Our Space

Chapter 5

The much awaited, and much hated, exam time was here. Now, Sami wasn't the only stressed person. Everyone was trying to keep calm while reading books and going over their notes, absorbing all they could for the dreaded few hours which could potentially determine the future of their lives.

But of course, Sami didn't only have that worry. He also had to think about where he would stay after these exams were over. Sami still hadn't saved up enough for a decent flat like the one he wanted, but now he was desperate and anything clean would do. He'd started looking at places and comparing prices but it wasn't as easy as he'd expected.

He started regretting only working two days in the week. He kept weekends free. Saturdays was for necessary chores though he found that he done them very quick. Sundays was for revision, doing his readings and writing essays. He comforted himself by convincing himself that the lack of money he had was due to his focus on studying which would work out better in the long term. If he got good grades, it may be easier for him to find a better job in the future and build his career.

"You're such a bore!" Sami's friend, Harris, complained while Sami looked into his book, unable to read because of his distracting thoughts. They sat in the noisier section of the library where half of the students studied and the other half laughed and joked with each other.

"I'd rather be a successful bore than a failure and... Not a bore," Sami replied.

"I'm pretty sure a fun failure would be happier than a successful bore and isn't that what we all want to achieve in life? Happiness?" Harris asked, throwing his university ID card into the air and catching it repeatedly.

"A person with a fun personality isn't always happy. I mean, Robin Williams committed suicide and he seemed like the jolliest person on earth," Sami countered.

"Stop being depressing and let's go get some food."

"I really don't want to," Sami said. He was hungry but for the past couple of months, he was skipping lunch. It always seemed to be the most expensive meal of the day unless his lunch consisted of leftovers from the previous day. Lately, there weren't many leftovers as by the time dinner came, Sami felt like he could eat a whole cow's worth of burgers.

"Dude, you never eat! You're going stick thin at this rate. Come on, food won't make you fail your exams. Let's go eat!" Harris insisted. Sami shook his head but Harris wouldn't take no for an answer.

"If you're so hungry, go eat!" Sami said, starting to feel irritated.

"But dude, you need a break too. I'm saying this for both our benefits."

"Thank you for your concern but I'm staying put."

"Your wife won't like how skinny you're going. She wants a man with a bit of muscle. Not bones," Harris said in his attempt to make Sami go with him.

"You know my wife? Cool, tell me more about her," Sami replied, sarcastically.

"She said she'd like her husband to stop starving himself."

"I'm not starving myself," Sami said with a sigh.

"Then let's go–"

"Go yourself!" Sami said, frustrated.

"Fine, I'll go later. I have a whole hour to kill before I have to meet one of my lecturers so I'll eat just before I go," Harris replied.

"Are you even hungry or do you want to eat out of boredom?" Sami asked.

"I'm not sure, it's a bit of both I guess. Us normal people get hungry unlike you," Harris said and Sami decided to ignore him. "Seriously though, is it like Ramadan for you all year around? You might as well just fast every day," Harris suggested and Sami smiled. He'd definitely considered it but fulfilling the Sunnah(1) of Mondays and Thursdays was enough. His dinners were usually early and breakfast helped him last half of the day.