The Mark of Innocence: Chapter 9 Pg 108 - Page 28

Four

Zoya, Priya and Humera started to walk towards their college 'is that also halls for students?' Zoya asked as they walked past another building very similar to theirs 'yes, it's for the most irritating creature created by god' Priya said, Zoya looked at her and then Humera who was rolling her eyes at Priya's comment 'she means it halls for the boys...she doesn't get on with the opposite sex much' 'do you blame me...I have one older and two younger brats who drive me crazy...you have no idea how hard it is being the only girl' Zoya started laughing at her, this was one person she was going to have fun with.

As they picked up their timetables they realised that they didn't have any classes together, but what was good was that most of their free periods and breaks coincided. Humera and Zoya were in the B block whereas Priya had her first lesson in the main building. Zoya and Humera made their way to the B block as they casually walked across the grounds taking in their new environment Humera screamed making Zoya jump back. A young guy had come behind Humera and grabbed her. Humera turned around 'what the hell, are you trying to kill me...I can't believe you' she said hitting him across the arm as hard as she could. The guy couldn't stop laughing at Humera. Humera looked at Zoya who was looking at the boy as if she was going to punch his lights out 'Zoe, this is Ayaan...my boyfriend...and this is Zoe, mine and Priya's roommate' Ayaan looked at Zoya and held his hand 'Salaam, nice meeting you...sorry didn't mean to scare you in the process' Zoya shook his hand 'nice meeting you too.

'Ayaan, what do you have for first period...and where is Leo, were you two not together?' 'I have music, and so does Leo, he is on his way...where are you?' 'I am off to drama, but looks like you are with Zoe...so you guys can head off...and behave yourself' she said as she narrowed her eyes at him, she looked at Zoya 'he is a little crazy...if he gets on your nerves a little too much you have permission to become violent' Zoya started laughing 'I am sure it won't come to that, I'll see you at break'.

Ayaan and Zoya walked into their first class, there were quite a number of pupils already seated waiting for their teacher. 'I take it you know quite a few people here?' Zoya asked Ayaan 'not that many, I know Humera of course we have been together for about a year, I know Leo who is my cousin, let me see who else...oh Priya, and Tanveer' Zoya raised her eyebrow 'I would say that is quite a few...you studying just music or is a combined course?' 'Combined, I am doing music and drama' 'cool, well at least I have one person I know in music then'.

Zoya took out her pen and writing pad getting ready to be taught her first lesson. After a few minutes their teacher came in and introduced himself 'good morning, firstly welcome to IMDD. My name is Nikhil Hans, you can call me Nikhil. Before I start just a few housekeeping rules, I don't like late comers so please make sure that you are punctual, I expect you to respect the views and opinions of everyone else here, I do not tolerate rudeness and no mobile phones the only music I expect to hear is what comes out of an instrument not your smart phone so please make sure you switch them off at the beginning of every lesson' Nikhil was about to carry on talking when three students walked in making him stop 'good of you to join us...seeing this is your first day and first lesson I will excuse your lateness, but make sure you are on time next time'.

Zoya looked up to see a girl with the craziest curly hair she had ever seen, and she probably had more make up that three brides put together. Not paying anymore attention to the late comers Zoya turned back towards the front of the class.

'Ok...music...what is music and what does it mean...anyone?' Nikhil said looking around the room to pick on someone 'you, would you like to stand up and introduce yourself' he said pointing at Zoya. Zoya stood up 'hi my name is Zoe, for me music is to the soul what words are to the mind and then I guess for me Plato was able to define music perfectly, he said, Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything'. Nikhil smiled at Zoya 'thank you Zoe, that was very well put...anyone else...' as Zoya sat down Ayaan leaned in 'wow Zoe, you got the brains as well as the looks' Zoya turned around 'not just a pretty face then?' she said with a wink, making him laugh. Nikhil and Ayaan were not the only ones that were impressed with what Zoya had said, one of the late comers leaned forward to see Zoya but his vision was blocked by this girls hair that looked like it had just been electrocuted.

The first lesson wasn't long, as Nikhil dismissed the class Ayaan jumped forward 'Leo...wait up he shouted out as he ran out after him'. 'Why were you so late, you are never late?' Ayaan asked his cousin 'I got caught up with something...I'll catch you later, I need to sort something out with the admin office'.

Zoya managed to catch up with Ayaan 'who was that?' she asked not being able to see who Ayaan was talking to properly 'that was Leo, my cousin' Zoya started to laugh 'what kind of a name is Leo for a Muslim guy?' 'The same kind of name Zoe is for a Muslim girl' he said wiggling his eyebrows a little too much 'ok...point taken, come we should get going'.

Little did Zoya know that Leo was in actual fact Asad, her Asad. Once they had moved to Mumbai, Asad made friends with Ayaan, who was Rashid's nephew. Being an only son Ayaan bonded with his new brother and sister instantly. It was Ayaan who started calling him Leo, Asad's name meant Lion and he was born in August so the nickname just seemed to have stuck and now Asad was no longer Asad he was Leo.

