As I rejected Ethan, I gasped and walked away from him, without giving a glance to him. I don't know if he likes me or not. I just know one thing, I like Aiden, my boyfriend and I'm not going to break up with him. With great difficulty I have found him. I do not have the courage to lose him again.
As I enter the cafeteria, my eyes search for the blonde hair girl, my best friend, Emily. She's been my best friend from day one. I sigh in relief as my eyes catch a glimpse of her blonde hair in the crowd. I grin and I take a seat beside my best friend and my roommate, Emily. “I'm feeling under the weather.” She furrows her brows. “Why?” She asks as she takes a bite of burger and licks the corner of her mouth. “A guy proposed to me just a moment ago.” “What? Another guy likes you.” Emily murmurs in shock. I sigh, shutting my eyes close and nod. “Sometimes I wonder how many guys like you. By the way, what happened then?” She asks. “I rejected him.” I look into her eyes. Why is she even asking that when she already knows that Aiden is my boyfriend and I reject every other boy. “Is he handsome?” She asks, raising her brows. I recall how Ethan looked. He is good looking for sure. I can't lie about that so I nod in quick response. “What! You……...you are saying that he's handsome. You never find anyone handsome or good looking easily. It means he truly is handsome.” She is stunned by my statement. It's true that I never find any boy good looking but Ethan is, so I had to concede that. “More than Aiden?” She asks. Her voice is playful and teasing. I knit my brows and give a death glare to her. She purses her lips and utters, “I'm just casually asking.” “Maybe, yes.” I roll my eyes. “What! Girls are dying to date Aiden. Who's that boy who's more good looking than him?” Her mouth drops open. I grit my teeth. It's hard to admit that someone else is more dainty than my boyfriend but it's true. I can't lie about that. “Then why did you reject him?” She asks as she takes another bite of the burger. “Because it's not about looks. I like Aiden. For me Aiden is the most good looking boy. That's it.” I say. She gasps. “Oh Belle! Why do you like Aiden this much?” Tears form in my eyes as I recall my childhood memories. My father owned a hotel and resort in Corsica and I was ten at that time. We went for a picnic at the Ajaccio beach and I remember I was playing on the beach with some kids even though I didn't have any friends at that time. I was laughing with them, I was enjoying it with them. Many people were present there. "Hourra!" I laughed and turned my face. And all of a sudden my eyes caught a glimpse of a boy. A very beautiful boy, who was sitting on the beach alone. I blinked my eyes twice and glanced at all the people there. The kids were playing with their friends. The couples were having fun. My mother and father were busy taking their pictures. Everyone was looking happy but that boy was sitting alone and looking upset. Why was he sitting alone and where were his parents? My heart told me to ask him if he's okay or if there's any problem? He was looking at his feet all the time. I ran towards him. "Bonjour! Je m'appelle Belle." I introduced myself. He turned his face and looked at me with a poker face but then again turned his face and started looking at his feet. I knitted my brows. "Bonjour. Est-ce que tu m'écoutes? Pourquoi es-tu assis seul?" I asked him if he could listen to me and why he was sitting alone there in French but he didn't reply. So, he might be from another country. “Do you understand English?” I asked because I thought maybe he would understand my language but it looked like he didn't understand anything, that's why he was not replying to me so I thought of trying to speak English but he was still mute. I thought he couldn't talk and he was deaf and dumb. I scratched my scalp while thinking. He again looked at my face and moved a little bit away from me. "Do you have any problem? You can tell me if you have any." I insisted. "You're the problem. Can't you just keep silent for a moment? You have been talking for so long. You have made my mind go haywire.” He screamed at me. I blinked my eyes, taken aback by hearing his voice finally. "So, you can speak? I thought you couldn't." I told him and started laughing at him. He turned his face, giving me a death glare. "Are you trying to scare me? But you can't. Belle Dubois doesn't feel scared of anyone in this world." I stated. He rolled his eyes and turned his face again in front. "Do you still not want to be my friend?" I asked, one last time. He