Between Faith and Feelings

THE WORST POSSIBLE START

CHAPTER TWO

Aisha had been at Kingsley University for barely ten minutes, and she was already beginning to question her decision to come here.

Not because the university wasn't beautiful. It was. The buildings were enormous, the campus was crowded, and students seemed to know exactly where they were going.

Everyone except her, apparently.

“Well,” she muttered, pulling her suitcase behind her. “This should be interesting.”

After checking in at her accommodation, she spent the afternoon unpacking, arranging her belongings, and trying to convince herself that being in an unfamiliar place wasn't as terrifying as it felt.

By evening, her room was finally in order.

Her clothes were in the wardrobe, her books were stacked neatly on her desk, and a framed photograph of her and Zainab sat beside her lamp.

She was just admiring her handiwork when her phone rang.

Zainab.

Aisha answered immediately.

“FINALLY!” Zainab exclaimed. “So you've abandoned me already?”

Aisha burst out laughing.

“Girl, I've been here for five hours!”

“And you've managed to forget your best friend in those five hours? Unbelievable.”

“I'm beginning to regret giving you my number.”

“Too late. You're stuck with me.”

They spent the next few minutes talking about Aisha's accommodation, her roommate situation, and the many ways Zainab intended to make her university experience entertaining from a distance.

Eventually, Aisha yawned.

“Someone is tired,” Zainab observed.

“Someone has been dragging luggage around all afternoon.”

“Fine. Go and sleep, Miss Independent. And please, don't get lost in your own room.”

Aisha rolled her eyes. “Goodnight, Zainab.”

“Goodnight, weirdo. Love you!”

“Love you too.”

After ending the call, Aisha placed her phone on the bedside table and set her alarm. Tomorrow was her first proper day of lectures, and she intended to make a good impression.

She had no idea how badly that plan was about to fall apart.

---

Aisha woke before her alarm the following morning.

She performed Fajr, showered, and dressed carefully in a long skirt, a loose blouse, and a neatly arranged hijab. She checked her timetable twice, packed the correct notebooks—or so she thought—and glanced at the time.

8:15 a.m.

Her first lecture started at nine.

Plenty of time.

She picked up her bag and left her room, determined to find her way without having to ask anyone for directions. She was an adult, after all. She could navigate a university campus.

Twenty minutes later, she was beginning to question that confidence.

The building numbers made absolutely no sense to her. Every time she thought she had found the right direction, she ended up somewhere unfamiliar.

She stopped beside a sign, comparing it with the directions on her phone.

“No. No, that cannot be right.”

A group of students walked past her, laughing about something. Aisha considered asking them for help, but pride got the better of her.

She would figure it out.

By 8:47, she was officially panicking.

“Of all the days to be stubborn,” she muttered, breaking into a run.

She hurried around a corner, looking down at her timetable, and collided with someone.

Her books scattered across the floor.

“Oh, for—!”

She stopped herself before finishing the sentence and crouched to gather her things.

The person she had bumped into looked down at her.

Aisha glanced up, ready to apologise, but the words caught in her throat when she noticed his expression.

A tall young man stood before her, looking down at her with an expression of pure annoyance. He had dark hair that fell casually across his forehead, an easy posture, and the sort of face that suggested he rarely had to try very hard to get people to like him.

At that moment, however, he looked thoroughly unimpressed.

Aisha frowned at him.

“Watch where you're going next time,” he said.

Then he walked away.

Just like that.

Aisha stared after him, clutching her books against her chest.

“Excuse me?” she whispered, turning to watch his retreating figure. “You could at least help me pick these up!”

He didn't turn around.

She let out a frustrated breath.

“Unbelievable.”

She shoved her books into her bag and hurried towards the lecture hall, determined to forget his face as quickly as possible.

---

Aisha slipped into the lecture hall at 8:59, just as the lecturer was preparing to begin.

Several students glanced in her direction. She ignored them, keeping her eyes on the rows of seats.

Almost every seat was occupied.

Of course.

She spotted one empty space near the middle and hurried towards it, relieved to have found somewhere to sit.

Then she saw who was occupying the seat beside it.

The same irritating guy from the corridor.

He glanced up as she approached. Recognition flickered across his face, followed by an annoyingly amused expression.

“Stalking me now?”

His voice was calm, carrying a distinct British accent.

Aisha stopped for half a second.

Then she shot him a glare and squeezed into the seat without answering.

He smirked before returning his attention to the front.

Aisha placed her bag on the floor and tried to focus on the lecturer. She was not going to let one rude stranger ruin her first day.

Unfortunately, the lecturer had other plans.

“Aisha?”

Her head snapped up.

She hadn't even realised attendance had been taken.

“Yes?”

“Since you've just joined us, perhaps you can answer this. What is the difference between software requirements and software design?”

Aisha froze.

She had missed the beginning of the explanation while trying to settle down and recover from her encounter with the most irritating person alive.

A few students turned to look at her.

She swallowed.

“Would it be that... requirements are what the software requires, and design is how we make it look?”

Silence.

