one shot. (2)

Qasim Farooq and Rania Ahmed.

November went, and December arrived, bringing with it a shivering gust of wind and the stench of petrichor.

Winters were peaceful in Lahore, with a deary frost and quiet nights.

Rania's profound passion for winters was primarily due to the silence. Her concept of calm is long winter nights cuddled up under a comfortable blanket, drinking warm tea, and watching the silliest Rom-com on the laptop.

If it was in her hands, she would never allow winters to end.

The frigid breeze hitting her face in the winter makes make her more alive than she already is. That's why every winter she just sits in the background of her university where usually nobody comes and enjoys the silence that her favorite season brings.

Gazing at the hidden sun behind the misty clouds, she smile lightly, she was admiring the view when her classmate's voice reached her ears.

"There you are! I looked all around the campus for you, and thank God I found you here; I thought I'd be old by the time I got you."

Rolling her eyes, Rania stared at the dark-haired girl with a scowl.

"Quit being dramatic Sana,"

Sana snorted, "if you think I'm being dramatic then I don't know what you would call professor Ayub's behavior who is searching for you like a madman."

Her statement startled Rania. If the grumpiest professor of the university was looking for her then it is certain that it's not good news. But, in her memory there was nothing she did that would make her professor furious. She submitted the assignment on time and aced the midterm with a solid A.

"Why he's looking for me?"

Sana shrugged nonchalantly.

"Don't know, but he looked agitated, I'm sure if he was a cartoon the steam would be probably come out of his ears by now."

Sana's declaration genuinely worried her and without listening to anything else, she collected her books and jogged towards her professor's office.

Running towards his office, she looked at many concerned faces whispering something while gazing at her. She swears she even heard someone telling her 'good luck.'

Every step taken towards the office was making her fearful.

You didn't do anything wrong!

Her mind, again and again, assured her.

Knocking on the door, Rania waited for her professor's permission.

"Come in." An indignant voice spoke from the other side of the door.

She took slow, hesitant steps into the room, her attention falling on the two individuals who occupied the little office. One was her stern professor, and the other was Rubab Baloch, the university's popular and mean girl.

"You took your time, Miss Ahmed." Professor Ayub gave her a direct glare. His big spectacles couldn't hide the frown he was throwing at her.

Twirling the laptop towards her, he gestured with his hand. "Can you explain, what is this?"

Rania was a bit hesitant, nevertheless, she took a step forward and bend slightly, blinking, she read the text on the laptop's screen, it took her a maximum of five seconds to acknowledge that it was her assignment.

Why was he showing me my assignment? She thought in her mind and without wasting any more time she stood upright and with confidence uttered.

"This is my assignment. Sir."

From the corner of her eye, she saw Rubab's evil smirk.

"This where you are wrong Miss Ahmed, this is not yours but Miss Baloch's assignment and you copy it." It took her a whole minute to process his affidavit, she blinked and stared at the stern old man with amusement.

"I hate to say it, but you got me with that joke, I never knew you were a prankster type, Sir." A chuckle got stuck somewhere between her throat and her mouth because instead of joining her in her laughing fit Mr. Ayub was throwing daggers at her which could burry her under six feet.

"You think this some kind of joke?"

"What else? You're showing me my assignment and claiming that it's done by Rubab." Her voice was not loud nor too low, it was enough for both of the figures present in the room to hear clearly.

"Miss Ahmed enough of your nonsense! First, you copy Miss Baloch's assignment then without any fear of getting caught you are blaming me for playing a prank on you. Where are you Miss Ahmed, in an educational institute or at your home? Huh?"

Copy? What does he mean by she copied the assignment? Only she knew how she finished that piece of crap by not sleeping for two days in a row. He was calling her hard work replicated of someone.

What kind of injustice is this!

"Sir you are mistaken-"

"Enough Miss Ahmed, Miss Baloch you can go back and attend your class."

The witch nodded at him innocently and smiled at her devilish as she got out.

"Yes, Miss Ahmed tell me, do you have any explanation for what you did!?

Crossing his arms, he looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"I do have an explanation Sir, I didn't copy her assignment but it's the other way around. She came to you telling that somebody copied her assignment and you admit without asking any proof. Seriously! I thought you were better than this."