Zoya met with Humera and Priya at break, they were soon joined by Tanveer and Ayaan. As the group started talking Zoya felt a little out of place as everyone else knew each other, she felt she couldn't partake in their conversations which revolved around things they all knew about. 'Humera, I am going to make my way around to the dance studio, I'll see you guys later' 'Zoe, we have ages before next period, stay' Humera said 'I know, I just thought I would check it out' 'ok' Humera smiled back at her.

As Zoya turned to walk away she hit what felt like a brick wall 'crap' she said jumping back a little she looked up to see the most beautiful hazel eyes she had ever seen piercing down at her, the guy that stood before her in all his tall masculinity was probably the best looking guy she had ever laid her eyes on 'so...sorry I didn't see you' 'obviously' he shot back at her making her look up at him. On any other day Zoya would have answered back to the rudeness of his tone but the fact that she was in awe of his stunning physique she found herself a little lost for words.

'Leo...hey, I see you two have met, Zoe this is Leo...and Leo this is Zoe, Humera's roommate' both Asad and Zoya looked at each other with narrowed eyes and the same intensity. Ayaan looked between the two of the 'umm at this point you would normally say hello to one another or something along the lines of its nice meeting you' Asad looked at Ayaan 'whatever...get out of my way' Asad pushed past Ayaan leaving him looking at Zoya apologetically 'I can understand why you call him Leo...what's his problem?' Zoya said as she kept her eyes on his retreating back. Ayaan started to scratch the back of his head 'I really don't know, Leo never behaves like that...well not always and never to people he just met' 'anyway...I guess I will see you later'.

'Leo, what was that, I was introducing you to someone and how rude were you' 'Ayaan back off...I am not in a good mood' 'yeah you could have fooled me...and what pleasure do we owe this bad mood too?' 'The stupid Admin office got my timetable wrong, instead of putting me down for Music and Drama I have to do dance...and they can't change it until the end of the first semester...what crap is that'.

'Bhai, don't stress its ok...its only one semester' Humera said linking her arm with Asad's. Even thought there was not much of an age gap between them Humera always looked up to Asad as an older brother so like Najma called him Bhaijaan so did she. As they all engrossed in conversation Asad's mind went back to Zoya, he knew he had been rude and thought that the next time he saw her he would apologise, it wasn't in his nature to be rude or aggressive so knew he was in the wrong.

Asad walked grudgingly walked into the dance studio for his next class. As he walked in he saw Zoya sitting on the side lost in thought. Asad took in a deep breath and walked up to her, as soon as she felt his presence Zoya looked up at him and then stood up 'hi...I am sorry for being so rude earlier...I was in a bad mood and just happened to take it out on you' Zoya continued to look at him with a straight face 'being rude to people you don't know because you are in a bad mood...is that like a habit or something?' Asad looked at her, here he was trying to apologise and there she was giving him sarcasm. Asad started to shake his head 'no not really...anyway I came to apologise and I have so...I guess I can carry on' Asad turned around to walk off when Zoya called after him 'Leo...that is right isn't it?' Asad nodded as he stepped back towards her. Zoya held out her hand 'maybe we can start over, hi I am Zoe' Asad took her hand into his and as soon as he did he felt like a cold spread across him making him hitch a breath. He looked down at their hands and then back up to her face, Zoya seemed to mirror his exact expressions. Zoya quickly withdrew her hand, there was something strangely familiar about him but she didn't know what, giving him a quick smile Zoya turned around to take her seat.

Throughout the lesson Asad and Zoya sat stealing glances from one another, trying to decipher what it was that they were feeling. Where Zoya paid a lot more attention to their teacher, Asad who was being forced to take this lesson kept his attention focused on Zoya. There was something distinctively different about her, every time she spoke or smiled her eyes sparkled, the more he looked at her the more he saw how beautiful she really was, everything about her seemed perfect, but it wasn't just perfect there was something about her that was also very familiar.

'Ok...let's see what talent we have with us today, who wants to go first' the teacher called out 'I will' shouted out a girl from the back row, Zoya looked over her shoulder to see the same dolled up girl she saw come in late in her music lesson.

'Great, so who do we have here, would you like to introduce yourself' the teacher said making way for her. 'My name is Sofia, I am here not just to studying dance and music but to show everyone that Sofia is the best' everyone looked at her and tried to suppress their laughs, Zoya looked at Asad who just rolled his eyes at over the top cartoon character.

Sofia's dance left the whole class wide eyed and totally stumped; if jaws opened any wider they were sure to hit the floor. 'What the hell was that?' Asad whispered to Zoya 'good question...like seriously' Zoya and Asad shared a giggle one that was truly heart felt.

'You don't look like much of a dancer' Zoya said as they walked out 'I am not, nowhere near. I had picked music and drama but they made an error, it was what I was trying to sort out this morning' 'Aaah so that's why you were in a bad mood' she said laughing 'yeah...but am stuck...I can't change back until the end of the first semester, which is so annoying, I can't dance...' sympathising with his frustration Zoya stopped walking and looked to hi, 'well now maybe you can learn. You can't always choose your circumstances, but you can choose to overcome them, its only for three months so don't stress too much...and you never know you might actually come to like it' Asad nodded his head and gestured for them to carry on walking.