CHAPTER 13 - Something Strange
678 Words
“What now?”
Hana frowned while watching Danish from across the sports hall.
One second he looked normal.
The next—
emotionally hostile again.
Suspicious behavior.
Beside her, Sara calmly sipped her drink.
“He’s competitive.”
“That looked personal.”
Sara laughed softly.
“You really don’t notice things, do you?”
Before Hana could ask what that meant, Mira suddenly appeared out of nowhere and aggressively sat beside them.
“WHY is engineering faculty’s top student glaring at this bench like we betrayed his ancestors?”
Hana pointed immediately.
“SEE? Even Mira noticed.”
Sara looked deeply entertained now.
Meanwhile across the futsal court, Danish wiped sweat from his forehead before looking away again.
The game resumed soon after.
But strangely—
he started playing rougher afterward.
Very rough.
One of his teammates nearly shouted after getting pushed accidentally.
“Bro relax!”
“I am relaxed.”
Liar.
Hana narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
Ya Allah.
Engineering boys were emotionally unstable creatures.
An hour later, the game finally ended.
Students slowly started leaving the sports hall while others stayed behind chatting near the benches.
Hana bent down to retie her shoelace when suddenly—
“Careful.”
A hand grabbed her arm quickly before she lost balance completely.
Hana blinked in surprise.
Danish.
Again.
“What are you doing?”
“You almost fell.”
“I was tying my shoelace.”
“You nearly hit the bench.”
“That sounds dramatic.”
“You have poor survival instincts.”
Before Hana could continue arguing, Faiz suddenly walked over holding several canned drinks.
“Hana, catch.”
He tossed one toward her casually.
Unfortunately—
Hana failed spectacularly.
The drink slipped directly from her hands before rolling dramatically across the floor.
Silence.
Then Mira burst into laughter first.
“Oh my God.”
Hana covered her face immediately.
“Astaghfirullah.”
Even Sara started laughing softly beside her.
Meanwhile Danish stared at the rolling can for several seconds before finally muttering—
“Impressive.”
“That sounded judgemental.”
“It was.”
Hana glared at him instantly.
“You know what? Maybe Sara should be your lab partner instead.”
Wrong sentence.
Very wrong sentence.
The atmosphere changed immediately.
Small.
Subtle.
But enough for Hana to notice.
Danish’s expression flattened slightly.
“She’s not in engineering.”
“That’s not the point.”
“Then what is your point?”
Hana blinked.
Why did that suddenly sound serious?
Before she could answer, Faiz awkwardly cleared his throat.
“Okay… I’m sensing tension again.”
“There is no tension,” Hana replied immediately.
“Exactly,” Danish added coldly.
Unfortunately—
this time it did not sound convincing.
At all.
Later that night, Hana returned to the hostel feeling strangely annoyed.
Not at Danish.
Not exactly.
Just…
annoyed.
Alya immediately looked up from her bed the moment Hana entered the room.
“Oho.”
Hana dropped onto her chair dramatically.
“I don’t understand engineering boys.”
“That’s because they don’t understand themselves either.”
“That’s comforting.”
Alya rolled closer dramatically.
“What happened now?”
“Nothing.”
“That means something happened.”
Hana sighed before pulling off her tudung pin carefully.
Then without realizing it—
she started talking.
About:
* the futsal game
* the weird mood
* the coffee
* the irritating comments
* Sara
* Danish being strange again
Alya listened quietly the entire time.
Then finally—
“Hana.”
“What?”
“You talk about him a lot.”
Silence.
Hana froze slightly.
“…Do I?”
“Yes.”
“That’s because he’s annoying.”
“Mhm.”
“And stressful.”
“Mhm.”
“And emotionally concerning.”
Alya grinned slowly.
“Interesting.”
Hana immediately threw a pillow toward her.
“Don’t start.”
But later that night—
while trying to sleep—
Hana suddenly remembered something strange.
No matter how crowded engineering faculty became lately…
somehow—
she always noticed Danish first.
- Writer