Then a few people laughed.

Heat rushed to her face.

The lecturer smiled gently, saving her from further embarrassment. “Not quite. Requirements describe what the system should do and the constraints it must satisfy. Design explains how the system will be structured to meet those requirements.”

“Oh. Right,” Aisha murmured.

She lowered her eyes to her notebook, wishing the floor would open beneath her chair.

Beside her, the boy made a quiet sound that suspiciously resembled a laugh.

Aisha turned towards him.

“Don't,” she whispered.

He lifted his hands slightly, pretending innocence, though the amusement in his eyes betrayed him.

She faced forward again and promised herself she would never speak to him unless absolutely necessary.

Then she opened her bag to take out the textbook listed on her timetable.

Her fingers met the cover of a completely different book.

She stared at it.

Once.

Twice.

Then she slowly closed her eyes.

She had brought the wrong module textbook.

Perfect. Absolutely perfect.

“Wrong module?”

She turned sharply towards the boy.

He was looking at the book in her hands, one eyebrow raised.

“Do you ever mind your business?” she whispered.

“Occasionally.”

He returned to his notes as though he hadn't just made her morning ten times worse.

Aisha clenched her jaw and shoved the book back into her bag.

She would survive this lecture. She would survive the day. And if she never saw him again, it would be far too soon.

---

The rest of the morning passed without another incident.

Thankfully, the remaining lecturers didn't call on her, and she managed to follow the lessons well enough to recover some of her confidence.

She didn't see the irritating boy after the first lecture, which she considered a small victory.

By lunchtime, she had almost convinced herself that the morning's embarrassment wasn't as disastrous as it had felt.

Almost.

Her afternoon lecture was in a different building, and this time, she checked the directions before leaving. She arrived early enough to choose a seat near the front, setting out her notebook and the correct textbook with exaggerated care.

A girl with shoulder-length braids approached a few minutes later.

“Hi. Is anyone sitting here?”

“No, go ahead.”

“Thank you!”

The girl settled into the seat beside her and offered a friendly smile.

“I'm Deborah, by the way.”

“Aisha.”

“Nice to meet you. Is this your first week here?”

“First proper day, actually. I'm still trying to figure out where everything is.”

Deborah laughed. “Same! Yesterday, I walked into the wrong building and sat outside a staff office for ten minutes before realising.”

Aisha giggled. “That makes me feel slightly better about my morning.”

“Oh, what happened?”

Aisha hesitated, then decided the story was too ridiculous not to share.

“I got lost, arrived late for my first lecture, embarrassed myself in front of everyone, and discovered I'd brought the wrong textbook.”

Deborah pressed a hand to her mouth, trying not to laugh too loudly.

“Oh, no!”

“And to make it worse, I bumped into this incredibly annoying guy on the way there.”

Deborah finally laughed. “All that before lunch? You've had a productive day.”

“Productive is not the word I'd use.”

Their conversation continued until the lecturer arrived. They discovered they had a few interests in common and that they would be sharing some classes throughout the semester.

By the end of the lecture, Aisha was already feeling more comfortable around her.

“Do you want to exchange numbers?” Deborah asked as they packed their belongings. “It might be helpful to have someone to contact when either of us gets lost.”

“Definitely.”

They exchanged numbers before leaving the lecture hall, promising to message each other later.

For the first time that day, Aisha felt as though university might not be so bad after all.

---

By the time she returned to her accommodation, exhaustion had settled into every part of her body.

She dropped her bag beside her desk, kicked off her shoes, and fell onto her bed.

Her phone was in her hand almost immediately.

Aisha: I have officially survived my first day.

Zainab replied within seconds.

Zainab: ALHAMDULILLAH 😭😂 Tell me everything!

Aisha smiled and began typing.

Aisha: I got lost, arrived late for my first lecture, embarrassed myself in front of the entire class, and brought the wrong textbook.

Zainab: HAHAHAHAHAHA 😭😭 Aisha, how???

Aisha: Please don't start.

Zainab: I haven't even started. Continue.

Aisha hesitated before adding the part she knew Zainab would enjoy most.

Aisha: And I met the most annoying guy on the planet.

The typing bubble appeared almost instantly.

Zainab: OHHHHHH? 👀

Aisha sat up.

Aisha: Don't even start.

Zainab: I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING!

Aisha: Your emojis are saying enough.

Zainab sent a string of laughing emojis before changing the subject, much to Aisha's relief.

They talked for another few minutes, and when the conversation ended, Aisha placed her phone beside her and stared at the ceiling.

It had been a long, embarrassing, exhausting day. But she had made it through, met someone who seemed genuinely nice, and learned a valuable lesson.

Tomorrow, she would check her timetable properly, leave earlier, and stop being too stubborn to ask for directions.

And as for the rude boy?

She would ignore him if she ever saw him again.

Simple.

Aisha nodded to herself, satisfied with the plan.

Then she remembered his smirk.

Her eyes narrowed.

“Annoying i***t,” she muttered.

Tomorrow, she decided, would be better.

It had to be.