[ Third Person's Point of View ]
The following morning, Bella and Niana went to school together. They were keeping a distance. The only sound heard was the rustling leaves and footsteps.
"Sorry about last night." Niana broke the silence. Bella didn't respond.
"Uh, Bella, do you want to come with me to the orphanage later?" Niana stepped closer to Bella while holding a grip on the straps of her yellow backpack.
"Hmm, what are we gonna do there?" Bella asked.
"Nothing. Just have fun with the kids. Don't worry. People there are kind and welcoming." Niana smiled sweetly. Bella just glared at her.
"Alright." Bella sighed.
*Bzzt*
Bella pulled her phone from her pocket. The message popped on her screen.
"It's Ashton?" Niana spoke.
"Yeah. He's been bugging me since last night."
"What did he say?"
"We have a meeting later."
"Really? Then I'll wait for you before we go to the orphanage."
Bella frigidly nodded.
...
[Bella's Point of View]
Am I living my life the way it's supposed to be?
These past days and months, I tried to live a normal life as much as I could. However, these people around me aren't very much trusted.
I'm trying my best to stay quiet and dumb, but I can't just keep a low face towards everything happening.
Especially the serial killer. I wonder who would that be? I admit I had done many horrid things to many people, and one of those must be thinking of getting an act of revenge. Do they want to play a game with me again?
In this game, only one will be the winner.
And that's me.
"Hi, Bella."
I stopped walking and stared at this lady standing in front of me.
I faked a smile. Ugh, seriously? It's so tiring and exhausting to keep forcing yourself to smile.
But I wonder, when people genuinely feel happy, they can't help but smile. How ludicrous.
"Hi." I calmly replied. What was her name again? Right, it's Princess Bellania. Don't call me Bella.
She was wearing this knitted cropped violet sweater and a really short skirt, it's our uniform, but she trimmed it to be really short. Pathetic, how could the teachers allow that? Her lips were pouty and firm full of lipgloss. I suppose it has a hundred layers of it. Her face is full of foundation and makeup, perfectly fitting her wavy brown hair. She could pass as a Bratz doll.
Behind her were two girls whose arms were crossed. They were standing with their weight on one leg and an eyebrow raised at me.
They don't even look beautiful.
"Why does your face look so horrible?" Princess Bellania doesn't call me Bella leaned towards me and cupped my face with her right hand. She tilted my head left and right, observing my face.
I know she just finds me prettier than her. I smirked.
"Did you just smirk at me?" She slightly shouted and looked at me up and down.
"No, I was smiling." I smiled while showing my teeth and walked past her.
Girls like that must drop out of school before I cut their tongues off their blabbermouths.
"Bella, are you -"
I inhaled and turned to Niana. Why does she keep asking if I'm okay when it's self-evident that I am? Is she that dumb?
"Yes, I'm totally fine, Niana. You don't have to keep worrying about me." I replied and turned my back again.
I proceeded to the comfort room and looked at my face. I looked at all the angles and moved closer to the mirror.
Am I really this beautiful? I don't even wear makeup. I stared at my reflection for a while and slowly tried to create a curve on my lips.
Smiling is really not for me.
I have never stared at my face this long ever since. I wasn't really conscious about how I looked, but I know I can do a lot with this face.
After all, people are all about looks and physical appearance. Nobody cares if you're kind, bad, smart, or dumb. As long as you have a really great visual, you will be loved by tons.
And that is a fact. A sad reality, but I'm not sorry about it since I am gorgeous.
I went out of the comfort room and bumped into someone. I hissed and glared at the guy.
"It's you!" Ashton smiled and opened his arms, attempting to hug me.
I pushed him away and scoffed.
"Woah, easy girl. Don't you want my hug?" He fixed his composure and opened his arms once again.
"I don't receive hugs from anyone," I replied coldly.
Well, actually, when I was a young toddler, mom and dad used to hug me all the time, and I loved it. It feels warm and cozy.
Jameson also hugged me multiple times when I was younger.
But I can't just let people hug me. I'll never know if they are holding a knife, preparing to stab me if I let them.
They make you feel comfortable in their presence but end up stabbing your back.
"Really? Even from your boyfriend?" Ashton smirked and leaned on the wooden wall.
"I don't have a boyfriend, and even if I do have, I won't let him hug me as well," I responded and walked away, but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me to face him again.
