I met her almost a year back. Even though our fathers were friends and we knew Alia is a bit of a nerd, who is quiet most of the time but she got along well with my elder sister Sana who is a chatterbox. I couldn’t blame her though; since my sister never needed anyone for a conversation. Alia was the typical girl next door; the one you bring home to meet your parents. She was dressed in a black and yellow salwar kameez and wore large glasses which almost covered her tiny face. Even though she is pretty, she never really bothers about the way she looks unlike other girls I had met before. While other girls wanted to look pretty to impress boys and other girls, she was mostly engrossed in her books. Her brother Amjad is exactly my age and her complete opposite. Our similar interests in sports and adventure brought us close and we became good friends. Actually best friends in a limited span of time. We started hanging out together and even spent the whole day at each other’s house. Mostly, it was me who went to his place. That’s exactly what made me look at Alia from an all-together different perspective. When we first met, I just observed her appearance and ignored her completely. She seemed sweet though, but not worth my type. Amjad is extremely protective about her and I have been given special instructions to take care of her in his absence. It had actually become a ritual. Whenever I went to their house, Alia would be the one to open the door. Since Amjad was too lazy to get up from his seat and he mostly ordered her around. She greeted me with a salaam and a genuine smile. I repeated her gesture. It happened every single day. Without fail. After opening the door for me, she would go back to doing her homework while both of us studied or played together. Alia never interrupted us, no matter what we did and remained a silent spectator. Amjad would pull her leg more than often and she would mostly be at the receiving end of our jokes. While I enjoyed the

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