5. Aaryan

The university was starting from today. Aaryan was now in his third year. One of the reasons why he was excited; almost excited, to go to university was because he would finally meet Taha and smack this shitty attitude out of him.

Aaryan wasn't the type of person to care about others much but he was genuinely worried about his friend. Taha never used to ignore him, yet he had been doing it for more than two weeks now. Thinking about it, Aaryan just tugged in whatever clothes looked good to him because no matter what he wore, the girls would gather all around him anyway

Hopping down the stairs, he stepped into the living room, finding Amara there. She was smiling broader than her lips could hold "Are you that excited to start university?" He asked, and Amara nodded vigorously. "I would meet new people, make friends, and have a lot of fun," She said, jumping on her feet lightly. "Study, Amy. You are going to university to study, not for fun!" He said, walking forward. "You are enough for that stuff." Aaryan moved his head to the sides in disappointment. "Do the breakfast, and we will be get going!" She exclaimed, and Aaryan was already at the door. "I am not in the mood, let's go." Instead of her usual nagging at her brother for not eating and wasting food, Amara just ran to the car. She was indeed excited. "Let's go," Amara yelled, making her brother scared.

The university was at walking distance from their home but on the insisting of his sister he took the car

After dropping Amara off at her department, Aaryan parked the car along with the BMW. That car made his one worth pennies just by staring beside it. The door to the other car opened and the guy threw a punch at Aaryan which he just caught without a try "Woah, Adrian, your reflexes are so quick, Bro"

"Well, my motor nerves are to take the credit, Ray." Aaryan let one of his biological jokes out, and Raheel laughed, probably not knowing what the hell he just said. "So, Taha is ditching the university now?" Raheel asked looking around as he didn't spot his car in the parking lot "Maybe he is taking a day off" Aaryan gave himself hope, again "Bro, you guys have been friends for half a decade or so and you know he never takes days off" Raheel snapped, taking steps to the building and Aaryan followed him "You should be happy to not compete Taha for the second last spot in the group" Raheel frowned at his words "Then study won't be fun, My brother" Aaryan cracked because unlike him, both of his friends had nothing to do with study or things

"So we got the second and fifth lecture together," Raheel said as they checked their schedule. "Yeah. I got the third one free," Aaryan said. "What about the fourth?" Asked Raheel as they walked in the corridor "I got that damn microbiology in it" Aaryan flared as he said the name

"Yeah, Bro. Last year, you almost lost the top position coz of it, right?" His voice was teasing rather than empathizing "Yeah" he sighed and Raheel rolled his eyes

"Okay, see ya in the second with Dr. Sarah"

"Yup, traumatizing Genesis lab with the coldest professor on top" Raheel said as he walked in the other direction and Aaryan moved to his class

Entering the room, he searched for Taha, and he was nowhere. It wasn't odd because Taha was always late.

Almost all the seats were filled so Aaryan walked to the last seat. Every student stared at him as he walked towards it. He could hear some girls whispering, "Isn't it Adrian from ART?" the other said, "I can not believe he is in our class." They were audibly drooling, and Aaryan was just about to go in front and introduce himself when someone else entered the class, taking all the attention. "MARY CHRISTOPHER!" A boy yelled at the top of his voice and it seemed to startle Mary. Aaryan could have felt angry at her for taking his attention, but it was Mary, after all, so he couldn't be mad. But there was one thing making him crazy, the mask. Aaryan could not see her face. There was nothing to hide about her face, and it wasn't like people wouldn't recognize her with a mask on. Was it because of the bruise? He left that thought hanging somewhere in his brain as he took the seat

Another guy moved forward to shake her hand, and Mary moved back, rejecting the handshake. It didn't end there. The entire class was now chanting her name, and many students gathered around her, making her uncomfortable. 'Is she a sociopath?' Raheel's question just entered his brain. Mary was not a sociopath to him, but he was sure that Mary had social anxiety, so without thinking, Aaryan stood up saying; screaming "Hey, Diamond, here." He pointed at the empty seat next to him as if she was going to sit with him or something– he felt as if he was her savior. Mary looked at him, and so did the other students, and then again, his audacity to yell, "Come on, Diamond, fast," and on the command, students made way for Mary. Some of them were smiling, probably shipping the two of them together while others were looking angry; jealous

The moment Mary saw the way cleared, she moved up the stairs and went to his side "I saved you" Aaryan said with a blink as she sat down "I didn't ask for it" The corky attitude stayed the same "You could have said a thank" he stretched his lips annoying and Aaryan was sure he saw her eyes squeezing by a little, bare, minor smile at her lips "Well, okay" was all she said in reply