didn't say anything to me. "You don't want to be, I guess." I stood up to walk away from him. "Why should I become friends with you?" He said finally. I sat beside him hurriedly, facing him. "So you were asking why should you become friends with me? Because we are kids and you're looking the same age as mine, I guess. What is your age by the way?" I asked him. "Eleven." He uttered. I smiled widely. "I'm ten and half. Look, we both are almost of the same age. Let's become friends then." He turned his face, locking his eyes with mine. "Friends?" I asked, raising my hand for a handshake. He nodded and then shook his hand with mine. I grinned widely because he became my first friend ever. I never thought it would be that easy to make a friend. "Okay then let's go. We should play." We both started playing with sand while talking to each other. "What is your favorite color?" I asked. "Red." He replied. "Mine is navy blue. What's your favorite cartoon?" I asked. "Ben 10." "Mine is Oggy and the cockroaches. What is your hobby?" "Sketching." "Mine is dancing. What is your favorite food?” "Chicken." He said. “Are you not a francaise?” He shook his head as he answered, “I'm American.” "How did you come here?" I asked. "We were going from nearby and my car stopped working. Driver told me to wait here until it starts working again. The mechanic must have come now to repair it." He exclaimed. "You have a car and a driver too." I scowled, hearing that. He looked at me in surprise. "There's plenty at my home. Do you want to see that?" I shake my head. "No. I'm okay here. My house is not too far. You can come with me there." "You live in this locality?" He asked. "Yup." I nodded. He sighed and looked away. "Driver told me not to go anywhere. I can't go." “Okay.” “How can you speak English fluently?” He asked, staring into my eyes. “I learnt by watching American movies and shows.” He widened his eyes and his mouth dropped in shock. “Seriously!” Surprise flashed in his eyes. “I like American models and I watch them. I want to become a model in the future. That's why.” “You are talented.” He said. I chuckled and nodded. “Yes. I am.” “They are my parents.” I turned my face, pointing my finger at my parents. The crowd was decreasing as the sun set down. It had not become totally dark yet but the moon could be seen then. The sky was turning red and the scene of the beach was so mesmerizing. He took a seat beside me, looking at the moon and then he turned to look at my face. "It looks like you like this very much,” He said. "Yup. It calms me down. My mom says that one day a prince will come from the moon to marry me, just like Prince Adam married Princess Belle. Does your mom not say things like that?” “I don't have a mother.” Saying this, he turned his face away as if he was hiding his tears from me while I kept staring at him for a long time. My heart was hurting and I wanted to take his pain as my share and give him all my happiness. I had never felt like this for anyone before and at that moment I realized that I'm liking him. I took off my stylish gold pendant with my name on it which my father had got made for me in a large size so that I could wear it all my life, and put it around that boy’s neck. As I hooked my name's pendant on his neck, he turned his face to me in amazement. “What are you doing?” “Mom says we should be giving something to comfort someone who we care about. I don't have anything to give you other than my pendant.” “You care about me!” He asks. I flashed a wide grin and glanced away briefly. “Why?” He shot a quick response. “You are my first friend, that's why.” I turned my face to look at him as he uttered out of the blue. "I like you." He kissed my cheek. My cheeks flushed in shyness. He pulled away from my cheek and flashed a wide grin to me. "You're so beautiful. I was already looking at you before you saw me here." He said. I was looking into his eyes and it didn't feel like he was lying to me. "Why were you looking at me?" I furrowed my brows. "Because I never found any girl this much beautiful. You are exactly my type. I like you now," I shook my head. "It's not true. You're lying to me!” I asked. My cheeks started heating up when I heard that he likes me. I glanced away briefly, staring at the sky to hide my face. "I'll make a palace for you one day and will make you my queen. I promise that. Will you marry me in the future?" I perceived his face, flabbergasted by his words. It was a pleasure, hearing from his mouth that he wants to make a palace for me and marry me. No one ever said something