Three days into the break, Tanisha sent a message in the group chat:
Tanisha: "Escape room? Tomorrow?"
Amir: "I'm in."
Hamza: "Sure. Don't blame me if we get stuck."
Me: "Count me in. I'll bring my brain."
The next afternoon we met outside the escape room place, jackets zipped against the wind. It was a chilly autumn.
The room was dimly lit and crammed with props: bookshelves, locked chests, and creepy wall décor. Why was there a skeleton?
We worked in pairs, searching for clues, calling out ideas.
"Sabah, over there!" Hamza said, crouching by a locked drawer.
"I think the code's hidden in this painting," I replied, brushing dust from the frame.
Then something small and dark skittered across the floor.
I froze.
A spider.
I yelped and instinctively jumped back, straight into someone's arms.
"Whoa!" Hamza caught me without hesitation, his hands gripping my shoulders. His hands were soft and warm. I stayed in his embrace, clinging on for a few seconds.
"Sorry-spider-" I gasped, heart pounding.
He laughed, warm and surprised. "You okay?" he asked, softly.
"Yeah," I said softly, stepping away from his arms.
We spilled out of the escape room victorious and happy, still laughing about Tanisha's attempt to use a hair stand to pick a lock and Amir screaming into Tanisha's arms after spotting a fake skeleton.
We spotted an ice-cream shop and walked in.
"Chocolate is the best," I said confidently as I scanned the counter.
"Vanilla, obviously," Hamza countered, leaning against the glass.
I rolled my eyes,"Vanilla is boring."
"Chocolate's overrated," he countered back confidently.
We went back and forth until Amir groaned. "Just get both and stop fighting, please."
We laughed before ordering our ice-cream flavours.
We ate on a bench outside, the late sun warm on our faces. Hamza nudged my shoulder lightly.
I looked at him confused.
"You've got… uh—" he gestured to my cheek.
I wiped it.
"Is it gone now?" I asked.
"Nope," he said, smirking. "Other side."
I wiped again.
"Now?"
He gestured to my chin.
I narrowed my eyes.
"Are you enjoying this?" I asked.
"Immensely," he smirked.
I rolled my eyes.
On the walk back to the train station, Tanisha spotted a photo booth in an arcade.
"Group pic!" she announced, dragging us all over.
We crammed in, laughing as we tried to fit. The photobooth was small. It was definitely not made for four people, especially not two enormous teenage boys. Amir and Asif squashed to one side, Tanisha tugged me closer, and in the squeeze, I ended up pressed right next to Hamza.
We were very close to each other. Our shoulders touched, and when I tried to move away from him, there was no space. He noticed me trying to move and chuckled at me.
"Relax, Sabah," he whispered in my ear.
And I tried.
The camera flashed abruptly. It caught us mid-laughing, mid-teasing or mid‑whatever this was turning into.
When the strip of photos slid out, we all crowded around to look. But later, on the train ride home, I folded my copy of the photos carefully and slipped them into my purse, with a smile on my face.
It was fun hanging out altogether.
That night, after dinner, I curled up under my blanket with my phone. The house had gone quiet.
On Stargram, Tanisha had already posted the pictures.
I swiped through them slowly as if trying to burn them all to memory.
The first shot was outside the escape room—Tanisha with her arm flung over Amir's shoulder, Amir pulling a ridiculous face, mid‑argument about something I couldn't remember.
The second was me laughing, head turned slightly toward Hamza, who was grinning but looking somewhere else.
The third was the photo booth strip, us all crammed in, Amir and Tanisha squashed together still arguing over, whilst Hamza and I were staring at each other, amidst our mid-tease or mid-whatever.
The group chat lit up with messages.
Amir: "Tanisha still thinks SHE solved the last puzzle. "
Tanisha:" I DID. You were just standing there looking confused."
Amir: "Yeah, sure, Mrs Genius."
Tanisha: "Excuse me?"
Amir: "You heard me."
Tanisha: You're unbelievable. PS- I can't hear you, you're texting."
Amir: "And you're bossy."
Tanisha: "And you're wrong."
I laughed softly, watching their bickering go back and forth like a married couple. It was endearing to watch.
Hamza: "Pretty sure we escaped because of me, but okay."
Me: "Don't start. You were just looking for hidden spiders."
Hamza: "Hey, someone had to keep you safe."
I snickered and rolled my eyes at the screen, smiling despite myself, then put my phone down and let the day replay in my head until sleep crept in.