He held both of my hands all of a sudden and mumbled some spell. The air around us started to wrap both of us in beautiful magical colors and a sensation of slight joy filled my heart to give an unconscious and pure smile. Zaki looked right straight into my eyes with a profound gaze. And before I found out, we were in the school garden. No one noticed that we came out of the blue, thanks to Zaki's sharp magic.
As I took a peek at my surroundings as we arrived, I found Zaki incredibly awesome and asked if I could show him around the school.
"You're awesome! We arrived so suddenly almost in the blink of an eye. Would you like me to show you around because you are a newcomer?"
"I'll be honored, my dear."
As he said 'my dear' in a flirty way, I blushed and looked away as he was looking ridiculously handsome.
"O...Well, great, let's go then."
I showed him around and by the time we knew Shams and James had arrived. Their mouths were left wide open as they knew that we arrived before them even when they were ahead of us.
"O.My.God! Impossible...How could you...I don't believe it!"
James was so surprised as if he had seen a ghost.
"I don't believe my eyes. Ashma, did you guys use a secret shortcut? I mean… It is impossible to reach without any vehicle in such a short time."
Shams was my best friend so it was natural for me to tell him the truth...half-truth.
"Indeed, we used the shortcut."
Shams was suspicious.
"But there is no shortcut. Only one route from our homes leads to this school. Then, which shortcut are you talking about."
I panicked and was hesitant to answer. Zaki handled the situation.
"It's our little secret. Why should we bother telling you?" He smirked while pulling me from my shoulder towards him.
"I didn't ask you, Zaki. So do not interrupt. I am simply asking my cousin."
"You are asking my fiancé. Of course, I should interfere. Let's go Ashma."
Before I could respond to the situation, Zaki held my wrist and took me away from there.
—--------
Class began and our teacher introduced Zaki as our new classmate.
"Class! Meet your new classmate. He just transferred here.—Would you like to introduce yourself?"
"Hello, everyone! I am Zaki Khan. I look forward to having a nice time with you all." He smiled gently with both of his hands in pockets of his uniform pants.
The whole class was whispering after his introduction and all the girls were drooling over him. They were head over heels for his handsomeness. The teacher gave him the seat behind me.
"I was informed that you are Ashma Rose's fiancé, so you can sit on the seat behind her as it happens to be empty."
Hearing these words the attention of the whole class transferred to me. It was embarrassing but all they did was envy me as I was the class president with top scores in the entire school as well as the fiancee of a brilliant person. My friends who were upset with me were struck with a great shock but said nothing. Class started and everyone then paid attention to the lecture.
"Hey! Give me your textbook." Zaki said when he sat behind me.
"Haven't you brought your own?"
"No, why would I? It's not like I am here to study."
"If you're not here to study, why ask about my book?"
"Whatever! I'll just sleep then." He crossed his arms and laid down his head on the desk.
"What? What! The teacher will scold you. It's your first day today."
"Don't worry. I have my magic." He snapped his fingers and a barrier surrounded him which could only be seen by me. To everyone else, he was strongly concentrated on the lecture.
—-------
It was break time and Zaki promised to help me with my friends.
"Invite them over to lunch with us, I'll help you to resolve your conflict."
"Them? Them, who?"
"You're friends."
"What?" I was dumbfounded.
"What are you thinking about? Go."
"Ah…but…How did you…Never mind."
"I know you have many questions, but I can not answer any of that for the time being. Everything must come to light at the right time on the right moment. I can not reveal anything before that."
"I…I understand. Thank you." I was concerned. I couldn't understand the depth of his words so I was anxious.
"No need. You are my fiancé even though it is only in name but your problems are still my problems."
His lavender-colored eyes had such depth in them that if I had stared any longer I would've drowned in them. I felt touched by his words.
—-------
I went to persuade my friends. They were roaming in the school garden. They didn't seem to enjoy themselves. They had an anxious, angry and worried expression on their faces. The faces that I always saw bright and cheerful were, all of a sudden, gloomy. Seeing them like that ached my heart and made me guilty.
I approached them.
"Susan, Jasmine!"
They both turned around with poker faces but said nothing. There was a complete silence among us for a few seconds.
"What do you want, Ashma?"
"Can we have a talk? I want to solve the problem we had between us."
"You are probably gonna lie, so it's better we don't listen. You had always been that way. No matter how hard we asked, you never told us. You always cope up with your issues alone. But, we were always there for you! We were always there for you because we considered you our friend! We thought that you didn't tell us your problems because you didn't want us to worry. But this time…we are not sure if you even consider us mere friends, not to mension best friends."
"Both of you, it's nothing like that! I have always treated you sincerely just as you did. The thing about that day, I can explain! Just give me a chance."
They both peeked at each other and nodded.
"Sure."
"Thank you, both of you."
I invited them as Zaki told me to the cafeteria. We sat together.