like that to me. "Young master. We can go now." We both heard a voice. We looked in that direction from where the voice came. There was a man. He must be his driver, I guess. "Belle." I glanced up into his eyes. My breathing stuck in my throat, as he cupped my face and kissed my lips. He pulled away from me and stared into my eyes as he said, "Only you'll become my queen. Remember that. I'll find you. Will you wait for me?" “Yes.” I nodded. I didn't know why and how but I liked him. Maybe because his looks were my type or maybe because he kissed me or maybe because he became my first friend. I liked him. I really did that's why I couldn't stop from saying yes to him. A wide grin settled on his lips. "What's your name by the way?" I asked. He wrote his name on the sand and ran away from there. I said bye to him and when I turned to see his name on the sand, the wave of water erased his name. I could only see the last alphabet of his name which was ‘N’. And since then I had been waiting only for him—just waiting. I didn't know whether it was love or madness, but my heart was never ready to believe that he would not come. I was sure that he would come. I was sure that we would meet again. I was sure that if he had told me to wait, then one day he would definitely find me. I had faith in him and I finally found him. I found my boyfriend, my Aiden.As I reached the library, I tried to take a book from the book shelf, but I couldn't reach my hands there. As I begin to jump to take that book, I feel someone wrapped hands around my waist from behind. I flinch from the abrupt touch and turn to see and the moment I see that person's face, my lips widen in a big grin. His dark brown eyes matched with mine. The black leather jacket he has worn over the white tee, is adorning his features. His hair neatly combed and polished back, leaving a stand of hair in front of his right eye. He winks at me. As tears well up in my eyes, I grasp his t-shirt and pull him for a hug. It's my boyfriend, my Aiden. “Missed me?” He asks. I nod as tears start shedding from my eyes over his t-shirt one by one, recalling the moments of morning when Ethan told me that he likes me and wants to date me. Aiden pulls me away from him and cups my face, furrowing his brows. “Hey! Mad girl. Did someone say something?” He wipes my tears with his thumbs. “No
It's Sunday. Finally, I'm going on a date with my boyfriend. I did my morning routine hurriedly. I hope everything goes well. I took a shower and started finding something to wear for my date. What should I wear? I don't know where we are going. I should take help from Emily. “Emily.” “Yes.” She says in her sleepy voice. “Can you help me? I don't know what I should wear for my date?” I say. “I think you should wear lingerie.” She suggests. “Yeah.” I nod and then furrow my brows. “Wait! What!” I ask as if I hear something wrong. She starts laughing at me. “Yeah. Go and wear lingerie. It will be easier for him to fuck you then.” She says and laughs. I blink my eyes in disbelief and my cheeks flush in embarrassment. “Shut up. We are not going to do that.” I glance away briefly. “Oh c'mon. Everyone knows what happens between couples. Don't be a fool. Everyone does that.” She stands beside me. I bite my lower lip in stress. “Everyone does!” I ask in surprise, glan
“Belle, wake up. Look what's here.” Emily's hoarse voice wakes me up from my deep slumber. Sitting up in my bed, crossing my legs I stretch my arms and stifle a yawn. “What happened?” I ask, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. She approaches me, a big bouquet of delicate red rose flowers, adorning her arms. “It was laying down outside of our room,” she informs. “For Belle: it is written on this bouquet.” She renders me that bouquet. My eyes gawk at the flowers carefully. I am a little surprised to hear this. No one has sent me flowers before today. Many guys proposed to me till date but no one ever sent flowers. Who did it today? Is it Aiden? “It must be Aiden.” I flash a wide grin to Emily. “We couldn't go on a date. Maybe that's why he sent these flowers to console me. I should call him.” “Okay,” she says and begins to roll her blanket. I pick up my phone; my mind reeling with Aiden's thoughts as I dial his number. He's such a great boyfriend. Never leaves a chance to make me
