I squirmed in my seat. “Nothing,” I groaned, rotating her chair forward with my leg and snatching the phone from her hand. “It was just a date that my mom arranged. I didn’t even know about it.” I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore the pounding in my chest.

I looked at the screen and reread the text messages. I couldn’t believe Yasmeen aunty’s son was texting me. He had barely said two words to me that entire afternoon. I couldn’t really blame him, though. The whole setup by our mothers was utterly humiliating. I left that afternoon hoping to never be within a five-mile radius of him—or his mother—again. But maybe this was what Tania was talking about. Did I dismiss him too soon? What if this is my opportunity to give someone a second chance?

As I tried to reason with myself, little voices of doubt kept creeping into the back of my mind: Why is he reaching out to me? Is it possible that he likes me? Even after the awkwardness of our first meeting? Or is he being forced to text me by our mothers? I tried to push these questions out of my head, but a tiny part of me couldn’t help but feel slightly skeptical.

“I’m not really sure what I should say.” I looked at Tania sheepishly.

“Here, give me that.” She took the phone from my hands. “Based on the great advice I’ve just given you, you’re going to message him back saying, ‘Yes, of course I’d love to see you again, Zain,’” she read out each word slowly as she typed. “‘Let me know when you’re free.’” She tapped her finger on the screen. “Aaaand send.” She held out her hand in my direction—the phone sitting neatly in the cup of her palm—with a smug look on her face.

I grabbed the phone and desperately clicked on my messages. My heart sank as soon as I saw the blue bubble. “You put a winky face at the end!”

“Yeah, so?” She shrugged.

“Oh my God!” I covered my face in shame. “Tania! Only desperate girls use the winky face emoji!” I grumbled through my hands.

“Leila, relax.” Tania tried to calm me. “Haven’t we had this discussion before? You are desperate.”

I shot her a dirty look through my fingers.

She laughed. “Don’t overthink everything.” She pulled my hands from my face. “You have six weeks left till your deadline. Forget all your expectations and just go with it.”

I glanced down at my vibrating phone.

Great! How’s tomorrow night? the message read.

I stared at it. My first date with Zain had not exactly been romantic by Bollywood standards, but my repulsion to that afternoon had more to do with my mother than with him. Although I’d had my doubts as to whether he had been involved with the ambush in some way, maybe a second try would still be worth it—as long as he wasn’t being coerced by his mother this time. Also, the likelihood of a second date going any worse than the first was staggeringly low, and with my deadline looming, I knew I couldn’t afford to lose out on another potential prospect. My heart palpitating like a magnitude five earthquake, I finally picked up the phone and started typing.