Her voice rose a little bit and without quivering in fear she held her professor's stern gaze.

"Don't question me, Miss Ahmed. I have enough proof to disclose your conspiracy. On Thursday, when it was the last date of submission Miss Baloch came towards me telling me that she has lost her USB and I gave her a day more to recover it, but on the same day she came again taking me towards the IT lab and you Miss Ahmed was working on the laptop with Miss Baloch's USB."

She was still processing his first statement when he spoke again, "After you copied everything, you placed that USB there and went away."

What in the world! Whatever that witch stirred a story, Mr. Ayub was convicted with it and she knew that no matter how many arguments she'll throw at him, this persistent old man won't be assured. Rage flared in her heart. She wanted nothing more than to beat the little piece of crap till death. Rubab played her game very well.

Curling her fists tightly, she clenched her jaw and took slow deep breaths. She knew if she opened her mouth then nothing good will come out.

Right then a knock disturbed their moment, she was still taking deep breaths when she felt a presence beside her.

"You called me. Sir."

A deep masculine voice interrupted her raging thoughts, a warm and dry woody scent with a little mix of spice like cardamom hit her nostrils.

She knows this voice and this scent.

"Mr. Farooq."

Rania was stunned to see the change of behavior of Mr. Ayub.

The man who was scolding her seconds ago was now smiling looking at the golden boy of the university.

Qasim Farooq—the star of the university, high achiever, the quarterback of the university's football team, and practically everybody's favorite. except her.

To her, he's an annoying neighbor, her senior, and her father's best friend's son. Outside the institution, they have a lot of interaction but she has never been interested in talking to him.

He's too cocky for her.

"Mr. Farooq I have a task for you since it you're last semester here, I want a favor from you."

Rania's eyebrows rose, after seeing Mr. Ayub sweet-talking Qasim, she had to bite her lips to stop herself from barfing.

"Of course Sir, whatever you want."

The deep masculine voice again spoke from beside her. Rania's entire focus was on her professor but she could feel Qasim gazing at her.

"Miss Ahmed here has been caught cheating on her assignment, she copied everything from Miss Baloch's assignment, I want you to personally supervise her and give her tuition so that she will refrain from doing such acts in the future."

"What!" Both Rania and Qasim spoke at the same time.

"Sir, I told you before and I'm telling you now, I didn't copy anyone's assignment. It was a trap set up for me."

"Miss Ahmed, this not some criminal movie where somebody set a trap just for you, the only criminal here is you, do you know that plagiarism is a crime? stop playing the victim card."

Now, this was crossing all the limits, her fists were clenched tightly, she took a step towards to give her professor a piece of his mind but soon her elbow was captured by someone else.

"Of course. Sir, I'll do this gladly, we'll take our leaves now. Goodbye." He didn't let her elbow go no matter how much force she applied.

The man had the strength of a hulk.

Taking out of the room, he took her to the empty class and closes the door behind him.

"I'm not getting supervised by you! I didn't copy her assignment, that hag told an untruth! I'm not a criminal." She yelled and threw her books forcefully at the wall.

"Rania, calm down." Qasim took a step forward to stop her, but Rania was furious and when she did not find any more books, she started to throw punches at his chest.

"I didn't do it." She yelled while punching his chest with her little fists.

Finally, the rage was replaced with gloom and soon she starts to sob placing her hand on her eyes.

Qasim's heart clenched after hearing the little sobs, gently, he put his hands over her shoulder and mumbled. "Shh, stop crying, I know you didn't do it."

"Liar!" Again a shout left her mouth.

"If you knew that I didn't do it then you have to speak in front of him." Again a punch to his chest.

"Stop punching me women, I'm a human, not your punching bag." Narrowing his eyes at her, he rubbed his sore chest which became a victim of her rage.

"Tell me what should I do now?" Sitting on the wooden chair, she mumbled to him while ignoring his remark.

"Don't get under pressure and just relax, I'll try to find the solution." Sitting in front of her, he assured Rania with his famous smirk.

The white shirt underneath a black jacket and dark denim jeans is his daily go-to-go outfit. The man's wardrobe was filled with leather jackets, Rania can swear on it.

His bad-boy outfit, charming caramel eyes, and dimpled smile take away the breath of many girls every day.

