9. Mary

Matthew took the dishes from her hands and went outside in a rage. Mary was still unable to move when he came back empty-handed "Did you return it to him?" She asked. Even though Mary was angry at her brother, her voice was silent. Matthew didn't reply, "Brother, his mother sent it with love, and you threw it away?" Mary's voice started to lose its gentleness. "We don't have to make any connection with them, Sister," He said, breathing heavily, and Mary still decided to argue with him. "Why? You were okay with the neighbors back home then why are you doing this here?" Matthew walked close to her, and she moved back instantly. "Because he is a Muslim." Mary was left stunned by his words. "Aaryan is not a Muslim." She was sure of her words because there were only a few things Mary knew about Muslims and Aaryan was not like them. She was aware that Muslims were not allowed to drink alcohol, and he had seen Aaryan's Instagram stories where he was drinking wine. Other than that, he had touched Mary so many times. As much as she knew, Muslims were prohibited from touching the opposite gender with some exceptions, and this thing about Islam made sense to her when her cousin Smith touched her without her consent, but Aaryan had touched her many times. "Are you close to that boy?" Matthew asked in a stiff voice. Her head shook vigorously in denial. "No, I don't know him- he- we are just in the same class." But this didn't seem enough to convince her brother. His hands were tightened into a punch, and Mary didn't know if this would end with a terrifying scream or her being thrown to the floor again. "GO TO YOUR ROOM, MARY!" his voice thundered, and Mary's entire body shook in response. She listened and walked to her room with fast steps. She was safe, she was safe from her brother. Matthew didn't beat her, at least not for now.

Her breathing was still fast as she closed the door behind her. Mary didn't hate Islam or any other religion, unlike her brother. She thought that every person had the right to choose their own beliefs, but her brother was different. He despised every religion except Christianity as he knew that it was the only belief that could save them from the punishment of the hereafter, so he refined his heart only for the truth.

Mary didn't care about Aaryan being a Muslim so she shrugged the words off. One thing that she was caring about at the moment was how Matthew hurt his feelings by giving the food away. She stepped towards the balcony while thinking about him and then she saw Aaryan in the garden that he introduced as his.

He was sitting on a bench with his arms folded around his legs and he looked sad. Mary figured that it could be because of what Matthew did as the plates were on the table. "He didn't take it back home because he was afraid to make her mother hurt," Mary said sadly and stood there staring at him.

A moment later, Mary saw Matthew leaving, and when his car disappeared to the side of the road, she ran down. "Where are- are you going?" Her mother asked silently and Mary laughed at her. She mocked her with a sneer "You don't need to know" and walked out of the door

Mary was at the entrance of the yard, still glancing at Aaryan. She took her steps closer to him and stopped. Aaryan moved his head up from the knees. His face changed expressions in a moment. "Hey," She waved a hand at him. "Why are you here?" Aaryan asked sitting straight "I am sorry on behalf of my brother" He looked at her for a moment with something like concern

in his gaze and then replied

"You don't have to say it. I don't mind, it's okay" his face didn't match his words. Aaryan appeared to be worried "You know my brother is a little tough type of guy he just doesn't want to own anything to anyone" she lied, Aaryan shook his head "It's okay, I understand" she was still sure that there wasn't anything ok

ay at his face or in his voice. "You can sit here if you want to." Aaryan patted the other half of the bench, and after a quick thought, she said beside him, "Are you okay?" She finally asked, "Totally" Aaryan smiled, ran a hand through his hair. And once again she was driven towards him. His ruffled hair appeared an extra level of amazing, his eyes seemed to change colors to a lighter shade as the sun shone in them– "Hmm," She said, blocking the beauty. "What's up with you? Are you recovered from COVID and hyperhidrosis?" Aaryan was back to his weird and annoying self and she didn't reply because there was no reply.

After a moment, "Okay, let's discuss the presentation," Aaryan said, noticing the unable to say anything Mary, "What was our topic again?" Her voice decreased in pitch a second ago. "Oh, and you were accusing me of being bad at studies, huh?" Okay, it wasn't an accusation at all, as she was sure that Aaryan was bad with studies. Mary knew she would have to do all the work by herself. She was just thinking about working together with him, staying close to each other for a week– bearing Aaryan for an entire week of preparing for the presentation and she just zoned out when Mr. Asher announced their topic "From a drop of water" Oh, it was so easy for her to understand but she spotted a problem "Wait, drop of water? Hydrogen bonding- evaporation-condensation is a chemistry thing. What the hell are they doing in biology?" For a moment, just a little second, Aaryan looked at her in shock; disappointed would be a great word without manipulation. "I take my words back, Diamond. You are not a nerd." This was even more offensive than when he called her a nerd "What?"

