"Ifraa, this banquet is looking beautiful," Aqsa said to me as we entered the hall.

"Yeah, definitely." Even I was surprised to see the entire banquet decked out in lights, with a stunning chandelier hanging in the centre of the hall. Everything is decorated with golden lights. My father can never afford something like this; this is sure Saad's work.

Then I saw the guests, and yes, of course, how can I forget that there are going to be so many people here, so many people that know my past, so many people that are my past, but isn't this the thing? They are all in my past, and now all I have to do is focus on my present.

"Heyy, Ifraa, are you listening to what I am saying?" Aqsa said this by moving her hand in front of my face.

"Wait, what?" "No, I'm actually sorry; I was just thinking about something else."

"I was saying that we should probably go and greet our guests; you know, we are the bride's sisters." "It's our duty, and what if I found a handsome and dashing guy among our guests?" So maybe the next number is going to be mine. As she gave me that mischievous wink, Aqsa said... She is always like this, always ready to get married, and on the other hand, me... it scares the shite out of me to just be in love with someone.

"You both are here." "Go and greet the guest." "Show some courtesy to the groom's relative; you're the bride's sister." Our mother said as she approached us:

"Relax, Mom; we're going there; first, tell me how our bride is; is she nervous?" She asked Mom, "This is the most ridiculous question I've ever heard."

"Simra and nervous... that girl has no idea what it's like to be nervous.""She is always that confident and proud, right mom?"

"On the contrary, this is definitely not happening right now." She is so nervous that she is roaming all over her room while thinking about all the things that are not going to happen."

"Really," Aqsa and I both said in unison, "this is just impossible."

"But mom, I've never seen her nervous," I say. "That's true; that girl doesn't know anything about being nervous." Wherever she goes, she always knows she is going to kill it. and always act so confidently.

"That happens when you are the bride, and you know that when you are going to go to the stage and every eye is going to be on you, you feel nervous."

"Whatt ??  If all eyes are going to be on her, that's why I waste so much time getting ready. "I want some attention too, mom," Aqsa said, giving me a wink.

Mom hit her playfully, and she giggled. Sometimes I am really confused—how is she always so happy?

Mom and Aqsa are already busy with their talking, so I try to find that one person I have to avoid the whole time.

As my eyes and head are moving from right to left, I find him...

I see him three years later, and he is still the most handsome person in the room. I sigh throughout the day, this time from relief; it appears that just one look from him calms every cell in my body. My anxious heart got back to its normal rhythm. That's when I realised I was still in love with him. I had tried to suppress my feelings for him with layers of different feelings for the past three years, but the moment I saw him, I felt like all those layers were crushed in that one exact second, and the only layer that remained was my love for him.

He is talking to his friends and showing all his emotions on his face, such as his laughter when he hears something funny or his displeasure when he hears something annoying. how the shine of his eyes and his thick eyebrows work together, and all his emotions are on his face. His friend said something to him, and suddenly he moved his head toward me, and before our eyes could meet, I grabbed Aqsa's hand and dragged her toward Simra's room.

"Aqsa relaxes."We should give a ride to our sister," I said, dragging her toward Simra's room.

"But at least let me talk to my friend," she said, waving her free hand in the air and probably saying "hey" to her friend's circle.

"No, just let's go, please," I said, and I continued dragging her, not that I was giving her the option to say no again.

I drag Aqsa with me because I don't want him to realise which one of us is me; he is always confused between me and Aqsa.

I don't have the courage to make eye contact with him, because if I did that, I would have to go to him and start begging on my knees to forgive me... I'm sorry for something I never did.

"Forgive me; I am sorry." these words "I hate these words because they hold no meaning; people don't believe them anymore, no matter how much someone begs them to believe; they just don't."

"Please believe me, Zayn." I'm sorry; I didn't do anything wrong; they're lying; Zayn, don't abandon me; I love you; just listen to me, Zayn. "I am telling the truth; please forgive me." Zaynnn.

I can feel tears welling up in my eyes as memories from the past resurface, not that they were ever gone, but today is not mine; it is Simraa's.

By still holding Aqsa's hand, I stand in front of the bride's room, and by showing a big smile on my face, I turn the doorknob and open the door.

"Hello, pretty girl," I said as I introduced myself.