Mr. Asher entered the class, and Aaryan grinned, looking at him. He was an outstanding professor of cell biology and that was the reason why Aaryan closed him last year as well. "Good Morning, Students" he greeted warmly with a smile and the class replied with "Good Morning, Mr. Asher"

"Are you ready to dive into a different story of Biology this year?" Asked the teachers. "Of course, Mr. Asher. Can't wait for it" Aaryan replied. He wasn't the type of person to go friendly takes or things but with Mr. Asher could do, "I am not seeing your friend, Aaryan. What's up with our class clown?" Only if he knew the answer, he wouldn't have been this anxious. "I–" he was about to answer something when he saw his friend entering the class. "I am sorry for being late, Mr. Asher." Sorry? It was a thing he had never heard from Taha in ten years, and now he was apologizing for being late, instead of saying something absurd like 'Hey, Mr. Asher, I'm late! My alarm clock and I had a disagreement this morning' or 'My GPS had a midlife crisis and decided to take me on a tour of all the local coffee shops', but sorry was never a choice. That was the reason why Mr. Asher stopped speaking instantly. Taha didn't look at Aaryan. Instead, he took a seat far away. Not only his behavior but his appearance was different too. He wasn't wearing any skinny clothes or jewelry but a simple shirt and pants. There was not a dot of makeup over his face, his hair was not zinc but black as its original. Something happened to him,

Aaryan forgot that Mary was sitting with him and he didn't say a thing to her the entire time but looked at his friend who did not appear like his friend anymore

As the lecture ended Aaryan got up, ready to deal with this odd Taha but then his steps became unable to move when he felt a hand on his arm "Hey," It was Mary and when he looked at her holding his hand Aaryan just froze "I- I am sorry" Mary removed her hand in an instant "What happened?" Aaryan asked, and he was unaware of the softness that just banged in his voice. "Do you know where the Genesis lab is?" She asked. He got it. Mary had social anxiety, because when he gave it a thought he realized that it was the first time Mary talked to him this gently "You have Genesis too?" He asked more happy than curious "Yeah" she nodded "Let me take you there, I got it too," He said offering her his hand but Mary didn't take it instead she gathered her things and looked into his eyes "Let's go" he cleared his throat, moved his hand back and said "Let's go" taking the lead. By the time he reached the door, Taha was already gone and Aaryan decided to talk to him later.

Passing through the corridor, he continued trying to locate him, but his suspicious friend was never found. Instead, there was gossip for him: them "Hey, Are they dating?" Someone said, and the words were directed toward the two of them. "They look so good together," Aaryan agreed, and when he looked at Mary, she made him feel like she never heard anything. Aaryan knew they would make a perfect couple. Mary was almost as tall as him maybe there was one or two inches of difference but the heels were covering it and other than that she was the most beautiful person he had ever seen so it was a go-go

As he halted the day dreaming, the two of them reached the lab where someone seemed to get unconscious as he laid an eye on Mary. "Mary Christopher," Raheel slowly whispered, trying not to pull attention. Mary appeared like she didn't know him. "Hey, Adrian, won't you introduce me to her?" he said with a desperate please in his eyes. Aaryan nodded and wasn't sure how to introduce Mary to him because there was no relationship between the two of them "This is Raheel Rahman. You could call him Ray. He is a big crazy fan of yours." Mary stared at him, and Raheel poked his elbow at his chest. "There was no need to mention it," Raheel said silently with an anxious laugh, and before they could continue, the rude and cold Dr. Sarah entered the room.

Her look and the rumors were opposite. Aaryan never hated her but there was something not so cool about Dr. Sarah. She was just so rude, more than a professor should be. She was covering her hair with a white scarf, and the white color just did not make her look a little polite. Dr. Sarah was the most intimidating person in the university. She would never become friendly or relax with the students. All she did was strictly follow the schedule and mind her own business, which wasn't a bad thing– Aaryan knew teachers were supposed to get a little frank and maintain a friendly environment.

The class just went all hushed upon her arrival and everyone took their seats. "I will be assigning you two assignments for this week, followed by a presentation." She greeted the children on the first day with the worst possible words, but no one could oppose her.

One of the things Aaryan hated about her was how her voice became tough while speaking to guys and it changed as she shifted to girls. He never figured out the reason for it. Other than some– a lot of controversies, Dr. Sarah was aprofessor because the level of knowledge she had would just blow him off and it was the only reason he chose the rudest person in the entire university as his professor