"This is in the textbook". No, she hasn't read that thing in the book. Mr. Asher had taught her two lectures, and there was nothing like water or any of its drops in them, so she stared at him and asked, "Where?" he answered it as it was the easiest question someone had ever asked "In the second half of the book- it's about how the life started from a drop of water and then from that non-living thing an anaerobe came to existence and it turned into aerob as oxygen was introduced to the environment and then after billion of years of evolution it just somehow turned into developed organisms and so on- human" Aaryan was saying anything, right? But then why did he sound like a genius? Maybe Aaryan wasn't lying when he said he was the top student "Why would you read the entire book in advance" It made sense to ask "Well I got bored and that Cell Biology was the only book I spotted in the room so I just read in like half of a night"

"Hah," she laughed to mock, nervously because she was well aware that Aaryan was lying. "Why?" Mary asked because what type of weird guy would learn an entire book in half a night? Wait, Aaryan was a weird guy and instead of replying to his question, he said something that again made no sense to her "Amara, would you stop ear-dropping?" There was no one by the name of Amara but then someone appeared from the back of the tree. It was a girl whose face resembled Aaryan. But unlike his perfectly symmetrical face, the girl had cute chubby cheeks. "Ahh, you caught me every time," She complained. Mary looked at her again, and she was wearing a scarf. "You do this every time," He complained back. "Is she Mary?" Asked the girl with chubby cheeks. She sounded half sure and half surprised. Mary looked at her and then at Aaryan. "Mary, this is Amara- my little sister, and Amara, this is Mary- my" There was absolutely no relation between them to be introduced as "Your?" Amara asked and she appeared to be teasing her brother "My class- classmate," a perfect introduction. Classmates. "Oohkay, Bhai," She said to Aaryan– the girl was wearing a hijab or something, and she knew this was what Muslims wear, so was Aaryan really a Muslim? "Now get out of here." Aaryan shot a finger at the exit. "It's not like I love listening to your conversations with your classmate. You were late, so Mama asked me to go and check…" Amara stopped speaking when she saw the dishes on the table, and Mary felt guilty after looking at her sad face. Amara glared at her brother "Did you not take this to the neighbors?" She asked, looking at Mary, who stopped the eye contact. "Ah, I forgot," Aaryan lied, not daring to look at any of them. "I knew it!" Amara shouted and reached for the dishes on the table. Aaryan placed his hand on it, stopping her from picking them up. "What? If you are not going then let me take them" She said, still annoyed "There wasn't anyone home and Mary was alreaMatthew took the dishes from her hands and went outside in a rage. Mary was still unable to move when he came back empty-handed "Did you return it to him?" She asked. Even though Mary was angry at her brother, her voice was silent. Matthew didn't reply, "Brother, his mother sent it with love, and you threw it away?" Mary's voice started to lose its gentleness. "We don't have to make any connection with them, Sister," He said, breathing heavily, and Mary still decided to argue with him. "Why? You were okay with the neighbors back home then why are you doing this here?" Matthew walked close to her, and she moved back instantly. "Because he is a Muslim." Mary was left stunned by his words. "Aaryan is not a Muslim." She was sure of her words because there were only a few things Mary knew about Muslims and Aaryan was not like them. She was aware that Muslims were not allowed to drink alcohol, and he had seen Aaryan's Instagram stories where he was drinking wine. Other than that, he had touched Mary so many times. As much as she knew, Muslims were prohibited from touching the opposite gender with some exceptions, and this thing about Islam made sense to her when her cousin Smith touched her without her consent, but Aaryan had touched her many times. "Are you close to that boy?" Matthew asked in a stiff voice. Her head shook vigorously in denial. "No, I don't know him- he- we are just in the same class." But this didn't seem enough to convince her brother. His hands were tightened into a punch, and Mary didn't know if this would end with a terrifying scream or her being thrown to the floor again. "GO TO YOUR ROOM, MARY!" his voice thundered, and Mary's entire body shook in response. She listened and walked to her room with fast steps. She was safe, she was safe from her brother. Matthew didn't beat her, at least not for now.