Yet, he never had meaningless affairs, the rumors circulated that he likes a girl but the girl is clueless and doesn't give any heeds to him and Qasim swore to win her.

"Why would you help? Last time I checked you were not my best friend"

A chuckle erupted from his chest.

"I always wanted to be your friend. It was you who denied it."

"Yeah, because you are not the type of friend I make." A straightforward answer.

"What's your type? Last time I check you were best friend with Rubab and suddenly you become enemies and since then I never saw you hanging with any other." She knew she didn't have friends but listening to it from someone's else mouth hurt her deeply.

"That's none of your business."

"Oh, it sure is, when two girls fight over me then it becomes my business."

Her heart skipped a beat. Whoever told him this will surely get murdered from her hands.

"Don't get your hopes high, she wanted me to introduce her to you, and when I rejected telling her that I don't have a relation with you, she just threw a fit like she always does when things don't go her way."

Gritting her teeth, she exposed the feud between her and her former friend.

"I'm a little hurt, we side by side attend every function together and yet you told her that we don't have any relationship. It honestly bruised my ego."

"Don't talk nonsense and tell me your plan."

She was getting irritated by his constant smirking, exhaling a deep breath she gazed at him asking for an answer.

"That's on me, I told you don't take the pressure, everything will get settled in two to three days."

A skeptical look crossed her eyes nonetheless she shrugged and bends down to collect her scattered books.

Qasim stood up from his chair and helped Rania in compiling her books. But soon his gaze landed on her brown straight hair and he got lost in looking at her.

He gazed at her as a lover gazed at his beloved, indeed he was a love. Madly in love with her but the irony was that except for her everybody knows about it.

The whole university, his parents, her parents, her sister, his brother, expect of her.

"What? Stop staring at me like a creep."

She smacked a book across his chest to bring him back out of his dreamland.

"Women stop being violent."

Groaning, he again rubbed his chest.

******

The next day, she was sitting in the furthest corner of the library and still sulking over yesterday's event.

"You dodged me but still I find you, honestly, you would never get a cool supervisor like me, why are even hiding?"

Rania banged her head on the table after listening to his voice.

"Can't you be less annoying?"

"Can't help it! It's in my genes."

Groaning loudly, she sat upright.

Ignoring him, she focused on her book and starts to highlight the important paragraphs. For about five minutes, she tried to hold her focus but in the end, she failed miserably.

"I can't, I just can't do this, my mind won't let me function until the accusation doesn't turn false against me."

Qasim sighed and took the yellow higher out of her death grip.

"Calm down Rania. I promised you, didn't I? Mr.Ayub will himself apologize to you and I will make sure that Rubab gets severe punishment."

Staring into her hazel eyes, his heart thumped loudly against his rib cage.

He gulped down the lump and averted his eyes from her.

"Tell me what do you think would have happened? How did she trap you?"

Heaving a large weary breath, Rania starts to speak. "Sir Ayub told me that Rubab came to him telling him that she lost her USB and he granted her a day to recover it, obviously it was a lie she never did finish her assignment like she always does.

When we were friends she gifted me the same USB as her, till now, I never changed it and of course, she remembered my habit of forgetting things, so in my viewpoint, she went back after seeing me in the IT lab, fetched Sir Ayub with her. She knew damn well that I will forget the USB there and finding the perfect opportunity she told him that it was hers from which I was coping. Of course, sir wanted to test me that's why he didn't say anything on spot and when we both left she copied and sent the assignment before me. end of the story."

"What a clever girl she is."

Rania scoffed and rubbed her misty eyes. Everything that happened yesterday took a toll on her mental health, Rania Ahmed was many things but she wasn't a thief or a cheater, and this thing was known by her classmates, thankfully they were also waiting for the truth to come out.

"Rania, don't cry haven't you heard that a lie has no shoes."

Laughter bubbled from her chest. "A lie has no legs not shoes, silly." She shook her head at him still giggling.

"Exactly my point and I promise the truth will come out soon." His lips twitched after seeing her laughing. Smiling, he again promised her.

The girl was making him deep in love with her each passing second.

His phone buzzed with an upcoming call, excusing himself, he went to the furthest corner to take it.

