<p>The day before resuming school, I went out to walk Nusaiba home and stumbled upon Yaya Fatima with the same man I had insulted for splashing dirty water on my hijab.</p><p>While Nusaiba greeted him, I shot him a glare and walked off without a word.</p><p>"Khadija, why didn’t you greet Yaya Fatima’s suitor? Don’t you think it’ll hurt her feelings?" Nusaiba asked.</p><p>"I won’t greet him! And by Allah’s will, she won’t marry him either. He’s nothing but a mean person," I replied with disdain.</p><p>“Do you know him?”</p><p>“Yes! He’s the one who splashed dirty water on me that day. Didn’t you see me storming off? I even went to insult him.”</p><p>Nusaiba’s eyes widened. “Where did you see him?”</p><p>"At…" My voice trailed off as I spotted Nusaiba’s brother walking toward us.</p><p>He was looking directly at me, and I couldn’t bring myself to look away. Why couldn’t I? I didn’t know. When he got closer, I finally managed to avert my gaze, focusing on the silver bracelet in my hand.</p><p>"Yaya, are you back already?" Nusaiba asked, likely realizing she had been caught sneaking out.</p><p>"If you utter another word, I’ll spank you. Go home before you hurt yourself," Sadiq scolded.</p><p>Nusaiba quietly hurried off, not even saying goodbye, which was unusual for us.</p><p>"You can’t even greet, can you?" I heard his voice directed at me.</p><p>I still couldn’t look up.</p><p>"Good evening," I mumbled softly.</p><p>"I won’t respond unless you greet me properly," he said.</p><p>I couldn’t help but smile a little, though I wasn’t sure why I felt so shy around him.</p><p>"Are you heading back to school tomorrow?" he asked.</p><p>I nodded silently, still avoiding his gaze. His presence made me unusually self-conscious, likely because I had never stood alone with a man like this before, and his intense stare didn’t help.</p><p>"Promise me you’ll study hard and get first position this term," he said.</p><p>I instinctively looked up at him in surprise. He nodded as if confirming he was serious.</p><p>"I promise," I replied.</p><p>"Good. Now, head home. It’s almost Maghrib," he said.</p><p>"Thank you," I murmured, turning to leave.</p><p>After Maghrib prayers, Yaya Fatima grabbed my right ear.</p><p>“I was waiting for you to finish praying, young lady! So, you saw Abdul earlier and refused to greet him? Nusaiba greeted him, yet you walked away. Is that proper behavior?”</p><p>"But he’s the one who splashed dirty water on me that day," I said, my voice trembling as tears welled up, partly from her grip on my ear.</p><p>“So what if he splashed water on you? Does that give you the right not to greet him? Do you want him to think we lack manners in this house?”</p><p>"No! I’ll greet him tomorrow, I promise," I pleaded.</p><p>"It better be tomorrow, young lady," she said, releasing my ear.</p><p>That night, I couldn’t sleep at all. My thoughts were consumed by the brief conversation I’d had with Yaya Sadiq. What did it mean? Why couldn’t I stop thinking about him? Eventually, I drifted off into a restless sleep.</p><p>The next morning, Abbi took me to school. Though I was filled with excitement for the new term, I couldn’t help but feel a tinge of longing for home—and perhaps something else.</p><p> </p>
