It's All About Us

28 FEBRUARY, 2019

I was late for college, and when I entered, many students were playing and walking on the college grounds because the weather was windy and beautiful. I went straight to my class; the professor wasn't there, and some of the students were reading books. Bella wasn't there, so I went to the cafeteria because that's where she spent most of her time.

She was sitting at one of the middle tables in the cafeteria, working. She looked so calm and pretty. She had a sparkle in her eyes, or something like that, because they were shining. For a few minutes, everything stopped. I wondered why everything was happening like a romantic movie. Then I called her name, and she looked at me and came towards me, leaving all her work behind.

She came and said, "Thanks for getting me home safely."

"We're friends, and friends help each other out."

"Are you flirting with me?"

"What, no, no, absolutely not."

"Then why are you acting so cute?"

She said it, looking cute. I knew she could see my cheeks turning red, but she didn't say anything about it. Then she asked.

"Do you need help, buddy?"

"No."

"Then why are you calling me?"

"Just to say hello."

"Seriously? Just to say hi."

"Um, yeah."

She stared at me angrily, and I thought she was going to attack me at any moment. She said nothing and returned to her table, grabbed her books, put them in her bag, and came over to me. She motioned for me to follow her in sign language with her fingers. I knew she was angry, so I said nothing and followed her.

She led me to the college garden, where most of the students were going about their work and some of them were playing. I knew that in less than a month, we had forged a special bond between us that was strange, even very strange. She sat down in the garden, and I did the same. I opened my book, got my laptop out of my bag, and started writing something. She wrote something too, but she looked at my laptop, and I hid it from her. Then she asked me,

"Are you hiding something?"

"No"

"Then show me what you're writing."

Nothing, I'm just writing something."

"What?"

"It's something personal; no, let me write," I replied in frustration.

After I told her that, she looked upset, so I decided to confess my feelings to her. I had no idea why I was doing this after upsetting her so much. It was the first and last time I confessed my feelings to her. I knocked on her back and told her to stand. She gave me strange looks and stood up. But suddenly it started to rain, and everyone started to pack their things. I quickly packed my laptop in my bag, she packed her books in her bag, and then we both walked into the college.

When we got back to the cafeteria, we tried to find a seat there, but all the seats were taken. Then I thought about calling her after college at the same restaurant where we had eaten. I was thinking about it when I received a call from home. It was my mother, and her voice was shaky.

She told me, my father was stuck in his office because of the heavy rain. All the electric doors stopped working because electricity broke down, and the emergency switch to operate the gates was outside the office. My father was an interior designer and rented an office for his work. My mother told me to go there and help my father get out of the office. I had no choice, so I told Bella everything about this situation, left my bag there, borrowed an umbrella from a classmate, and ran. Bella called me from behind. I stopped and saw her coming towards me, and then she hugged me tightly. It was the best hug of my whole life. I could feel her emotions, and I could feel some fear in her. She looked good, but my heart didn't accept it. I said to her,

"Wait here, I want to tell you something."

It was pouring rain, and I was waiting for a bus at the bus stop. I kept thinking about Bella and why I was unhappy. My head was filled with so many thoughts and questions. I wasn't able to answer everything. After waiting for five minutes, a bus came, and luckily, the bus line was near my father's office.

Finally, the sound of the rain quieted down. I wanted to think in peace. The bus was almost empty, with only 3–4 people sitting in the front seats. I started thinking about Bella again, and I don't know why these bad feelings were running through my head. Thinking about the hug made me feel uncomfortable. Maybe I don't feel good today because I didn't get enough sleep. After a few minutes, Rain's voice disappeared from my ears because all my concentration was on Bella.

I thought, "I'm thinking too much, so I tried to empty my mind, but everyone knows you can't empty your mind when you're tense. I only hear the voices of my mind, and everything that happens in the world is silent to me." Then I felt a vibration in my legs. I came to my senses and saw that an unknown person was calling. I don't usually answer strangers' phones, but this time I picked up.

"Hello Liam?"

"Yes, who are you?"

"I'm Alex

Alex called me for the first time, and how did he get my number? His voice was so deep and somehow emotional.

"Yes, Alex, why did you call me?"

"Just come to the college right now; it's an emergency."

Emergency? First, my dad was locked in his office, and now Alex says it's an emergency. I didn't know what had happened that day, so I asked him.

"What kind of emergency? Please tell me quickly; I've got to go to an important job."

"Can you please get here as soon as possible?"

"But tell me what happened," I said to him because I was already frustrated. He yelled into the receiver and said,

"Bella is dead."

At that moment, I didn't know how to respond. My brain stopped working. I just ran up to the driver and told him to stop the bus. He stopped, and I stood in the middle of the road for 2 minutes. The bus was already gone, and there was no chance that another bus would come. My hands were shaking, and I was completely soaked. No one was there; not even a vehicle came by, and it took about 25 minutes to get to the college. I had no other choice, so I continued on foot.

The rain was still the same, and the streets were completely wet. As I walked, tears came to my eyes for the first time. All the memories of her kept coming back to my mind. My clothes were so heavy because they were soaked with water. I couldn't walk anymore, but I had to do it for her. My cell phone stopped working too, and finally, the rain was getting less and less.

After 30 minutes, I reached the college and saw that everyone was standing there in mourning. The college was completely silent. I saw that everyone was standing in the cantine. The cantine was full of students and some teachers. The students saw me coming and made room for me to go to the front. I saw Alex and Emma from behind. The two of them were crying. Bella was lying on Emma's lap.

Alex saw me, came running to me, and started crying and hugging me. I pushed him and ran to Bella. I already had tears in my eyes, and when I saw her, I just could not control myself and started crying. I sat down on my knees next to Emma and took Bella from her lap to mine. The radiance in her face had faded, and her body was cold. I bent my head and touched her forehead with my forehead. I could not hold back my emotions anymore, so I just hugged her and started crying even louder. Emma had already called her mom, and she was on her way. Her eyes were closed, and her smile faded away.

It was the worst day of my life and the last time I fell in love with someone.