The morning sun, filtered through the old, grimy windows of St. Joseph's,on the desks of Class 9.
At the center of it all were Fareeha, known to everyone as Fari, and Mustafa.
"Look at them,Saima and Aleena. "Totally made for each other."
Aleena giggled, while Zoha, Haniya, and Huda joined . Sajjad, Mustafa's best friend and usual partner in crime, was surprisingly complicit, a wide smile speared across his face.
"Oh my god, guys, stop it," Fari groaned, her cheeks flushing a deep red that matched the cover of her biology textbook. She shot a look at Haniya, who, being her cousin, usually had her back in these situations. Today, however, Haniya just offered a sympathetic shrug, a wide smile spreading across her own face, clearly having joined the shipping.
Mustafa, looked cringed. "Seriously, what the f**k wrong with you people?" he grumbled, running a hand through his messy hair. He cast a glare at Sajjad, who only laughed harder. Mustafa, increasingly fed up with being the target of their ridiculous matchmaking, decided to fight fire with fire. Whenever we'd tease him, he always end up by turning the tables on us. "Oh yeah?" he retorted, a new glint in his eye. "Then I guess Zoha and Sabhihulla are totally meant to be! And Huda with Ayan! And don't even get me started on Haniya and Younus!"
Mustafa was, by all accounts, a force of nature. He moved through life in 9th grade with an almost alarming behaviour, with a smirk on his face that suggested he knew something you didn't, or simply didn't care. Nothing seemed to faze him. He was the kind of student who'd get into a heated argument with Aditi in front of a teacher no less, and call her a "motherf***er" without batting an eye. His grades were always D or C that made him a constant target for every teacher in St. Joseph's. Even Fari's mother, Ms. Sadiya, had him on her radar. His relationship with Sajjad was a chaotic symphony of insults and inside jokes, punctuated by Mustafa's frequent, colorful curses.
Fareeha, on the other hand, was the embodiment of sunshine. The daughter of Ms. Sadiya, she was the a clam child – bright, and with a smile that could disarm even the grumpiest person. She was a topper, her notebooks were organized, her answers always precise. Teachers adored her. Fari was an innocent soul, her cuteness a natural extension of her joyful behaviour. Her best friend was her cousin, Haniya, who often acted as her protecter. Even Haniya, usually a troublemaker herself and always on Fari's side, had, this time, joined the rest of their friends in the relentless shipping. And then there was Saima, along with Aleena, Zoha, and Huda – Fari's other friends, a self-proclaimed quartet of troublemakers who, despite our chaotic tendencies, fiercely protected our sweet-natured friend.
The "shipping" continued, a testament to the fact that even in the hallowed halls of St. Joseph's, some things were just inevitable in 9th grade. And as Fari and Mustafa squirmed under the weight of their friends' teasing