"What do you need?" I asked in a calm but cold demeanor.
"Uh, I just want to tell you that our meeting later will be in the club room. Please go there as soon as your classes end!" He let go of my wrist and frantically went away.
I gazed towards my side and saw Princess Bellania don't call me Bella glaring at me with her arms still crossed and her fingers ticking. She stepped closer to me, and I faced her.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"I'm standing while talking to you," I replied.
"Not that." She said.
"I'm breathing."
"Hahahaha! You're such a dumbass! How did you get the top rank? Did you cheat?" She widened her eyes and moved even closer. I had to step back.
"It's not your problem anymore. All kids these days cheat their way to get what they want, don't you do that too?" I asked her back. How dare she accuse me?
"I don't care about other kids cheating. You are cheating, and you clearly don't deserve the first spot." She pressed her point finger on my chest, pushing me aggressively.
"SHUT UP, BRAT!" I pushed her away, and she fell to the floor. That might be painful, but it served her right. I saw Ashton running towards her, and she cried her eyes like a baby.
"She pushed me, Ashton! She pushed me!" She bawled and pointed at me. Ashton looked at me and acted as if he was apologizing for Princess Bellania's mistake.
"Shh, don't worry. I'm here, okay?" Ashton caressed Princess Bellania's hair, and they hugged each other.
I rolled my eyes and proceeded to take steps away from them.
"DON'T YOU EVER DARE TO FLIRT WITH MY ASHTON AGAIN, YOU WITCH!" I heard Princess Bellania scream.
If I get really annoyed with that brat, I'm going to end her happy lipgloss life in a second.
NOW MY DAY IS RUINED!
I stomped my bag on my table and subconsciously kicked Niana's chair. Her bag fell down, and some of her things came out of her purse.
I sighed shortly and picked up her things. As I was putting those stuff back, I saw an old picture of her in the orphanage. She was with the nuns and other kids as well. Even if this picture is fading, their smiles are very evident.
If I ended up being an orphan, would I also have those smiles?
I stared at the picture intently when I saw a boy with a very familiar face. I couldn't grasp it entirely because his face was somewhat blurred.
Maybe I just thought he looked familiar.
I returned everything inside her bag and finally calmed down. I sat on my seat and placed my head on the table.
What is there out for me? I thought.
"Bella, hey, sorry I didn't follow you a while back, the teacher called me to do something at the faculty. Are you okay? Why are you sulking so early in the morning?" She uttered while gasping for air.
"I told you, I'm fine," I mumbled.
"Okay! By the way, I saw Ashton and Princess in the hallway. I didn't know they were dating." She said out of the blue.
"It's none of our business," I replied without turning my head to her.
"Yeah. I'll come with you to the meeting later."
...
Classes soon ended in a blink of an eye. I'm not so enthusiastic about studying, but I realized that I needed to be a Psychiatrist. I contemplated it for a long time, and I knew that I wanted to do it.
It might be absurd since I am a psychopath, but I am doing this for an unknown reason.
That's why I am doing my best to get perfect grades and live my everyday life like any other human. Getting into a college university will be hard if I have bad grades and lousy school records.
"This way," Niana said and pointed to a dark area in a corner.
We arrived at a door with a sign above it.
'Newspaper buddies clubroom. Please knock on the door silently.'
"Tsk." I opened the door and saw Ashton sitting on the couch while reading a newspaper, and one leg was above the other. On the floor, two lower-year girl students were playing chess. Sitting on the couch on the other side were three ladies. They were from the higher years.
"Uh, a...are we all ladies he...here?" Niana asked while stuttering.
"Hmm? Oh! It's you, Bella, and your cockroach friend! Come in, please!" Ashton immediately opened the door wider for us and let us in.
"Did he just call me cockroach?" Niana whispered.
"Anyway, so today would just be basically an introductory day! It's for us to get to know each other." Ashton went back to his seat and signaled me to sit beside him. I had no choice. Niana, on the other hand, sat beside me too.
"Are you the only guy here?" I asked Ashton.
He looked at me with an uneasy face and nodded.
"You know, it's actually better to work with ladies. They are clean and very organized." He smiled.
He kept talking about unnecessary stuff, so I didn't pay attention. I wondered why he did not want to work with guys.
As we finished introducing ourselves, I realized that all of us here, except Niana, are excelling students.
What weird fetish does this guy have?