Zahra

> *"Hey, don't be mean. At least she's got the beauty and style guys fall for..."*
>
>

Zahra is the third protagonist of the game, introduced as one of Emma's interns.

### Background

Zahra attends university and works as an intern in a sales team. She's in her early twenties.

### Physical appearance

Zahra is dark-skinned and short, with a pear figure. She has dark brown curly hair, brown eyes, thin eyebrows and full lips.

### Personality

Zahra is intellectual, as shown by her good grades in her Psychology class and her teaching abilities. She's also forward and blunt, as she approaches conflicts head-on and with full honesty, like confessing her crush to Hassan or while helping Freddie discover his sexuality.

## Story

#### Zahra's POV

Layla, Zahra's roommate and friend, invites Zahra over to the NCAA finals, where Zahra meets basketball player and fellow classmate Hassan. She becomes infatuated by him but quickly steps back when she realizes he's dating someone else. At a party, Zahra overhears Hassan and his girlfriend breaking up, and checks on him afterwards. Hassan recognizes her from their Psychology classes and asks Zahra if she would be his tutor, to which she says yes.

After tutoring him, Hassan asks Zahra to be his plus one at the team's championship ceremony. During the ceremony, Zahra bluntly tells Hassan that she's interested in him but Hassan rejects her by saying it's too soon to jump into another relationship, asking her to be his friend for now.

#### Freddie's POV

Zahra and Hassan are approached by Freddie during one of their study sessions, and they later become friends. However, Zahra and Freddie click off better and Hassan becomes jealous at them. He calls Zahra to tell her so and she confronts him, to which he finally admits he wants to be more than friends. They organize a meeting at a pub to tell Freddie the news.

During their meeting, Freddie confesses to Hassan that he has a crush on him. To help, Zahra and the other two guys enter an empty room and she undresses herself to check if Freddie is attracted to women. When he admits that he's not into her, Zahra concludes that Freddie is gay.

#### Zahra's POV

A year later, Hassan has graduated and Zahra is eager to know if he will be drafted to the NBA. When the ceremony arrives and Hassan is not drafted, Zahra feels sorry for him, but Hassan keeps his positive attitude. Later on, he gets an offer from a team in Barcelona, Spain. Scared to break things off, Hassan asks Zahra if they can manage a long-distance relationship, to which Zahra agrees in the terms that they visit each other on vacations and off-season.

Once Hassan is in Barcelona, Emma approaches Zahra and asks her to prepare a speech for her course dedicated to females developing in workplaces. Zahra accepts and nails her speech, which leads to her and Freddie reconnecting. While catching up in a pub, Freddie notices Alex's presence and invites him to hang out together.

#### Jane's POV

Zahra and Jane first meet in Barcelona, given that Jane's boyfriend Wiley is Hassan's new agent while Zahra is visiting him. They become friends and enjoy their time together, and in her last day in Spain, Zahra helps Wiley to organize a surprise proposal for Jane.

#### Freddie's POV

After returning to the States, Zahra communicates her adventures on Barcelona to her friends. Alex discovers that Jane is Zahra's new friend in Spain, and reacts sadly to the engagement news.

Freddie communicates his suspicions about Alex's past with Jane to Zahra, and she agrees that Freddie could visit her on Barcelona to ask her about it. However, she warns Freddie not to mess with Jane and Wiley's relationship.

#### Alex's POV

Zahra calls Alex early to tell him that Freddie has suffered an emergency during his trip to Europe, as part of a plan to get Alex and Jane to talk things out. She and Alex travel to Barcelona to meet up with Freddie.

## Trivia

* Assuming that Zahra and Hassan are the same age, Zahra would be 21 at the beginning of the story.
* Zahra's reaction at Hassan and his girlfriend suggest that she doesn't have much luck when it comes to love.
* Zahra is a name of Arabic origin. This could mean that Zahra is part Arab, while her dark skin and hair texture suggest she's also part African.
* Over the months she becomes extremely close to Freddie and Tim, and they refer to themselves as Zahra's best friends.

1. ↑ Zahra: *"Yes, I'm the new intern on the sales team. I've been around for two weeks now."*
2. ↑ Hassan: *"What? Are you saying you like me?"* Zahra: *"Yes, I am quite certain about it."*
3. ↑ Hassan: *"Freddie, Freddie, always Freddie. You work with Freddie, study with Freddie, hang out with Freddie. I feel like I'm third wheelin' on you lovebirds!"*
4. ↑ Emma: *"Here, I got a plan for you. It contains a series of courses about females developing in workplaces, and I'd like you to make a speech for the opening season."*
5. ↑ Zahra: *"Don't forget that she's engaged-I don't want you to ruin the happy life she has now."*
6. ↑ Zahra: *"Hey, don't be mean. At least she's got the beauty and style guys fall for..."*
7. ↑ http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Zahra
8. ↑ Freddie: *"Good idea-we totally should! We are her best friends after all."*