──◈─▣─♕─▣─◈──

Since I was little, I behaved as a trouble-maker.

“Get back here!” our grade school teacher shouted in anger as me and my friends ran away while snickering. My friends and I got assigned to clean the garden but instead, we messed with the place and didn't do the job.

“We don’t want to,” I replied after sticking out my tongue with a wink.

Because of how I behaved, my father was often called by the school to report me. but that didn’t stop me from my mischievous behaviors. It continued even in high school.

“Home run!” I shouted after hitting the baseball with my bat. Then, it destroyed the glass window of the nearby building’s 2nd floor.

“Oh no, you hit it too high,” my friend Wanda reacted with an amused expression.

We were not even a part of the baseball club. We only bought a ball and a bat for fun and it ended up like that. Of course, we got called in the guidance office because of that.

“Even though you look like a grade-schooler doesn’t mean that you needed to act one,” Professor Beauty said to me. She was the guidance counselor of our high school. With a sigh, she closed the book she was reading and looked at me.

“Shut up!” I retorted in a bad mood while standing up. As for the professor, she was on her seat behind her desk.

 “Jeez, you're one difficult problem child alright,” she followed with a resigned smile.

 “Don't worry. I won't do it again. So with that, I'm going home. Bye,” I muttered in a nonchalant way and exited the room.

 “Hey! At least let me finish my lecture!” 

Being a trouble-maker, I was always called there, making me deal with her a lot. Then, just when I thought I got away from her...

“Bella,” Professor Beauty called after I passed the gate. She was on her yellow car, stopping by and opening her car’s window to call me.

“Wait, you own a car?” I reacted, surprised.

“Want a ride? I can at least take you home for free?” she asked with a smile.

 “If you promise you won't lecture me inside,” I responded with a wary look.

 “Jeez,” she whispered with a sigh. Then, she smiled and answered, “Hop in.”

Hearing that, I made a big smile and entered her car.

“So this is what’s like when you’re riding a car,” I reacted with shining eyes as I look around while Professor beauty drove. “It’s cool here and even smells nice.”

“Right, right. But wear your seat belt first.”

“Like this?” I asked and placed the seat belt around me in my first try. “I did it.”

“You really act like a kid,” she followed with a chuckle.

“I said don’t treat me like a kid!” I retorted in anger once again.

“Then, at least act like a lady. You’re already in high school, you know,” she said with a smile.

I crossed both of my arms and legs and replied, “I’m comfortable to be like this.”

“Well, you’ll understand me if you gain someone you like,” she followed with a teasing smile.

“Like one of the boys? That’s impossible,” I answered with a laugh.

“Then, are you into girls?” she asked with a surprised face.

“Of course not!”

“Then, why is it impossible?” she asked after her usual gentle smile returned.

“Well, falling in love and doing girl-like things is...isn’t for me,” I whispered in a shy way and looked away from her.

“That’s not true,” she responded and looked at me warmly. “I’m sure you’ll be very cute. After all, you’re a girl too.”

“I...see,” I whispered with a blushed face.

And as if Professor Beauty had divination, I met a cool boy who was the same year as me only days after I had that talk with her. His name was Mark, the ace player in our school’s baseball club back then. Being interested in him, I started grooming my hair and wearing a perfume that I didn’t even bother to do before.

“Did something good happen?” Professor Beauty asked with a smile after I visited her office out of whim. She closed her book and looked at me with keen interest.

‘Wh-what do you mean?” I responded in a nervous face.

“Well, you look girly now compared to your usual self,” she answered as a tease.

“I-It’s not a big deal. I only want a change of pace,” I answered with crossed arms while I looked at the side.

“I see,” she muttered, looking like she saw right through me.

“Enough about me...how about you?” I asked in a flustered face to change the topic.

“Me?” she repeated in a puzzled look.

“I saw you arranging the products one by one at the cafeteria earlier. What’s up with that?”

“That? It’s a habit of mine,” she replied with a smile. “Whenever I saw something disorganized or out of place, my body will move on its own to put it back to its rightful place.”

“That’s weird, you know. Are you okay?” I commented, concerned for her.

