and slept after Fajr Salah because their set wasn't the first to play. Their game was set to be at 3pm, 2 hours after the first set's game.

Salma got ready very early and left her room to get something to eat when she walked past a few girls talking about their school's teachers that joined them

"They are just too strict please" an average height girl said.

"Heyy, you are the girl that had a Blockbuster presentation, right?" The girl asked Salma

"Yeahh" Salma shyly answered her

"She's a shy and confident one" one of the girls said

"I love your hijab!" a non Muslim girl commented

"Thank you" Salma came again

"Hmm, don't you feel hot?" The girl asked and this time, Salma knew where the girls were heading to. She just smiled at them and was about leave but she stopped.

"No honey, she has an in-built AC" A girl who was just walking past them sarcastically said while rolling her eyes.

Salma just walked away smiling widely at the words the girl used. She later found out that the girl is also a Muslim but she doesn't wear the hijab because that's the definition of her Religion.

The first set played and a winner emerged.

It was their turn to play but before they could go in, Nasir looked at Salma who stood in front of him and said in a very calm manner

"Won't you wish me luck?" Nasir bent a little so she could hear.

"I wish you the best" Salma fiddled with her fingers.

"Thank you" his voice came again.

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End of Chapter 26, thank you so much for your reads and don't forget to vote, comment and share.

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