seventh episode
448 Words
Zarnab had always been the girl everyone admired but no one truly understood. She was calm, mature, and careful with her heart. She laughed with her friends, helped everyone, and never showed her real feelings easily. Maybe that’s why no one ever realised she was in love… except her own heart, which betrayed her every single day.
She liked him quietly. Silently. Secretly.
It started months ago — with a small conversation, a simple smile, a moment that felt ordinary to everyone else but unforgettable to her. His name was Aimal. A boy who wasn’t the loudest, nor the friendliest, but he had a sincerity in his eyes that Zarnab couldn’t resist noticing.
She had never meant to fall.
It happened slowly… and then all at once.
At first, Zarnab convinced herself:
“It’s nothing. It’s just respect… admiration… he’s just a good person.”
But good people become dangerous when your heart decides to remember every little detail about them.
Aimal didn’t know.
He didn’t know how her day changed depending on whether he greeted her or not.
He didn’t know how she avoided looking at him because she could feel the warmth rising to her face.
He didn’t know that sometimes, late at night, Zarnab replayed every small conversation they ever had.
But her feelings stayed locked inside — hidden behind her controlled expressions, her sensible personality.
Yet there were moments when her hidden love felt painfully visible, at least to herself.
Like the day he randomly said,
“Take care of yourself, Zarnab. You look tired.”
It was a normal sentence. Normal tone. Normal day.
But she went home with that one line echoing in her heart like a thousand fireworks.
She wished she could tell someone, anyone… but she didn’t. She was too scared.
What if it was one-sided?
What if she lost even his friendship?
What if he didn’t feel anything at all?
So Zarnab chose silence — the safest cage for the most dangerous feelings.
But she wasn’t as unreadable as she thought.
Her best friend, Laiba, had started noticing the small cracks.
The way Zarnab’s voice softened when she mentioned him.
The way she looked away whenever someone said his name.
The way she got defensive whenever Laiba teased her even a little.
One afternoon, when they were sitting near the campus lawn, Laiba asked casually,
“Why do you get quiet every time he walks by?”
Zarnab froze.
Her fingers tightened around her notebook.
Her eyelashes lowered like she was hiding a secret between their shadows.
Her heart began beating so loudly she was sure Laiba heard it.
But she smiled — her usual controlled, perfect, composed smile.
- Writer