“Well, that’s me being ‘me’,” she added in a cheerful tone.

After that, a few months have passed and I decided to confess my feelings to Mark. I called him behind our school’s gymnasium after the class and he showed up.

“I like you! Please...go out with me!” I confessed nervously, my face as red as a tomato.

He became surprised at first but immediately made a serious face. Then, he replied, “I’m sorry but I already have someone I like.”

After he left, it finally hit me that I got rejected by my first love. But when I’m about to cry, I heard someone stepped on a twig.

“Uhmm...” the person muttered with a flustered face after I looked at her. It was no other than Professor Beauty.

“Professor?” I reacted, surprised.

“It’s not like I’m eavesdropping, you know. I only happen to pick some trashes lying on the ground when I saw you two talking to each other in this secluded place.”

“So you saw...all that,” I said and looked down with a sad face afterward.

Seeing that, she walked towards me and placed her hand on top of my head.

“You did great,” she said with a gentle smile.

Then, tears started to drop from my eyes.

“How is that great? I got rejected, you know,” I countered, trying my best to sound offended as I cry.

“You faced your feelings head-on. That itself is something great. It’s too bad that it didn’t end in a good way but the world won’t spin exactly the way we wanted it to be, right? It’s a shame but that’s reality.”

Hearing her words, I hugged her tight and cried on her chest.

“I promise. I will work harder to become very lady-like to the point that he’ll regret rejecting me!” I yelled as tears ran down on my face.

“I see...” Professor Beauty whispered with a caring smile and caressed my head.

And that was how my first love ended.

Since then, I started my training to become more lady-like. I stopped causing trouble, I fixed my posture, I took care of my appearance, started dieting and exercising, practiced applying light make-up, and didn’t behave like a boy anymore. I even visited Professor Beauty sometimes for some tips and lessons. After all, she was my role model for being the perfect lady in my eyes.

And then, it happened. One morning, news of a car accident in the neighborhood reached me. And out of all people, Professor Beauty was the one involved in it.

“Professor...please be safe...” I muttered with tears welling up on my eyes as I run.

I hurried towards the hospital but...

“Sorry...” the doctor apologized with a bow after explaining what happened to Professor Beauty. After he asked me some questions, he left me standing in front of the emergency room.

“Professor...” I whispered, devoid of any expression I could make.

On that evening, I reached the hospital after she breathed her last.

After that, I attended her funeral, only to cry lots at the venue. It took me a while before I could move on to her death.

“Professor, I promise. I’ll become a perfect girl like you and someday...I’ll become a teacher too,” I swore to myself after I graduated high school.

──◈─▣─♕─▣─◈──

Shoot. It looks like I snapped after he replied like Mark.

Right after I punched Prince in the gut, he immediately stood up and said, “Sorry for offending you.”

What should I do? I didn’t plan to show him this side of me. I should've fixed this cursing habit after all!

Out of confusion, I turned away from him and said, “I’m...sorry.”

For a couple of seconds, he didn’t say a thing. Then, he tried to say something but immediately got interrupted by my words.

“I think...I can’t help you after all,” I muttered in an anxious look.

“Bella...”

“I mean...look at my real side. I’m vulgar and violent. How can I help you if I’m like this?”

“That’s—”

“Goodbye,” I added and ran away.

“Bella!” he called but I didn’t look back. I only continued my run until I reached the ground floor.

For some reason, I looked back at the escalator I descended, hoping that he might’ve followed me but he didn’t.

“I guess...I’ll go home to Pops now,” I whispered to myself with a sad smile and started walking away.

It was night time when I arrived at my house. I entered the door and saw Pops having dinner alone. He was before the television, watching a baseball game.

“Bella? What are you doing here?” he asked, surprised from my sudden arrival.

“Well, some things happened so I ended up going home,” I answered and walked towards my room.

“How about dinner?”

“I’ll pass,” I answered and opened my room's door. Then, I collapsed on my bed, tired. “What a tiring day.”

As I lie there on my stomach, I remembered everything that happened for the day. Prince and I met in front of the mall, held hands, watched a movie, ate at a restaurant, kissed, and got rejected.