Aiden wants me to throw this bouquet but I don't want to. Ethan sent these flowers with feelings and throwing this bouquet, crushing these flowers means crushing his feelings. I know there's nothing between us—no chance at all. But his feelings, just by thinking about hurting his feelings, hurts me. Mom always said if a person gives you a gift then you should always keep that—no matter what that gift is: jewelry, money, expensive, non expensive. Gifts are a person's emotions. How can I throw this bouquet? “Why does Aiden have no emotions?” I murmur. I stand up from the bed, grasping the bouquet. As I walk outside of the campus, I look for someone to give this bouquet. It would be better to give this bouquet to another person rather than throwing it away. My eyes search for a person, and it lands over an old lady, walking on the sidewalk. I take big steps towards her and offer her that bouquet. She furrows her brows. “This is for you. You are beautiful,” I say. Her eyes sparkle as
I sigh as I press Aiden's apartment’s bell. The apartment is located in one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Manhattan. Aiden must be getting bored; he can't go anywhere because of his fracture, so I thought of surprising him by showing up here. After envisioning me, he'll be dazzled, and delighted also.My face lits up as he opens the door. “Belle, what are you doing here?” His jaw drops, his face stunned. My boyfriend, my Aiden—looking handsome as always in his Gucci leather jacket.“I missed you.” I close the gap between us and embrace him in a tight hug, my head resting on his chest; he's 6 feet tall—maybe his height was the thing I fell for.“I missed you too,” he says.I pull back, glancing down at his fracture. “Is it better now?” I stare back into his eyes. He nods his head. “It is.” “Let's go inside,” I say and we both enter his apartment. My eyes dart as I witness the sunset view of the Manhattan skyline through the glass walls of his drawing room. I never dreamt
Laying my phone down, I sit on my bed and uncap the bottle of Chanel Le Vernis in ‘Rouge Noir,’ the rich, deep color is my favorite shade. With steady hands, I begin to apply the polish on my long, slender fingers. Just then, my phone starts buzzing. Who's calling now? Without glancing at the phone screen, I picked up the call. “Belle, what are you doing babe?” Aiden's voice comes from the other side. I press the phone between my ear and my shoulder as I continue applying nail polish. “I'm busy,” I say.“Busy? Doing what?” he asks.“Applying nail polish.”“Nail polish. Seriously! Is nail polish more important than me?” he exclaims.“Yes. And by the way we've broken up. Did you forget that?”“You broke up. I didn't. You aren't allowed to break up with me until I want that.” he utters. “And when will you want that?” I ask.“Never,” he retorts.
"You have a natural talent," the photographer praises. His words reassure me, his compliment gives me more confidence. "I think you have a bright future.” I flash a wide grin. “Thank you so much,” I say. At first I felt nervous but as the session progressed, I found my confidence growing more and more. I gave an audition, walked the runaway with elegance, like a diva.“We'll be in touch,” the casting director says, rendering me his business card; I make my way out of the modeling company.After a very tiring day, I reached my boyfriend's apartment. Now only spending time with him can freshen up my mood and energize me. “Hi!” I greet him as I enter his apartment, but he doesn't respond to me. Sitting on his couch, he continues playing his video game, his face cold and rude; the glow of his massive flat- screen TV illuminating his focused face. His fingers move deftly over the controller, his eyes never leaving the screen. Sometimes I feel jealous of his fondness for video games. He
“Belle, let's kiss now.” Aiden cups my face and leans to me. I push him slightly away from me. “I'm feeling under the weather. Sorry,” I say, standing up from the couch. Tears brimming into my eyes; I glance away briefly and walk outside of his apartment, my mind swirling with anxiety and frustration of my parents' fight. All the fights I've witnessed of my parents, reeling in my mind like a movie. What bad had I done in my past life that I was born as their child? I wish I would have died the day I was born. Walking hopelessly in the corridor of the dorm, I bump into someone all of a sudden and fall above that person, letting a gasp come out from my mouth. My breasts press on the hard chest of that person. I glance up swiftly to see him. It's Ethan. His long, dark brown hair falls in waves around his face, brushing his cheekbones. My eyes meet his dark brown eyes; his gaze is often intense and penetrating, as if he can see right through my soul. Lost in his eyes, tears fall