11. Mary

"Why was Aaryan absent yesterday?" wasn't what she should be asking herself while standing in the corridor of the building, why does she care? Was a question to ask. Aaryan didn't come to the classes yesterday, and the only reason making Mary worried about it was the presentation and nothing else.

After all the manipulative words she used to pursue herself, she concluded that she was worried about him. Mary was so worried that she even thought of calling him, but the question stayed the same for her. Why does she care? Mary retained herself from thinking about him, and she entered the class with the same angry; frowning face.

Aaryan wasn't at his place. No, he was not late or something because there was no one in the class except one person, and one reason for it could be that it was just seven in the morning. Normally, the sane student does not come to class this early. Mary just ran out of the house because she didn't want to see her ill brother or depressed mother on the breakfast table.

There were plenty of empty seats in the class yet she aimed for the last one so that she could sit– work on the project with Aaryan easily. As she started to walk up the stairs, she took a good look at the other person present in the class.

Mary recognized him because he was the singer of ART, Taha Khattab. The same person whom she was going to replace if she lost the bet with Aaryan. Mary was curious about him. Taha's voice was divine, even though Aaryan used to sing some of the lyrics too but he could never beat Taha with his voice. So, despite the uncomfortable level of social anxiety in her body, she decided to go to him and talk.

Taha was on his phone and appeared to be reading something. Mary could have thought about not disturbing him or even considered her not-so-okay mind with the decision, yet when she realized it, she was always standing in front of him. In a flash, Taha locked his phone and threw it at the desk as if he was caught attempting a crime. "Mary?" He asked, looking up at her for a second. She was famous, and that was the reason he knew her, no need to think about it. "Hey, Taha. How are you doing?" Those were not supposed to be the words chosen by a famous singer when they go and talk to a stranger for the first time "Alham– I- I am good, Alham–" He appeared to be mumbling on his confused words. Mary didn't care "How about you?" He asked "Well, I am doing great. Actually, I have a question to ask you" She was not going to stand there for half an hour until it was the right time to ask so Mary just said it

"Sure, What?" Without thinking for a single moment, she asked, "Why did you leave ART?" Mary regretted it in an instant because ART had not made an announcement about Taha leaving the group, and no one knew it yet except the members and the person who just asked, "How do you know?" This was a good question but only if she knew the answer. She was trying to make something up in her mind when, thank God, "Diamond" I mean- oh. Mary turned around at the voice "What are you doing there?" Aaryan asked, and she ran– walked to him. "Nothing," her voice sounded anxious to even herself. "O-okay," he replied, giving a strange stare to the person she was talking to and not asking anything. Wait Aaryan didn't even greet his friend. Did they fight? Was something wrong between the two of them?

And again, why does she care?

Mary stopped her thoughts and just jumped the stairs and went to her place. In a second, Aaryan appeared on the other side. "Why did you not come yesterday?" She asked, taking books out of her backpack. "Why? Did you miss me?" She must have forgotten this self-obsession of Aaryan with himself and she was sure she had not missed him for a second even though Aaryan was the only thing she had been thinking about since yesterday– "We are partners- I mean we have a project to work on, Weirdo" Mary lifted her shoulders, making the words appear obvious "Oh, yeah, Partner" He was impossible and so was his smirk, impossibly pretty– "Do you realize how much work do we have on pending because of your absence yesterday?" She tried to sound angry. Aaryan leaned forward to the desk, placed his elbow at it, and rested his chin over his palm "Meet me in the garden today. We will get the work done" he said with a wink and was speaking in a flirty tone, almost as if he was indicating something else "Huh?" she said in disbelief and moved her face to the other direction "In the evening, Diamond" He said in the same tune and she was so grateful to Mr. Asher who just entered the class and saved her from this Aaryan because Mary was unable to stop herself from smiling unwillingly

So, all she had to do was choose a pretty dress and wear a light shade of lipstick before their meeting

And she did. Mary knew she was looking pretty, like an angel what she would call herself and she just ran to his garden

Mary forgot about everything, even about herself when she glanced at Aaryan. He was wearing a plain brown T-shirt, just similar to the color of his hair, and he was playing with a dog. Aaryan was sitting on his feet, hugging the dog as if it were the most important thing he possessed. "Jeremy, eat well," he said to the dog while running a hand through his back. Mary walked forward and sat with him "His name is Jeremy?" She asked, and Aaryan jumped aside at this sudden voice. "Ye-yeah," he said, after a pause of shock. "That's a perfect name for him." She ruffled its hair. "Jeremy," and the dog wuffed at it. "Are you not afraid of dogs?" Aaryan asked, sitting up again. "Why would I be afraid of someone this cute?" Jeremy was one of the most adorable animals she had ever seen. He had the color of gold, and she was not sure about what breed it was. In her life, Mary was not allowed to have a pet because according to her brother some animals could bring bad luck, and seeing Jeremy was just the opposite of it

"Well, yeah- exactly," he said. For some moment she played with the dog and smiled at him

"Diamond, you can go and take the bench. I will get him inside his house," Aaryan said. Mary listened and went to take a seat while still looking at Aaryan. He looked so happy with the dog. He was treating him gently and Mary like this side of Aaryan, maybe he loved the dog so much.