"Ahh, thank goodness you both are here; I'm getting bored here; what's going on outside?" Simra said as she sat on one side of the bed. "Give me some rumors."

"You know I don't like any gossip, Simra; ask our gossip queen."

"And that will be me." "Well, I have so much to tell you first, like how I checked out a really hot guy with your groom, and they look like best friends, so you must share all his details with me." She said this while walking toward Simra. "Second, the entire town is looking forward to seeing your lehenga, which our hardworking sister Ifra Aziz has specially designed." And third, I caught Ifra checking out her ex like she was never going to see tomorrow. "Done," she said, sitting in front of us.

"What?" Simra and I both said together, "We gave each other glances." This always happens with us; we always say things together. But right now I have to focus on what Aqsa said about my ex.

"Say it again," we both agreed.

"What?" Aqsa asks with the most clueless expression on her face.

"What did you just say?" I inquired.

"About the hot guy?" she asked.

"No." This time, Simra said it.

"About the lehenga," Simra said, with so much curiosity on her face. I saw her in disbelief. I can't believe my sister wants to know the gossip of her legend about my life.

"No" . I said this while glaring at Simra."About my ex, did you notice me seeing him?"

"My girl... "Half the town notices you, and we all know how much you are in love with him." "The second you stepped here, everyone's eyes were either on you or on me, trying to figure out which one was you, but then you looked at Zayn, and now they all knew which one was you."

"Oh my god, oh my god." "I am not stepping outside now," I said while panicking.

"Heyyy, you can't do that; it's my engagement; you have to be there for me," Simra suddenly said to me as she pleaded.

"Or otherwise, be ready to hear an earful from mom, and beside her, trust me, I am going to be there with you the whole time, and no one will guess which one is you." "See the perks of having a twin?"

"Are you sure this idea will work?" I asked both of them.

"We are sure." They both nodded at the same time.

"Okay"

"Now go outside and check when they are going to start the ritual," Simra tells us as she signals her hands toward the door.

"Yeah, let's go!"

How can I be so stupid? I forget that I don't have the right to look at the love of my life. I can't do that. Not now. Not after everything that has happened to me.

"Ifraa..?" "Are you listening to me?"

"I'm not sorry; I was just thinking about something else."

"Come on, Ifra, tell me what happened." Aqsa inquired.

"I can't do it, Aqsa; it's just too much for me... to see Zayn and all these people who know about my past..."

"That's the thing, Ifra. They're your past. "All you have to do now is focus on your present and future, and don't even think about that jerk Zayn," she said.

Here she goes again. She always called Zayn a "jerk," and I never liked it.

"Aqsa, don't call him that."

"Don't defend him." "You know I hate him." She gave me a warning.

"It's because of what he did... and, you know, if anyone were in his situation, they'd do the same... it's just that the situation he was in and... ", I was about to say when "Aqsa cut me in."

"Please, Ifra, someone who truly loves you would never do what that jerk did. He was just an insecure person, and please stop talking about him, or I will find myself punching him in the face, and we don't want to cause a scene."

"No, we don't," I say as I look at her.

Then we heard: "Guys," said someone.

When we turned around, a figure came into my sight, and I knew who she was—Aqsa and my best friend. When I blink, I find Aqsa jumping on her, and she says no, no; she screams with the happiest tone, "Madihaa!" Madiha hugged her, and after a long hug, she came in front of me and hugged me, and I realised how much I missed her after I hugged her, and she looked at us and said, "Oh my God, you guys are looking beautiful."

Aqsa laughed and replied, "Please, Madiha, we are beautiful, plus you are looking awesome... When Madiha just gave us her pleasant smile in return, Aqsa asked her, "Now tell me who is that guy with your brother over there..they are looking like best pals..and he is really handsome...?"

"Look where Aqsa points, Madiha," she said, a pink flush on her cheeks and a shy expression on her face.

"Oh my god... did I just see you blushing, Madiha?" I smile at Aqsa's dramatic response when I turn my head to look at the gut they were talking about. I found someone else instead—someone I want to avoid the whole time: Zayn.

I turn around immediately and grab Aqsa's hand. When I see that she is busy talking with Madiha, I just walk away from her , no i ran away..i can't face him