Tim was from a small town world, where everybody knew everybody. He started life in a village in the country, far from the hustle and bustle of the city. Throughout high school he'd always had a decent sized group of friends and had been generally happy with life. This all changed when he went to university. For the first time he'd been dropped off in a world filled with hustle and bustle. The world back home was friendly and welcoming, a place where everyone spoke, and asked you about your day. City life was much different. People were cold and seemed unfriendly. From the very start he was confined to a very small number of friends on his course.
Another new concept to him was race and religion. Back home, everyone he knew was white, and either Christian or atheist or some variation in between. For the first time his friendship group consisted of people from all parts of the world, from America to the Middle East, from Africa to Asia. While it had taken a little while to get used to, he'd adjusted quite well over the first year.
Tim wasn't the fittest guy, nor was he the most handsome. When he was a child, others would tease him about wearing glasses (something that still made him wary - even around "adults"). He always tried hard in his studies, a trait that earned him a lot of brownie points with his friends, although he was careful not to let them exploit him when they were panicking about a paper due in the following week.
For the first and second semester of his first year he was still in a steady relationship with a girl he'd been with for almost 5 years. Most of his friends found this concept very alien - "a girlfriend of 5 years at the age of 20?" - he would often hear with looks of disbelief or confusion. It was often as though he had to pull her out of a hat whilst waving a magic wand to make them believe she was real, but he didn't mind too much. He was happy.
Easter break beckoned, and he was excited to go home. Tim and his girlfriend attended different universities, which certainly put strain on their relationship. But they battled through it, seeing each other when they could. Or so he thought. That Easter, his girlfriend decided she could no longer do long-distance relationships, that it wasn't fair on either of them. Tim pleaded with her, but she was insistent. In only a few weeks he went from being close to proposing to having nothing but his own thoughts. He felt as though he'd lost everything he knew, everything he wanted and he took it hard.
Tim was bullied quite a lot throughout high school, and had learned to his unhappiness with a smile. For a while only his closest friends knew anything had happened at all. As time went on, Tim sank deeper and deeper into depression. His grades slipped, and he started losing weight rapidly. His close friends were worried, but respected his wishes that they didn't broadcast his breakup to the rest of the group.
Over the course of that semester, the dynamics of their friendship group began to shift. Tim had always been able to get along well with girls, as opposed to guys, a trait he attributed to growing up alongside his marginally older female cousin. As the group dynamic changed, one girl, Nurah, began to become a closer friend. They would talk more openly in group conversations and often Tim would make jovial remarks that Nurah would quickly jump in on.
*BUZZZZ* Tim's phone woke him from sleep in a daze.
Tim looked at his phone to see a message from Nurah waiting to be opened. Tim had never received a message from Nurah at this time of day before. When thinking back, Tim had never received a message from Nurah at all... Worried it might be an emergency, Tim quickly unlocked his phone - harder than he imagined this early in the morning.
"Tim." Read the message. Great. He'd been awoken by a message that simply said his name. For a moment he just sighed and decided he'd go back to bed. Before his head hit the pillow, there was another buzz. Momentarily anger welled up inside him. All he wanted was sleep - a precious treasure that didn't happen too often these days.
A few minutes later, the phone buzzed again, reminding him he hadn't read the message. Cursing himself for his own mistake of not putting his phone on silent he glanced at the phone. It was Nurah again. He sat for a moment and decided whether or not to read it. It was unusual for Nurah to message, he thought to himself. He gave in and unlocked his phone - again.
"Tim, I've been watching you recently, are you ok?"
He wasn't sure what to do. At first he wasn't sure what she meant. After all "are you ok?" could mean anything? Right?
He knew Nurah in passing, more of a friend of a friend in the group. They'd spoken before, and at some point exchanged phone numbers in case they needed to organize a trip to the pub or meet before lectures as a group. She was quite a lot smaller than he was, probably 5ft 4 by his eye. When everyone was introducing themselves half a year prior she'd said she was from Pakistan, somewhere he knew almost nothing about. All in all, Tim realized he didn't really know Nurah that well at all, nor had he ever really bothered to pay attention to her.
Because of this, it felt quite strange for her to say "I've been watching you recently," perhaps it was a mistaken phrase? Nurah spoke English very well, but maintained a slight Asian flare to her accent. He decided to reply, but quickly realized it had been a good 10 minutes since he'd received the message from her. At this point he wasn't sure whether she'd think he was ignoring her, so he tried to break the silence.
"Well that's not weird at all..." he replied, chuckling to himself.
He placed the phone on the side, and sat staring at the bottle of vodka on his desk. Drinking had become a bad habit for Tim these past few months... Within seconds a new message appeared. He opened it, and saw a small wall of text fill his screen. Nobody could write that fast, he thought to himself. He guessed she must have had this pretyped before the start of her text message fishing expedition. He decided to read it before showering, assuming it would warrant a reply.
