Indeed, the beginning may not always mark the start of a love story. Love might begin at the end, tasting bitterness first, then returning to the beginning, transcending its bitter end. It's good to become accustomed to bitterness before tasting love.
Days pass for Hana, and her relationship with the unknown person continues progressing further.
She has begun to consider him an outlet for her inner thoughts, despite knowing he already knows who she is. Yet, she doesn't pay it any attention.
Spring is indeed approaching, bringing with it the end of the school year.
As for the three friends, the end of the school year means parting ways, as Hana will be moving with her parents. However, they have never discussed her departure, as if they prefer to avoid mentioning it the further away it is.
Days go by between studying and leisure, and as usual, Hana often enjoys playing cards outside of school hours with her classmates in one of the parks near the school. Many different people frequent that park to enjoy watching those who play cards there. Hana is already famous there because she excels at the game and has no rivals, as rumored.
On one of the days, as Hana enjoyed playing with her friends, a curly-haired person approached where Hana was sitting, on the edge of a staircase next to a large tree, shielding the friends from the sun rays as they played cards on the paved ground of the park. The person sat next to Hana and began to stare at her intently while she continued to play, seemingly unaffected by his presence. Eventually, the game ended, and Hana won again, much to the frustration of her friends, who expressed their annoyance. Smiling, Hana finally turned to the stranger beside her and said, "Do you want to play?" After a long stare, he clapped his hands, saying,
"Finally, I remembered you. You're the girl who crushed our school's girls last time."
Arching her eyebrow, Hana asked in surprise, "huh?"
He chuckled, saying, "Basketball, you played basketball. Wasn't that you?"
Hana laughed as she remembered, saying, "Oh, basketball." Then she returned her gaze to the group in front of her, preparing to deal the cards again for another game. The stranger spoke again, saying, "Distribute cards to me too; I'll play." Hana nodded in agreement, and they started playing.
It's like a war this time, as someone else besides Hana excels at the game. The stranger seems to be enjoying himself as cheers from the others urge him to defeat Hana, as everyone else has already lost, leaving only Hana and the stranger. The two of them enjoy the competition together. From a distance, Ahmed's friend, Nadir, the person Hana talks to on Facebook under the name "Nouza Al," passed by and started to gaze from afar at Hana, who was enjoying the game.
Nadir stood for a moment, watching from a distance. He saw Hana raise her hands in victory amidst the surrounding cries of frustration, as she hadn't lost even once. Nadir smiled, then quietly departed, leaving Hana smiling in front of her friends. The curly-haired person spoke up, saying, "You won..." Then he chuckled, extending his hand towards Hana as he introduced himself, "Hi, I'm Moaaz." Hana shook his hand, replying, "I'm Hana."
They both smiled at each other and then Hana prepared to leave, saying she was tired and needed to get ready for her evening classes. As she bid farewell to everyone, Moaaz wondered, "Do you always play here?"
Hana answered before leaving, "It's the only place I play."
Then she turned and walked away, leaving Moaaz smiling after hearing her response.
The day finally came to an end. Hana closed her book after finishing her daily review, then grabbed her laptop and headed towards her bed. As usual, it was time for chatting with friends, especially with Nadir, who she always spoke to before bedtime. Hana opened her Facebook account to find a message from Nadir, saying,
"I saw you today."
Hana smiled and replied, "Did I see you too?"
Nadir responded, "Um, I was a bit far. You don't know me anyway."
Hana retorted, "Don't I have to know you, at least your name?"
Nadir replied, "Um, how about I answer all this directly?"
Hana was puzzled, asking, "How?"
Nadir explained, "I'll change my route home on the weekend to greet you. Is that okay?"
Hana replied, "I'll wait for your greeting then," smiling behind her laptop, just like Nadir, who was also smiling on his end. He had become attached to Hana and was interested in making her more than just a friend. Indeed, feelings of love and admiration had grown within him. Remembering Moaad being next to her, he messaged her, asking, "Who was that person next to you today?"
Hana replied, "Just a stranger."
Nadir responded, "He seemed close to you."
Hana smiled as she replied to his message, saying, "His body was close, but he was far in my eyes."
Nadir chuckled after reading her message, sitting on his office chair and enjoying the conversation until he heard his father's yelling from downstairs, indicating that he would soon shut down the internet. Nadir's face showed frustration as he quickly typed a message to Hana, saying, "Alright, it's time for me to go now. Let's talk tomorrow. Goodnight." He then waited for Hana's response, which took a while, so he sent "?" Wondering about the delay. Hana eventually replied, "Alright, good night. I'll go to sleep too."
He sent another message, "Are you talking to someone?"
Hana answered, "Yes, my friend Maram."
Nadir smiled and replied, "Okay, let's talk later", then closed his account and his laptop, preparing for sleep while remembering Hana's features etched in his mind. As for Hana, she seemed a bit annoyed with Maram after receiving a message from her, saying she gave her account to one of her classmates after he begged for it.
Hana scolded Maram and messaged her back, saying, "I won't add him, and if you do, you talk to him. I don't like strangers, you know that."
Maram replied, "What about that stranger you talk to every day?"
Hana replied, "I chose to talk to him. As for your classmate, you chose for me to talk to him. Okay, let me not talk too much. I'm going to sleep." Then she closed her laptop and went to bed, while Maram opened Hana's account ready to talk to Jihad, who always seemed to be late in contacting her.
The night finally ended, and the morning arrived, adorned with the chirping of birds and the fragrance of blooming flowers. Hana woke up early to prepare for her day, and it's her habit not to connect to the internet until the end of the day. As for Nadir, he always goes online in the morning to message Hana, and he always notices that Hana goes online late, always wondering what makes her consistently late on Facebook.
Little does he know that the person connecting to her account late at night is Maram, not Hana.
Could a past filled with misunderstandings between Hana and Nadir lead to a love story?"Let's take a look at our main characters and meet them in person."
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