The lunch hall was loud, full tables and clattering trays. Tanisha and I scanned the room until I spotted an empty table. Well, nearly empty except for Hamza and Amir.
"Over there?" I pointed.
"Sure," she said, and we made our way through the crowd, heading towards the near-empty table.
"Hi," I said as we sat down.
Amir grinned broadly. "Hey, new girl!"
Hamza just gave a small nod, eyes on his food.
"Thanks for the encouragement during rounders," I told Amir. It was sweet of him.
"Don't worry about it. You did better than most," he said with an easy grin.
I glanced at Hamza. "That hit was impressive," I said with a small smile.
He looked up briefly. "Thanks," His voice was quiet, but not unkind.
As we talked throughout lunch, I noticed Tanisha stealing glances at Amir. I think she thought no one noticed, but I did. Amir returned the favour, he looked at her - almost admiringly, whenever she wasn't looking at him.
The bell shrieked. It was time for my next class: Italian.
Me and Tanisha arrived at the classroom. Similar to our classes earlier on the day, there was a seating plan. It wasn't alphabetical order unlike maths, it seemed to be randomised.
I was not complaining. Luckily, by some twist of fate, Tanisha was my partner.
We worked throughout the exercises together, translating the various paragraphs of the text.
"Do you have any hobbies?" I asked curiously, keeping my voice low.
Tanisha grinned. "Yeah, painting. It's mostly landscapes. You?"
"Really?" I said in suprise.
A few heads turned my way and immediately I keep my voice low again.
" Me too. I like painting people. It's nothing serious," I said excitedly. I hadn't met a person, who also loved painting.
"That's so cool, Sabah," she said with awe.
I blinked in suprise. "Sabah?"
"It suits you," she whispered with smile. "Short for Nusaybah."
My heart warmed, I could've sworn I felt flowers blooming there. No one had ever given me a nickname.
" Thank you, I love it," I said with a huge smile.
Finally, the last bell rang. Bags were thrown across shoulders as bodies raced against each other to leave the school grounds. Who could blame them?
I waved goodbye to Tanisha, heading toward the bus stop. The afternoon air felt cooler, there was a gentle breeze in the air.
Hamza and Amir were there at the bus stop.
"Hi new girl, Nusaybah" Amir called.
"Hi," I replied, offering a small wave. I laughed at the nickname.
"How was your first day?" he asked curiously, with a grin.
"It was good," I said, smiling. Before he could ask me any more questions, a bus had arrived.
"That's my bus. See you both tomorrow!" Amir jogged off, leaving just me and Hamza.
We boarded the same bus. I went upstairs, sliding into a window seat. A few seconds later, someone sat beside me. I glanced over.
Hamza.
"Hi," I said.
"Hi," he answered softly.
"Thanks for helping me with maths earlier," I said.
"You're welcome. You helped me with English," he replied.
"Is maths your favourite subject?" I asked curiously. The earlier fear I had in the day of speaking to him had seemed to disappear.
He nodded.
"Is English yours?" he asked curiously.
"Yeah. I love analysing, reading and writing. I hate maths, " I told him enthusiastically.
"It's not that bad," he said. I rolled my eyes, how could he be defending maths?
"Easy for you to say, genius," I teased lightly.
He laughed. It was a quiet, surprised laugh that made me blink.
"You laughed," I said, half teasing.
"I'm not a robot," he replied, raising an eyebrow.
"I know, but I made you laugh," I said proudly.
"Do you want a reward or something?" he asked, rolling his eyes but he had a small smile on his face.
"Hell yeah," I said with a grin.
He rummaged in his pocket and placed a Malteser in my palm.
I gasped in suprise. "I love these!I wasn't actually expecting a reward. Thank you," I said with a huge grin on my face.
"If you need help with maths again, here's my number." He slid a folded note into my hand.
"Thanks," I said. Now, I wish I could say I said it softly and demurely. But no, it came out muffled as I had shoved the malteaser in my mouth. It was so good. So yummy.
The bus slowed. I looked out the window. It was my stop.
"Bye," I said with a smile, standing.
"See you tomorrow," he replied with a small smile of his own.
I stepped off the bus, the Malteser wrapper in my hand, and for the first time all day, I realised I was smiling without even thinking about it.