Every time you walk out the door, / I feel my heart pounding more / Wondering what I have done wrong, / To make you look down. / I want to run after you and say / “I’m sorry.”

In my high school, I was the nerdy girl who wore spectacles and worked in science labs. Most of my classmates only hung out with me because I had the answers to their question related to science, and other subjects too. Most of my teacher didn’t seem to like me. They always asked me why I wore a scarf at school even though all the students were girls…

Her name is Nelofar, and she is my cousin and my best friend. She had a love marriage, rare in Afghanistan. One day I asked her how much she loved her husband. Nelofar said, “I love him so much that I can feel him near me right now.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, because her husband was nowhere near her; in fact he was not in the country.