The guy in Turkish 101

Chapter 3 - The Group Project

I saw Farah waiting patiently at the corner bakery a few blocks away from my house as I crossed the road. She took photos of her pastry that she most likely would not finish to post on her Instagram dessert page and gain followers. She loved to do everything that I didn't particularly appreciate making people wonder how we became best friends.

"Heyyyy, Bestieee!" She got up hastily to hug me.

 Farah and I could spend the whole day together, and it would not be enough. We knew more about each other than our siblings.

I took a seat next to her and placed my order.

 "OK...So who is the guy? How does he look? What's his Instagram?" She asked with a beaming smile. 

"GOD! I am surprised you didn't ask for his social security number Farah."

"We will get that after he sends you a marriage proposal as he sent you that friend request."

I knew Farah wasn't going to let this topic go away so quickly. I stayed away from boys in H.S, fearing getting hurt. I had never been in a romantic relationship. I did, however, had a crush on a friend who didn't have feelings for me. So when I texted Farah about a guy, she was excited to hear about it.

 "His name is Yusuf, and no, it is not what you think. I didn't overreact, did I?" as I waited for her response, the server placed my order in front of me. The 7 layer chocolate raspberry cake looked delicious. However, staring at it made me zone out and not focus on what Farah was advising me to do. 

"...he did say sorry. I think you should give the fellow another chance but make sure to tell him what I just told you. Zaada attention maat dena usko" 

Farah was right about the last part I heard clearly. He did apologize for what he said, and we were going to be in the same class this semester. Not talking to each other will make things more complicated. 

I bolted down both of our desserts and headed to the mall. One thing Farah and I did have in common was our shopping addiction. 

The following day I woke up an hour early to make it to Turkish 101 on time.

Professor Omer stood in front of the class holding an Ipad "Everyone, I have something important to discuss with you today regarding the syllabus."

I noticed Yusuf walk in and take a seat in the front row. He gave me a nod while taking out his notebook.

Professor Omer continued with his announcement. "I have decided to replace the last quiz with a group project. You will be performing a 10 minutes Turkish play with your assigned group. Each group will be given a different topic on which they have to write a skit on. I have the topics and names of who is in which group written out already. Whichever group does the best job will be given ten extra points on their final exam." 

I felt like a panic attack was coming on. When did a language class become Theater 101?! I didn't know the basics of acting! And he wanted us to perform in Turkish. I gazed around to see if anyone else was having the same reaction as me.