They say college is where you find yourself, but for Habiba, Jeba, and Tamanna, it was where they found the kind of love that doesn't just flutter in the stomach—it anchors the soul.
Living in a cramped, sun-drenched dorm room that smelled perpetually of jasmine incense and instant noodles, these three were inseparable. While their majors were different, their hearts beat to the same rhythm of late-night assignments, shared secrets, and the terrifying, beautiful prospect of falling in love.
Habiba: The Slow Burn of the Library Stacks
Habiba was the "anchor" of the group—studious, poised, and a little bit guarded. She believed love was something found in the classic Persian poetry she studied, not in the noisy cafeteria.
Then came Zane.
Zane was a quiet Architecture student who always occupied the same corner desk in the library. For months, they exchanged nothing but polite nods. But love, for Habiba, didn't arrive with a thunderclap; it arrived with a bookmark.
One evening, Habiba left her heavy volume of Rumi on the table to grab coffee. When she returned, a small, hand-drawn sketch of a bird was tucked into the page she'd been reading. At the bottom, in neat script, was a note: "This poem reminded me of the way you look when you're thinking. – Z."
The "Sweetness" for Habiba was in the silence. It was in the way Zane started leaving her little sketches of the buildings he dreamed of building, and how she started bringing him extra sugar packets for his tea.
The Turning Point: During the final exams of their junior year, Habiba was overwhelmed. She found Zane waiting by the library entrance with a single red rose and a thermos of her favorite cardamom chai.
"I don't need a grand speech," she told her friends later that night, her eyes glowing. "I just need someone who knows exactly when my soul is tired."