Beyond Just Eye Contact

Months went by, and we kept on teasing Fari and Mustafa. It was still our favorite thing to do. Everything they did, every small look or quick touch, just made us think more that they should be together. We, daina, Adeline, Zoya, Hani, jasmine, and Sajjad, always gave each other knowing looks. We just knew they were meant for each other, and we didn't let them forget it.

One very hot afternoon, in Ms. Fatima's history class, it was really quiet. Suddenly, there was a loud BANG! on the door. Everyone jumped. Ms. Fatima, who was Fari's mom and usually calm, just looked at the door. "Mustafa," she said, "can you please open the door and see who that is?"

Mustafa, who always acted a bit lazy, slowly got up. He walked to the door like he didn't care, probably planning to say something funny. He pulled the door open quickly. But then he stopped.

Fari was standing right there, very close to him. Their faces were only a few inches apart. She must have been about to knock again. They both froze, looking right into each other's eyes. They were both very surprised and suddenly nervous. For us, watching from our desks, it was just five seconds of quiet. But for Fari and Mustafa, standing so close, it felt like a whole day had passed. Fari's face turned a bit red. And even Mustafa, who was usually so cool, looked a little unsure. Something new was in his eyes. Mustafa seemed lost, just staring into Fari's eyes. He only snapped out of it when Ms. Fatima asked again, "Mustafa, who is it at the door?" Mustafa almost jumped. "It's Fariya!" he blurted out, a little too loudly. Then he quickly walked back to his desk, but you could tell his mind was still replaying that moment at the door.

Later that same day, things got even stranger for them. Mustafa had to go to Maths extra help (remedial class), which happened a lot because he wasn't very good at studies. But then, Fari showed up too! She went there to get even better grades, not because she was struggling. When she saw Mustafa sitting in a chair at the back, she suddenly felt shy.

Then, the Maths teacher, who didn't know about all the teasing, made things even more awkward. "Fari, Mustafa," she said happily, pointing to a table at the front, "you two sit across from each other here. You can help each other with the hard math problems."

Daina, Hani, Zoya, Sajjad, and jasmine looked at each other and smiled. The extra help class, which was supposed to be quiet, quickly became our own little show. We started whispering and giggling, making jokes about them. Fari's face turned bright red, like a tomato. But Mustafa was the biggest surprise.

The Mustafa we knew was always saying mean things, fighting with Sajjad, and never quiet. But not today. He didn't say any bad words. He didn't argue with Sajjad, even though Sajjad was practically daring him. He didn't even make fun of the math problems. He just sat there, playing with his pen, sometimes looking at Fari and then quickly looking away. He seemed truly nervous, fidgeting a bit. It was clear: the usual wild Mustafa was gone. For once, he was shy and unsure. It felt like something in our 9th-grade world had changed, just a little bit.