"Tim, not like that. Over the past few months I've noticed you've lost weight, but you don't appear to be sick. Your smiles don't fool me, I can see right through them. But you haven't said anything to the group so I haven't brought it up, but I thought that you should know you can tell me if you want to."
Tim didn't really know how to respond, and wasn't sure about opening up to Nurah. He went and turned on the shower, then waited for a few minutes for the water to get warm. Tim slept naked, so he didn't need to get undressed. Because of this, the few minutes it took for the water to get warm seemed to take forever. He stood thinking - what should he do? He didn't mistrust Nurah, in fact it was quite the opposite, he simply didn't trust her. After getting in the shower, he did what most people do - instead of actually get washed he stood and had "shower thoughts."
By the time Tim had gotten washed and out of the shower he wasn't really any further forward with his problem. However, upon reflection, he did feel that Nurah seemed to emit an aura of trust that he'd never felt about anyone else before. Perhaps it was because she was quiet and reserved.
By the time Tim was dried and dressed he had decided to tell Nurah his problems. He didn't want to go into details but he'd give a brief outline of the problem. He told her about his relationship, and that he felt quite down about the whole thing. He brushed off the weight loss, telling her that she was probably imagining it.
For once he was waiting for her reply. He sat, impatient, wondering about her response. Would she be supportive? Would she just accept it then continue with her day? A few minutes later a reply from Nurah.
"TIM! Why didn't you say! If I'd known I would have been there for you more. You can always talk to me, I won't say anything to anyone I promise."
He felt immediately more calm, relieved perhaps. He'd found someone who was supportive, in someone he never expected. The close guy-friends he had told were "supportive" but generally he met a response of "there's plenty of fish in the ocean" or "you'll be ok". For the first time, someone was genuinely interested in his wellbeing, and that put a smile on his face.
The months flew by, and Nurah became an even closer friend to Tim. They talked on a regular basis, and when Nurah fell ill Tim visited her in hospital with a group of their friends, and then later visited her at home.
Nurah, was from Pakistan, but was born in the UK. She was a Muslim, which surprised Tim when he found out. The media portrayed Muslims as terrorists and suicide bombers, and his all white hometown community didn't help alter that opinion. Over time he grew more interested in culture, and in religion. Being brought up as an atheist, Tim had never considered the idea of a God, as his family met that with much hostility. But over time, Tim began to grow closer to Islam, and Nurah taught him all she could. She wasn't forceful, which Tim appreciated greatly, but would always answer questions as best she could. Tim found himself growing more kind, more compassionate, and more selfless. Whilst he hadn't fully converted to Islam, he was spiritually there. However, he did maintain some of his Western views and ideals. Thankfully, Nurah understood. As she was brought up in the UK, she also had and influence of Western culture.
By this time, Nurah and Tim were exceptionally close. Tim had kept his religious feelings secret from the rest of the group, afraid of their judgment, and Nurah was his sanctuary in this respect. Nurah would visit regularly, and they would work together on any work they were given. Tim would help Nurah understand concepts she wasn't sure on, and in return Nurah would undoubtedly bring Pakistani delicacies for him to try. Over time he developed a deep appreciation for their friendship, an appreciation reciprocated by Nurah.
During the second semester of their second year, the group decided to have a group movie night. Tim lived with three other friends from their group in a flat of four. Other members of the group lived scattered among different houses and flats with other people. It was decided that Tim's flat was the best place for the movie night to avoid disrupting the flat mates of other people in the group. The movie night extended well into the early hours, and at around 3am most people left. Nurah stayed to help Tim clean up for half an hour. Tim promised to walk her home in return, which she gladly accepted. Half an hour came and went, and the flat still looked like a nuclear test site. Nurah and Tim worked for another 20 minutes before deciding they'd give up. Just as Nurah and Tim were about to leave, the heavens opened and the rain began to pour heavily.
Tim suggested Nurah just stay the night, an idea she wasn't too keen on. In previous months Nurah had napped, alone, in Tim's bed when she was tired. She was comfortable around Tim, but was wary due to the Islamic restrictions of being with men before marriage. Tim agreed, and said that he would sleep on the sofa, a much more acceptable idea to Nurah. She argued that she should sleep on the sofa, and Tim in his bed, but he refused, as a gentleman should.
The night was long for Tim. The two-seat sofa wasn't really designed to accommodate his 6ft frame. A few hours later, he decided to get up and keep cleaning. By the time Nurah woke up Tim was pretty tired. She immediately told him off for cleaning up without her, and then asked if he perhaps had a tooth brush she could "borrow". He dug one out of his cupboard and handed it to her. He began to walk away and stopped for a second.