After a moment, Aaryan was by her side. "Did you set this garden all by yourself?" Asked Mary. She was just trying to start a conversation, it was nothing like her being curious about his life. Aaryan nodded proudly "Yeah. All of the lights, this setting, and yeah, the flowers which no one was supposed to break". She was sure that he was indicating to her as she had plucked a flower from his garden. It wasn't entirely her fault as that flower was really attractive just like its owner– "Well" she shouldn't be thinking about it. She wasn't supposed to get attracted to Aaryan

"Okay, the presentation" That was an amazing solution to avoid looking at him and getting lost– avoid these types of talks "Yeah, we are almost done with everything except"

"A proof from literature that something like this really happened"

Mary completed "Exactly but every theory about how prokaryotic organism evolved into the eukaryotic one is a hypothesis" He shrugged his hand from back and forth as if it was indicating the billions of years of evolution by a gesture "Exactly, like everything starts from 'the cell could have done it' or 'the organelle could have evolved' and 'something like this could have happened' like c'mon you are not yourself sure of it happening, like give us some confirmed and happened type of things, not already confused one" She drew a long breath after the long sentence "Yeah, exactly" Aaryan was laughing at her "What?" She asked. "Nothing," he replied, still cracking. "Weird" wasn't actually what he was about to say, you are looking handsome while smiling was the reason she suddenly felt so warm.

"Okay, back to the topic. So did you get something?" Mary said, and she was sure about it now that Aaryan was an amazing student. "I have been reading about it for days, but I haven't gotten a thing," he said unexpectedly, but this exact thing was happening to her as well, so it was obvious. "Same. Maybe we should change our target literature," Mary suggested. "Like?"

"Religious books? Do you think Mr. Asher would allow us to do it?" And again, unexpectedly, "I thought of it too, and Mr. Asher agreed on it, but do you think any religious book will have something like that?" Aarya asked and she was not sure about it. "We would have to go through some, I guess," Mary said, and then he asked, "What about the Holy Bible? Have you read it?" She has not. Other than the teachings of Matthew and the things she learned at Sunday school, she didn't know anything but that wasn't what she was thinking about. There was something else that made her stop talking. Why would Aaryan, a Muslim call the Bible Holy? As long as she thought Muslim hate Christians just as they do. But then why would he be respecting a book against his religion? Instead of asking it, she said "Haven't. What about the Koran?" she didn't say holy or anything at all because why would she "Nope, I have never gone through the transition" he shook his head and then he stopped "Wait there is someone who might help us with this" Said Aaryan, taking his phone out "Who?" As she asked, Aaryan was already on the call, "Hey, Amy, can you come to the garden for a moment. I need some help," and after just those words, he hung up and placed his phone on the table. "Your sister?" Mary asked and he nodded.

After waiting for a while, Amara showed up in the garden, but she wasn't smiling as the last time but sad and almost appeared angry. "What do you want?" She asked in a rigid voice to her brother. Aaryan didn't reply "Hey, Amy. We needed some help for our presentation, and Aaryan said you could do it." Mary was the one to ask, and the siblings appeared to be in an awkward situation. Maybe they had some sort of argument "How can I help? I am just in the first year"

"Well, he said you can," Mary said, pointing at Aaryan and then at the chair. "Come on, sit down." Amara walked forward and sat on it while still appearing confused. Since Aaryan was not saying anything, Mary decided to speak on her own. "So we got a presentation together on the topic of 'From a drop of water.' Basically, it's about how life started from water, we need a reference from literature and we are helpless. We have decided to go through some religious books, and Aaryan said you could help us find a reference from the Koran. If there is any" She finished. Amara stayed silent for a moment, and her expression grew into something, she identified as a frown. Mary figured there was nothing in that book just as she expected, but then Amara started to speak, "First of all, Mary, it's not Koran. It's the Quran, the Holy Quran." She was angry, her face and voice were angry not frowning. "Oh, I am sorry." Mary said, and she didn't even think there was anything to say sorry about because why would Amara expect her to respect that religion? "Okay, I will give you one," Amara said as if it was the easiest thing to ever exist, and upon hearing her words even Aaryan sat up on the bench "So it's from Chapter called Surah Al-Anbiya verse number 30, I will read the English translation to you 'and We separated them and made from water every living thing. Then will they not believe?' I guess it would fit perfectly in your presentation" For a whole minute and then for another minute, Mary and Aaryan looked at her as if she had said something impossible. "Is this in the Holy Quran?" Aaryan asked in absolute shock and instead of giving him a clear reply, she said "Only if you ever read"