in his gaze and then replied

"Hah," she laughed to mock, nervously because she was well aware that Aaryan was lying. "Why?" Mary asked because what type of weird guy would learn an entire book in half a night? Wait, Aaryan was a weird guy and instead of replying to his question, he said something that again made no sense to her "Amara, would you stop ear-dropping?" There was no one by the name of Amara but then someone appeared from the back of the tree. It was a girl whose face resembled Aaryan. But unlike his perfectly symmetrical face, the girl had cute chubby cheeks. "Ahh, you caught me every time," She complained. Mary looked at her again, and she was wearing a scarf. "You do this every time," He complained back. "Is she Mary?" Asked the girl with chubby cheeks. She sounded half sure and half surprised. Mary looked at her and then at Aaryan. "Mary, this is Amara- my little sister, and Amara, this is Mary- my" There was absolutely no relation between them to be introduced as "Your?" Amara asked and she appeared to be teasing her brother "My class- classmate," a perfect introduction. Classmates. "Oohkay, Bhai," She said to Aaryan– the girl was wearing a hijab or something, and she knew this was what Muslims wear, so was Aaryan really a Muslim? "Now get out of here." Aaryan shot a finger at the exit. "It's not like I love listening to your conversations with your classmate. You were late, so Mama asked me to go and check…" Amara stopped speaking when she saw the dishes on the table, and Mary felt guilty after looking at her sad face. Amara glared at her brother "Did you not take this to the neighbors?" She asked, looking at Mary, who stopped the eye contact. "Ah, I forgot," Aaryan lied, not daring to look at any of them. "I knew it!" Amara shouted and reached for the dishes on the table. Aaryan placed his hand on it, stopping her from picking them up. "What? If you are not going then let me take them" She said, still annoyed "There wasn't anyone home and Mary was already here so maybe she could eat this in here" When he moved his eyes to Mary, they were begging her to say "Yeah, of course" she said with a light smile. Amara seemed to get convinced, and when she looked at Mary, she was somehow excited. "Have you ever tried Biryani before?" Mary hadn't heard of biriyani or whatever she just said, and trying was a far-thing. "Nope," she moved her head from left to right. "Okay," Amara clapped her hands loudly, and Mary was sure it might have hurt her. That girl looked as if she would get some sort of reward if Mary eat it. Amara lifted one of the plates and there was rice in it. Why would Amara be so excited about someone trying rice? It wasn't like Mary had never eaten rice in her life and her excitement made no sense again.

Amara scooped a spoon filled with orange-white rice with some type of roasted chicken on top and moved it forward to Mary. Wait, was the girl about to feed her? It looked weird, yet she was smiling so brightly that Mary just opened her mouth, and another reason for it could be her being hungry for the entire day.

The moment she tasted it, a crazy level of amazing spices burst in her mouth, and it was nothing like the rice she had been eating her entire life. They were "Amazing," She said unknowingly, and Amara jumped. "I knew it!" She exclaimed "Eat it! Eat it!" She yelled, passing the spoon to her and Mary just took it without any insisting. In about fifteen; five minutes, she ate the entire thing as it was impossibly good and then she realized that the siblings had been staring at her for the last fifteen; five minutes. "You must have liked it so much," Aaryan said while laughing at her. "Well, it was good," She replied, putting the spoon back on the empty plate. "Do you want me to get some more for you?" Amara asked with that same happy grin "No, no I am full" Maybe she was but all she wanted was to try that thing again

"Now you can leave, Amma." He missed

the r, and it sounded like Aaryan was calling her mother. "Oh, okay, I will leave you with your classmate." She scowled. Maybe Aaryan was indeed teasing her. Taking the plates Amara was gone in a second

As the two of them were alone Mary's brain found a question that her brother had said. Mary was almost sure about the answer, but she wanted to hear it from Aaryan. So she asked, "Are you a Muslim?" But those simple words made Aaryan silent for a whole minute "Yeah, I-I am." It was still a little shocking and Mary did not care about his religion, but Aaryan's voice was awkward when he answered. Was Aaryan not happy being a Muslim or something? "Why did you ask?" Aaryan said in the same voice and she wasn't sure whether she should say it or not but "You don't look like a Muslim" The words just slipped from her tongue and after that, there were no more weird words or gazes from Aaryan as they discussed their presentation. He looked anxious the entire time

But what made Aaryan anxious? Was it her question?

dy here so maybe she could eat this in here" When he moved his eyes to Mary, they were begging her to say "Yeah, of course" she said with a light smile. Amara seemed to get convinced, and when she looked at Mary, she was somehow excited. "Have you ever tried Biryani before?" Mary hadn't heard of biriyani or whatever she just said, and trying was a far-thing. "Nope," she moved her head from left to right. "Okay," Amara clapped her hands loudly, and Mary was sure it might have hurt her. That girl looked as if she would get some sort of reward if Mary eat it. Amara lifted one of the plates and there was rice in it. Why would Amara be so excited about someone trying rice? It wasn't like Mary had never eaten rice in her life and her excitement made no sense again.

"Now you can leave, Amma." He missed

But what made Aaryan anxious? Was it her question?

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