Let’s Dance Together

At the headquarters of the Anti-West Squad, Maqsood was drinking his cup of kahwa with other heads of the organization when Luqman of the youth wing entered.

“Assalamualaikum sir,” Luqman greeted Maqsood.

“Walaikum Assalam, did you finally find out who those two who defeated our men at the beach were?” Maqsood

“Yes sir, it’s all over the news,” Luqman said.

Maqsood turned on the TV and spat the kahwa out of his nose. The rascals who dared stand up against them were none other than Ahmer Qaiser and Ruqsana Raees.

“Should we prepare a revenge attack?” Luqman asked.

“And get jailed for terrorism?” Maqsood asked rhetorically, “No, tell everyone they are to stay away from those two. We will instead focus on garnering media sympathy by presenting it as the Qaiser and Raees families trying to suppress us.”

Luqman nodded and left the room.

Meanwhile, back in room 601, the Qaiser and Raees families were looking forward to the future, having cleared most of their grievances.

“By the way,” Ahmer spoke to Suhail, “Am I still grounded for the mass bunk?”

Suhail sighed, “That I’m afraid I can tell only after seeing Ammar.”

Just then, Usman knocked on the door, “Sir, Ammar is at your brother’s home. Farhan sir just called us.”

“FINALLY! LET’S GO GET THAT RASCAL!” Suhail screamed, rushing out of the room, Rahila following after.

“Okay, now I’m curious, what did Ammar do?” Ahmer asked.

“It must have been something big, look,” Ruqsana showed their mass bunk, website which now had more than 14000 sign ups.

“That’s more than double what we had in the morning!” Ahmer was shocked.

“Ahmer, let’s go,” Rahila called him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then, to drop you off at the airport,” Ahmer told Ruqsana.

“Yeah,” Ruqsana smiled. They looked into each other’s eyes and leaned closer when Saad coughed, breaking them out of their trance.

“Gotta go, Allah Hafiz,” Ahmer bid her farewell.

Suhail and Ruqsana took their car with Ahmer driving behind them in his bike. They reached Farha’s home, a beautiful villa similar to Qaiser Residence, where Ammar was waiting for them in the living room with Farha and her parents, Farhan and Fiza, looking rather smug.

“Assalamualaikum! I assume you had a busy day with a new scandal by bhaijaan,” Ammar said.

“You have caused your fair share of trouble, boy,” Suhail growled.

“The number of protesters is more than double in a single day. What exactly did you do?” Ahmer asked.

“Why, I merely used the opportunity you created,” Ammar smirked, “Why don’t I show you instead?” Ammar switched on the television and played a video of himself at the college.

“Are we live?” Asked the Ammar in the video, ”Let’s go.” He tapped the mic before greeting everyone in the cafeteria area, “Assalamualaikum everyone!” Many turned to him to see what he was up to, “Many of you are bunking the classes in support of my brother Ahmer Qaiser. But many of you are still reluctant. You think bhaijaan can get away with this, but you would be severely punished. Today I’ve come to tell you no, even bhaijaan is not above punishment but he is still willing to put up a fight. Play it!”

Ammar ordered, playing a clip of the conversation between Ahmer, Suhail, Mahira and Abdul Ghani he had recorded yesterday. This got many students talking and reconsidering their beliefs.

“As you can see, my brother is not immune to repercussions, he has been locked in his room as punishment for standing up for what he believed in. But that does not stop him. So I ask those of you who are still hesitating, are you satisfied knowing that someone is fighting for you while you keep quiet and play nice?”

“NO!” Some students led by Fahad shouted.

“Can you go along your day as normal while your friends and classmates risk everything for you?”

“NO!” Came the reply.

“Then join us in our fight against this tyranny, No Clubs, No Classes!”

“NO CLUBS NO CLASSES!”

The video stopped at that. Ahmer was left speechless. Suhail and Rahila were shaking their heads in annoyance.

“As you can see bhaijaan, you need not worry about the movement because I have taken over,” Ammar gloated.

“Yes, you made a fight between us and the college into a fight between us and the President of Aslanistan,” Ahmer pointed out.

“What?” Ammar was confused.

“Before the fight was between me and Mahira ma’am, now because of this video it’s between you and abbu,” Ahmer repeated.

“The only smart thing you did here was clip the video before the part where I threatened Mahira not to expel Ahmer,” Suhail sighed in irritation.

“No, I boosted the mass bunk,” Ammar insisted meekly, not so sure now.

“Yes but at what cost?” Ahmer rolled his eyes.

“Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should,” Suhail shook his head.

“Now let’s go home and discuss this calmly,” Rahila told Ammar.

“No,” Ammar defied his parents, “I will not be locked away like bhaijaan. I’m staying here until the mass bunk is successful.”

“Ammar, we love you like our son,” Farhan said, “but if you were our son, we would have crucified you.”

“It’s bad enough that you convinced Farha to help you,” Fiza shook her head.

“I thought he was just going to give a speech, I didn’t know about the video,” Farha defended herself.

“Yes, not knowing seems to be a common problem in your generation,” Suhail sighed.

“This isn’t how it was supposed to be,” Ammar lamented, “I was going to make a name for myself by taking over the mass bunk. I just wanted to make you notice me.” He started sobbing uncontrollably.

“Suhail, is there nothing you can do?” Rahila asked, seeing her son distraught.

Suhail sighed before dialing a number, “Assalamualaikum Sajid.”

“Walaikum assalam,” Sajid replied.

“About this college protest,” Suhail said, “Let’s back off. The elections are close, and having a student protest isn’t good for us.”

“Okay sir,” Sajid replied, “I will order the college administration to reverse the club ban and cancel the suspension and expulsion of the students. I will also distance our party from the movement by telling the press that your decision to ground Ahmer was as a father, not as the president.”

