INAS BADDOUR TAKES the same college course as Chelsea. Twice a week they meet to finish the project they've been set by their professor. Outside these meetings, they do their own thing, half and half. It's always fair. It's a working relationship. But on the third week, Chelsea entertains the idea that they could be friends.

Sometimes they work late into the evening that Inas asks for a blanket or a bedsheet when prayer time arrives. Even though she isn't particularly religious herself, Chelsea admires her partner's devotion to her faith.

"It's great exercise," Inas says after Chelsea watches her do the same repetitive movements. "Stretches the limbs."

After she finishes doing what Chelsea now knows as du'a, she folds the mat and sits on the bed, a halo of papers spread around them. Chelsea's already told her about her broken laptop situation. Even though the library is one solution to her problem, the journey there is long and arduous and Chelsea knows she'll have to come up with something else.

Then, more hesitantly she says, "I officially met my neighbour."

Inas tilts head and waits for her to elaborate. She goes on to explain going to the party next door. How it was her first time, seeing Zach --well, talking to him at last. And the black tag.

Inas leans in at that moment, interested. "What'd he do?"

"He didn't say."

"I heard being tagged is a way of making sure people meet their curfew."

"I haven't seen him leave his house."

She twirls the tail of her grey hijab in thought. Chelsea's noticed how she always seems to coordinate the colour with the rest of her outfit. "So it's a house arrest kind of tag. Then it must be serious."

"How serious?"

"Like involved in a murder type of serious." She pauses. "But this is just me assuming. There have been rumours going around the college about this guy. Some say he was involved in some gang stuff, but since his parents are loaded, he was let off lightly."

Chelsea can see why some people might think that. After all, his house is the only one to have a pool in the whole neighbourhood and AC installed.

"I'm not saying I believe all this but just be careful."

Chelsea nods. Inas's concern for her is touching, albeit somewhat of a new feeling. It's been a while since someone worried about her.

Inas hangs around for a while longer working on the project. In between, they share snippets of their lives, like how Inas's brother is currently on the lookout for a wife.

Chelsea listens while she explains the ins and out of a Pakistani wedding. Unlike with Zach, she feels comfortable around Inas, secure even. But when Inas starts to ask her about her life, she simply shrugs.

"I have no story to tell."

"Everyone's got a story."

Chelsea simply smiles. Inas doesn't try to pry further and she's grateful for that. It would be a while until she has the courage to tell her story.

-

It's a lot later in the evening when Chelsea hears a knock on her door. She looks at the clock : 7,34 pm. Other than Inas she doesn't know who else could be knocking on her door.

She pauses in her job hunting to answer the door. Looking through the peephole, she recognises the guy with the shaved head from the party. Or rather the DJ from the party.

"Yes?" Chelsea asks, opening the door a fraction of the way.

The guy has a pair of headphones secured around his neck, wearing stressed black jeans and scuffed sneakers. His height and lean stature give her the idea he's around her age but then his pink hoodie and untied laces make him look incredibly young.

"I'm Will." He introduces, his surprisingly deep voice unmatching his youthful appearance. "You have a laptop that needs fixing?"

She blinks in surprise, not wanting to let a stranger in but her desperation is what makes her step aside. He seems harmless enough; if anything he looks more likely to trip on his untied laces than the type to rob her blind when her back is turned. She leads him to the kitchen island where she'd left the laptop after having a breakdown about the repair cost.

She watches warily as he opens it, pressing the power button just like she'd done. In fact, he repeats the same things Chelsea did when it first went blank. For a second she wonders why on earth she'd let a stranger into her house without asking how he even knew she had a problem.

"Zach asked me to come check it out."

Chelsea's face burns at the realisation she's thinking out loud. She coughs, "Can you fix it?"

He taps a few more keys before completely flipping the laptop and detaching a back compartment that she didn't even know was there. "There's your problem. How old is this?"

"It belonged to my mom." It was slow and it froze every now and then, a lot of the time actually, but it got the job done.

"Do you mind if I take this with me? I'll need to find a new battery. I promise I'll bring it back to you tomorrow."

"Sure. . ." Chelsea says slowly. Having the technology lying around here wasn't going to do any good. "How much does this all cost?"

"On the house. Courtesy of Zach." He turns to Chelsea with a boyish smile.

She flushes crimson. "Tell him I said thanks."

Zach sent Will even after she said nothing was wrong. Chelsea's a terrible liar for one so maybe that was why. But thinking about it now, she can't help but feel bad about her attitude towards him. She realises that maybe she's been a little too quick to judge.

She realises, perhaps she should give him the benefit of doubt.