Part 3: The Misunderstood Conversation

Maryia is sitting on her bed, has her phone in her hands, and is looking at Ahmed's profile. Her phone screen shows Ahmed's chat icon. Then she looks away from the phone screen. She talks to herself. "How does he feel now? Is he suffering as I am? Or not?" Then she opens the chat window with Ahmed's profile. She waits for a few minutes, then types. "Ahmed, I want to make sure you are ok."

In his room, Ahmed is in front of his desk trying to study, but his mind is absent. The phone rings a notification. Ahmed grasps it and taps. His phone screen displays Maryia's message. Once he notices it, he jumps from the chair, saying. "Oh! It is her! What should I say?!" Ahmed, who is stressed, types. "Maryia, Hi! I am fine, thanks. Sorry, I did not see the message till now."

Ahmed widens his eyes and closes his fist, talking to himself. "Oh! My stupidity! She has just texted me." Maryia's eyes roll left and right. She looks sad with wrinkled eyes on the phone. She types. "I am sorry that I broke your heart that day. But I was anxious and worried." Ahmed looks with crossed eyebrows and hopeful eyes. He replies with confusion. "Worried about what? And which day?" Ahmed looks away from the screen and talks to himself again. "You broke me several times! Uh... I don't remember which day she is talking about. I'll act like nothing is true because I believe so, or supposed, I don't know!"

Maryia feels a bit of shock, but she explains in the message that she types. "The first day of exams in school." His eyes widen, and he crosses his eyebrows. He types. "Ah... my memory is weak xD But no problem happened, no need to be worried…" Maryia, who started to feel more shocked, smiles and sighs. She types again. "How cannot you remember or feel what I feel xD?" Ahmed slightly shrinks his eyebrows and then types. "Sorry?" Maryia drops her smile and then types. "Ok, do not consider it. Take care!" She turns off the phone and puts it on the bed. Ahmed widens his eyes, opens his mouth, and raises his eyebrows. He felt he had made a mistake by keeping his cold status. He types. "Wait! Can you tell me what is wrong? Please?" He sees her status go offline.

Ahmed looks away, then at the phone, then puts his closed hand near his opened mouth. Ahmed opens his friend's icon on Messenger and stops scrolling in front of Leo's icon for a while. He doesn't tap it after hesitation. He knows Leo may tell him to accept Maryia and her feelings because he is nice, but Pedro believes in his pain because of her and can fuel him. Ahmed crosses his eyebrows, then moves his finger and presses on Pedro's icon instead. 

Ahmed types. "Pedro! Maryia texted me! She asked about my health and was nice to me! But she said a lot of things. Like, she said, 'I'm sorry for that day, don't you feel what I feel'.." Pedro types. "She doesn't love you! She is in a problem and so she needs your support. Does she remember you now after all that time? She is a manipulator." Ahmed looks sad. "But... I made myself an idiot when she asked me if I feel what she feels... I cheated on her…" Pedro instructs Ahmed. "Man! Do you want to suffer as in the past? When she looked at you several times with disgust and cheated on you before?" Ahmed crosses his eyebrows up and lifts his lips to one side. Pedro types more. "If you do not remember, she made you love her, and when you tried to share with her what she was saying if you feel it now, she cheated on you. She cheated on you before you did. You are not cheating on her, you are saving yourself. You are not interested in her anymore, right?"

Ahmed keeps silent with pain in his eyes, then types finally with a sad face. "Okay." Ahmed turns off the phone's power. He goes to the desk, moves some papers, and focuses on them.

In her room, Maryia looks at the floor with a shocked face. She felt she was delusional. But she had seen him looking into her eyes. All the rumors and all the tiny details? She tabs the phone, opens a chat with Tania's profile icon, who is online, and texts her. "Tania, please reply quickly. I need you." Maryia typed.

Tania replies quickly, as not expected. "What happened, girl?" Maryia types. "I've texted him," Tania asks. "Texted whom?" Maryia replies. "Ahmed…" Tania types quickly. "Girl! Why, what happened? Was it you or him who texted first?" Maryia types sadly. "It was me." Tania types blaming Maryia. "Maryia, why did you do that? You made yourself lose your dignity. You had to wait for him to talk to you." Maryia types. "Yes, but…" Tania types roughly. "You should focus on your life, nothing else. He doesn't deserve that care!" Maryia cries and types. "I know! I know... but…" Tania asks strictly. "Tell me, what did you tell him?" Maryia replies. "I don't remember; I'm just shocked." Tania types. "He must have been rude to you." Maryia stares at the phone, then replies. "No, he is not a bad guy. It is my fault. I thought there was something between us. I'm mostly delusional…"

Tania tries to calm Maryia down. "Maryia, whatever happened, forget about it and focus on your studies and future." Maryia is still shocked and types. "But how come? Why? Was I that dumb to think that way? He doesn't care. But, I thought that." Tania tries to bring Maryia to reality. "Maryia! Forget about him! You are destroying yourself." Maryia types with a hopeless face.

"No one will understand, no one. Bye, Tania" Tania asks quickly. "Maryia, are you okay?" Maryia closes the chat icon and looks away. 

As Maryia was shocked, she felt that she needed more proof that he didn't love her. So, she taps on the phone and opens Ahmed's chat icon. Maryia talks to herself. "I must hear his voice." She types. "Call me on +1 30" She stops her finger and looks away with wide eyes, then removes what she typed and closes the icon. Then, she taps the phone numbers and calls Khadija.

Khadija answers the call and Maryia babbles. "Khadija, please call Ahmed El-Alfy and tell him to call me. Send him my number." Kadija looks confused and replies. "Uhh. Maryia… are you okay? Did something happen?" Maryia, who was about to cry, interrupts. "Please Khadija, let him call me quickly!" Khadija replies. "Okay okay, I'm texting him now. Can you explain what happened?" Maryia ends the call before answering. Khadija looks confused and talks to herself. "Uhh, they must have talked."

Khadija types on the messenger application. "Hello Ahmed, please call Maryia Shamel, our old schoolmate, on her phone." She sends the phone number. Ahmed, who turns on the phone after some minutes, receives the message. His angry and avoidant attitude starts to work, and he decides to face this situation aggressively. He replies to Khadija after reading it. "Okay, Khadija, thanks."