About a minute, he returned.

"C'mon, it's time to fulfill my promise."

Holding her hand gently, he took her with him.

Her protests were ignored by him, and he cherished the feel of her against his.

Reaching professor Ayub's class, she saw all of her classmates and professor Ayub gathered there.

A big projector was positioned on the empty wall and yesterday's camera recording was being played. Where it could certainly see how Rubab occupied Rania's chair after she left and types something on the computer.

Her devilish smirk while going was enough for everyone to know what had she done. She sent the assignment before Rania had a chance to do so.

"Rubab is this true? Were you the one to copy Rania's work?"

Rubab tried to speak but no words left her mouth, everybody could see who the real culprit is.

"Miss Ahmed, I am truly ashamed for accusing you falsely, you should've argued more to convince me."

Rania wanted to scream at that old man, but she held her tongue, the truth came out, everybody got to know who was culprit, she got an apology.

Everything was settled. She didn't want to waste any more of her energy.

"Miss Baloch, my office now."

Head lowered, Rubab took slow steps.

"Rubab, be aware of the camera next time you cheat."

It was Rania's time to smirk.

One by one everybody left and just her and Qasim remained.

"So, in just a day I exposed her, shouldn't I deserve some award."

"If I could hug you right now I would've done it."  The largest grin was settled on her lips.

"You still can, I'm all yours."

Shaking her head, Rania pinched his cheek. "Once a pervert, always a pervert."

"Once an ice queen not always an ice queen."

A smack across his chest made him stop from uttering cringy lines.

"Seriously, how did you do it?" She asked curiously.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out."

In the middle of their bicker, he became quiet and just stared at her. Blinking and gulping, he wet his dry lips.

"What now? Cat got your tongue?"

"Mr. Farooq the golden boy doesn't have anything to say now."

"Not even telling me how smart you are?

"C'mon now start speaking, it's kinda creeping me out."

"I love you." He murmured.

It was all so sudden at one moment he was gazing at her and the next minute he confessed his love for her. It was so sudden for her that it took her a maximum of five minutes to realize that what he said is not one of his jokes.

"What." A whisper of disbelief left her mouth.

"Look I know this is not the time, but I don't want to wait anymore. I can't hold these feelings in my heart any longer now. I can't wait and watch until some bastard comes and swipes you off the feet. I didn't know how it happened but I find myself deeply in love with you and trust me these feelings are not reducing instead they are getting strong each day.

I kept my distance but I don't want to now. Knowing that I will be graduating this month and you would be alone is a punch in my gut. Before graduating I want to confess, I want to tell you I love you that you are the girl that everybody talks about, I tried so hard but you never gave me any attention but now I want to just confess a-"

He couldn't complete his sentence.

The slap was enough for him to stop rambling.

"Don't ever show me your face again."

Tears streaming down her cheeks, she spoke through clenched teeth.

*******

It was almost a month, today was his graduation yet he was miserable and hopeless.

He lost count of how many times he went to her house, the first five days, she just rejected to talk to him. However, after a lot of pleadings, she eventually give in. She listened to him but didn't respond to any of his questions and confession.

Her family was happy that he finally confessed but was disappointed in her reaction. Let's just everybody was on his side and every member of her family became a lawyer defending the same client.

A little realization developed in her heart and after a lot of thinking she finally made up her mind.

Qasim stood under the shadow of a pine tree when a clearing of the throat made him turn around.

"Rania!"

His heart skipped a beat, she was looking gorgeous in her yellow dress.

And he couldn't keep his eyes away from hers.

"I thought of returning the favor."

His throat felt parched, he didn't move and just stared at her.

"I'm here to be your friend."

Fireworks exploded inside his stomach.

"I-"

"For now just friends Qasim nothing more, we'll see where destiny will direct us."

Oh, destiny will surely make you my wife, that's my promise. He thought.

Nodding, he grinned like a madman.

Uswahbhat05 It's what I could come up with while thinking of a senior junior. Thank you for giving a topic.

I wanted to make this a short story but when I started writing I couldn't stop. So, tell me how was it.

This story will be my last entry to this book. I may write something in the future for this book but not right now!

And lastly thank you for loving and reading.

Keep me in your prayers,

Take care and Allah Hafiz.