The Fair Settles

Behind Cora, Lisa had been quietly watching the conversation the entire time.

She stepped closer, resting one hand lightly on the edge of the table beside Nadia. The shift was subtle, but it changed the dynamic immediately.

Nadia glanced toward her.

For the first time since they had arrived at the stand, the confident edge in her voice softened slightly.

"Lisa," she said, almost automatically.

Lisa’s expression was calm, thoughtful, observant — the same composed presence Cora had noticed earlier.

"You’re overwhelming the freshmen," Lisa said mildly.

Nadia laughed under her breath, but she straightened a little when Lisa’s hand briefly touched her shoulder.

"I’m recruiting," Nadia replied.

"You’re rambling," Lisa corrected gently.

Nadia raised her hands in mock surrender.

"Fine," she said. "I’ll behave."

The moment was small, but Cora noticed something interesting.

For someone who had just dismantled Maya in front of half the plaza, Nadia suddenly looked almost… attentive.

Asmaa noticed it too.

Her eyes moved between the two women.

The shift was subtle, but real.

"You listen to her," Asmaa said quietly.

Nadia glanced back at Lisa, then gave a small shrug.

"She’s usually right," Nadia admitted.

Lisa didn’t react to the compliment, but her fingers briefly tapped the table beside Nadia — a small approving gesture.

Nadia straightened slightly when it happened.

Cora noticed that too.

Interesting, she thought.

For someone who talked like she worshipped white men, Nadia still seemed to orbit Lisa’s approval.

Like she actually cared what Lisa thought.

Lisa turned her attention to Cora and Asmaa.

"If Nadia starts giving you dating advice," she said calmly, "take about seventy percent of it seriously."

Nadia gasped softly.

"Rude," she said.

Lisa ignored that.

"But she does mean well," she added.

Nadia leaned closer to the two of them again.

"And if you do have questions about dating," she said conspiratorially, "religion, culture, flirting white men — I’m happy to help."

Asmaa covered her face briefly, mortified.

"You say it so easily," Asmaa said from behind her hands.

Nadia tilted her head.

"Because it is easy," she replied.

Asmaa lowered her hands again.

"For you maybe," she said. "For me there are rules. Expectations."

"Family," she added quietly.

Nadia studied her for a moment.

"You think you’re the first Muslim girl who’s had that problem?" she said gently.

Asmaa blinked.

"Half the girls who come to the women’s night are trying to figure out exactly that," Nadia continued. "Faith. Family. Attraction."

She gestured lightly toward the plaza.

"University is usually where people start asking those questions honestly."

Lisa watched the exchange quietly.

"Which is exactly why we separate the first event," she added calmly. "People speak more freely when they don’t feel watched."

Asmaa considered that.

Cora could almost see the curiosity winning against the hesitation.

"You really think people talk that openly?" Cora asked.

Lisa gave a small, knowing smile.

"More than you’d expect," she said. "Especially when people realize no one in the room is trying to judge them."

Nadia nodded in agreement, though her tone stayed a little more playful.

"Also," she added, "it turns out a lot of people arrive at college with the exact same questions."

She pointed lightly between Cora and Asmaa.

"Culture. Religion. Attraction. What you’re allowed to want. What you’re supposed to want."

She tilted her head slightly.

"The funny part is most people think they’re the only one struggling with it."

Asmaa looked thoughtful at that.

"And they’re not?" she asked quietly.

"Not even close," Nadia said.

Lisa folded her arms loosely and leaned against the table beside them.

"That’s usually the moment the room relaxes," she said. "When people realize they’re not alone in whatever they’re trying to figure out."

For a moment the three of them simply stood there while the sounds of the fair drifted around them.

Cora glanced across the plaza again.

Students laughing.

Music near the fountain.

Upper‑year students calling out to freshmen walking past the booths.

It felt less tense than it had an hour ago.

More like the campus was slowly settling into itself.

"You’re good at this," Cora said after a moment, looking at Nadia.

Nadia blinked.

"At what?"

"Talking to people," Cora replied.

Nadia laughed softly.

"I argue with people for fun," she said. "Eventually you learn how conversations work."

Cora laughed despite herself.

Across the stand, conversations were beginning to break apart as the fair slowly shifted.

Some students moved on to the next tents.

Others checked their phones.

Music drifted across the plaza from somewhere near the center fountain.

The afternoon energy was beginning to scatter.

Chris walked over from Daniel’s side of the table.

When Cora saw him approaching, the earlier guilt stirred again in her chest.

He had stepped in for her without hesitation last night.

And earlier today, when Maya went after him, she had stayed silent.

The contrast made her stomach tighten slightly.

He stopped beside Cora.

"Hey," he said quietly.

Cora looked up at him.

"The guys are going to check out the gym and a couple other spots," he explained. "Weight room, rec center, stuff like that."

He rubbed the back of his neck.

"We figured we’d head back to the dorms first though."

He glanced toward Asmaa and Nadia.

"If you two are still talking," he added to Cora, "we’ll start walking and meet you there later."

Tom’s voice called from across the fair.

"Chris!"

Bronson lifted a hand beside him.

"Come on, man," he said. "We’re losing daylight."

Chris rolled his eyes slightly.

"See?" he said to Cora. "Children."

Cora smiled.

"Go," she said. "I’ll survive five more minutes of Nadia."

"Five?" Nadia protested. "I’m deeply offended."

Chris grinned.

"Text me when you’re done," he said quietly to Cora.

"I will," she replied.

For a moment they just looked at each other.

Cora suddenly wondered if he remembered the argument earlier.

If he had noticed that she hadn’t defended him.

The thought made it a little harder to hold his gaze.

Then Chris nodded and headed back toward the others.

Tom immediately slung an arm over his shoulders as they walked away.

The group slowly drifted down the path toward the dorms.

Around the WSA stand, the crowd had thinned.

Only a handful of conversations remained.

Lisa pulled out a small clipboard with a signup sheet.

"Before you disappear," she said calmly to Cora and Asmaa, "leave your numbers if you want updates about the events."

Nadia immediately leaned over the table and slid a pen toward them.

"No pressure," she added with a teasing smile. "It just means we can text you the details for Friday and the barbecue."

Cora hesitated for a second, then wrote her name and number on the sheet.

Asmaa followed a moment later, a little more carefully.

"Interested," Nadia read aloud from the column title with a grin. "That’s usually how it begins."

Lisa gathered a few of the flyers while Robert and Jisoo began stacking chairs.

Luciana waved goodbye to another group of freshmen.

Near the edge of the stand, Arjun had been standing quietly for several minutes, listening more than speaking.

He had drifted in and out of the conversations without really drawing attention to himself.

At one point he opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something — then thought better of it.

By the time Cora noticed him again, he had already slipped back toward the path leading across the quad.

Strangely, it felt like he had been part of the entire exchange.

And yet almost no one had actually spoken to him.

Nadia leaned back against the table again and looked at Cora and Asmaa with a small amused smile.

"Well," she said.

"That went better than most first meetings."

Cora watched the last students drifting across the plaza as the fair slowly wound down.

Her eyes briefly followed the path where Chris and the others had disappeared toward the dorms.

The memory of Nadia’s words echoed quietly in her mind.

But he didn’t freeze for you.

Cora exhaled slowly.

Next time, she thought.

Next time I won’t just stand there.

The WSA.

She still wasn’t sure what she thought about them.

But she was definitely curious.