“See to it,” Suhail said before cutting the call.

“Abbu, you are letting me win?” Ammar asked, teary-eyed.

“Don’t get the wrong idea, it’s just not worth my time and effort,” Suhail brushed him off.

“Abbu!” Ammar hugged Suhail, who patted his back in response.

“But I don't want any more trouble from you three,” Suhail told the young ones, “You will join our party’s youth wing starting tomorrow.”

“Yes, Abbu! I will make you proud,” Ammar said with excitement, wiping his tears.

Monday arrived in a blink of an eye, bringing Ahmer to the Anime Club Room once again where his club mates, celebrated their victory with pizza and soda. Though he was not enjoying the celebrations as much as his friends as they shared memes about recent events.

“Check this out, they’re making memes about you,” Shoaib said, showing a meme titled “I did not expect a sequel” and Ahmer pepper spraying Tayyib.

“This one’s better,” Fahad showed a meme titled, “this is not what I expected when they called it the wedding of the century” with a montage of various news highlights related to Ahmer and Ruqsana.

“Look what I made,” Alisha said, showing an AI clip of Ahmer dressed as Santa kissing Ruqsana, with the subtitle “I saw mom kiss Santa.”

Ahmer sighed as he watched the internet memeify his life once again. He didn’t know if he’d make it big as an animator but his career as a living meme seemed bright.

“Guys, can we stop memeing and enjoy the pizza?” Ahmer asked for the nth time.

“Bro, you know the answer,” Faiz replied, showing his version with pics of Ahmer and Prince titled “what bro thinks he is and what he is”.

“Life is a meme, try to enjoy it,” Salman chimed in, showing a meme titled “What I mean when I say I’m packing heat” and a pic of him pepper spraying thugs. Ahmer sighed for the nth time, wondering why he had become friends with them again.

“Ahmer Qaiser, please come to the Dean’s Office ASAP,” The PA system buzzed with Farha’s voice, “I repeat Ahmer Qaiser, please come to the Dean’s Office ASAP.”

“What does Mahira ma’am want with Ahmer?” Alisha asked.

“You don’t think she’s gonna expel or suspend Ahmer anyway?” Saif worried.

“I don’t think so, if she pulled that crap right now, the college would riot,” Shoaib assured him.

“Might as well find out,” Ahmer shrugged before going to the dean’s office.

On his way, he was stopped at least five times by enthusiastic fans who wanted a pic with Pepper Spray Man.

‘I should have agreed to bring guards with me like Abbu wanted,’ He lamented, ‘But no, I wanted independence.’

When he reached the Dean’s office, Mahira was less than amused. Farha was also present, seeming smug.

“I didn’t expect you to be a tardy person,” Mahira expressed her disappointment.

“Sorry ma’am, I was held up on my way,” Ahmer explained.

“I’m sure you were,” Mahira said, “But don’t make it a habit. It’s not a good look for the Student Council President to be late, ever.”

“What?” Ahmer asked.

“You won the election,” Farha explained, “it wasn’t even close, you won by 80% of the votes.”

“I resign?” Ahmer said.

“Normally, you would have that option,” Mahira sighed, “But this year, after your rebellion, the administration doesn’t want to risk angering the students. So I’m afraid you will have to keep the position until the end of your term.”

“Well, I can’t be the President, I am in the Anime Club,” Ahmer retorted.

“There’s no rule that says the President can’t be part of any club. You can stay in the club and run the council,” Farha explained.

“But-”

“It’s just paperwork and coffee anyway,” Farha smirked.

“Which brings us to the next pressing issue,” Mahira added, “the administration has decided to restart the Youth Fest. With only two months left, you will need to oversee the approval of events, budgets and everything else.”

“This is just some sort of revenge for you, isn’t it?” Ahmer asked Mahira.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Mahira smirked, “It’s the students who have chosen you.”

A few minutes later, Ruqsana couldn’t control her laughter when Ahmer shared the events of the day on the call.

“Yeah, yeah! Laugh all you want,” Ahmer said irritably.

“My poor husbando-kun, he won the election and now has to lead. He’s also way more popular than before. What will he do?” Ruqsana said in a mocking tone.

“Your castle is made of glass too, waifu-chan, or should I say Aslanspiration girl,” Ahmer shot back.

“Don’t even joke about that,” Ruqsana sighed, “I have to take guards with me to even college to avoid getting mobbed by fans.”

“It will probably last until a week or two, when a new meme comes up,” Ahmer reassured her.

“Hopefully,” She replied, “You’re coming to Asadabad for winter break, right?”

“Yeah, Abbu wants to maintain the positive reaction people are having towards our relationship,” Ahmer confirmed.

“More like the meme fest they are making of you and me,” Ruqsana scoffed.

“Until we meet, I’ll miss you,” Ahmer said.

“Aw! I’ll miss you more.”

“I’ll miss you even more.”

“I’ll miss you more than that.”

“I’ll-” Ahmer stopped seeing his friends peeping at him behind the door, “talk to you later.”

“Love you, Allah Hafiz.” She cut the call.

“Oh no, do continue to tell bhabhi how much you’ll miss her,” Shoaib teased Ahmer.

‘Some things never change,’ Ahmer sighed, “You guys are coming to the wedding, right?”

“So excited? There are still- when is the graduation?” Shoaib asked.

“October 2026,” Saif answered.

“10 months left,” Shoaib completed.

“I still can’t believe your father invited us,” Salman said.

“More like I invited you and Abbu reluctantly agreed,” Ahmer scoffed, “We are getting along better these days.”

“Who’d have thought? That this arranged marriage would turn out to be the best thing to happen to you?” Salman asked rhetorically.

“Yeah,” Ahmer smiled, eagerly awaiting the promised day.