“I got rejected again, huh. I guess I should now ban the word 'f*ck' as a reminder to that.”

And right after a couple of minutes, I fell asleep.

──◈─▣─♕─▣─◈──

The next day, I spent my time doing household chores. Because the day was Monday, my Pops went for work so I was alone there.

“I’m bored...” I whispered with sad eyes. I was staring blankly at the open television after finishing all the chores. “I guess I’ll call her.”

Out of things to do, I decided to call my best friend Wanda.

“Hello, Wanda?” I muttered after she answered my phone call.

“Bella? What’s up? It’s rare for you to call me this time of the day,” Wanda asked on the other side of the phone.

“Want to meet up? I’m bored here in the house,” I said in a bored tone.

“Did something happen? You know that I’ve got work, right now, right?”

“Don’t be so cold. I need some company,” I whined to her.

“Jeez. If it’s this evening, I could go,” she answered with a sigh.

“Alright!” I reacted happily.

“Let’s meet at the usual bar at 7 pm.”

“Okay. See you later,” I responded with a smile and ended the call.

With that decided, I spent my remaining time in front of the television as I ate junk foods. It was something I decided not to do since college but for some reason, I was not in the mood to maintain that resolve. When it was near 7 pm on the clock, I grabbed a blouse and a skirt at my wardrobe and remembered something.

“I forgot. I still have some things at Prince’s house.”

Guess I'll leave it there for good.

──◈─▣─♕─▣─◈──

At exactly 7 pm, I arrived at the bar where Wanda and I decided to meet. Then, the guard stood on my way before I could enter.

“What? You're new here aren’t you?” I asked with squinted eyes to the buffed guy wearing a guard uniform.

“Minors aren’t allowed here,” he said in a serious tone.

“Jeez,” I whined and grabbed my I.D. on my bag. Then, I showed it to his face.

“Can I enter now?” I asked with a sigh.

“Are you for real?” he asked with a surprised face as he looks at my card.

“You can see that it’s not fake, right? I’m already 23 so make way,” I said in slight irritation.

"You sure this is not your older sister or your Mom's I.D.?" he asked, still skeptical.

"If you don't give way, I'm gonna beat you so bad you'll regret coming out from your Mom's womb!" I shouted in anger.

“Yes, ma’am!” he exclaimed in fear and let me inside.

After that, I decided to seat by the counter.

“Bella? Long time no see,” the bartender Jack said with a smile.

“Your guard stopped me from entering earlier,” I complained immediately.

Hearing that, he laughed and responded, “Sorry about that. It’s because you look like a teenager to people who don’t know you.”

“I don’t know if I should be happy about that or not,” I responded, not in the mood to act cheerful for some reason. “The usual please.”

“Manhattan, right? Please wait for a second,” he said and started preparing. Then, he placed my drink before me after he finished.

“Hey, Bella, sorry I’m a little late,” Wanda said with an apologetic smile after sitting down next to me.

“It’s fine,” I followed with a smile.

“Excuse me. Martini, please,” Wanda ordered to Jack.

“How do you want it?”

“Gin please,” Wanda answered with a smile.

Then, Jack made the drink and served it to Wanda.

“So what's the problem?” Wanda asked, looking straight into my eyes.

“I only want to see my best friend, that’s all,” I answered with a fake bright smile.

“Jeez. If that’s true, you won’t call and try to meet up with me on the same day,” she responded with squinty eyes and sipped on her drink.

“I want to take a break, that’s all,” I said with a tired sigh.

“So, what happened to your part-time job while you’re on suspension?”

“Well...I quit,” I answered and sipped on my drink again.

“So that’s the reason,” Wanda muttered with a light smile. “Had a problem with that student?”

“Well...Prince is a dick after all. I can’t deal with him anymore,” I whined.

“That's the complete opposite of what you’ve told me before.”

“Nah. I was wrong,” I answered and continued drinking.

“What? Did you fall for him?” she asked in a teasing smile.

“O-Of course not!” I denied with furrowed eyebrows.

“You...don’t have to deny it that badly, you know,” Wanda reacted, surprised.

Seeing that, I coughed and looked to the collection of wine bottles displayed at the counter with sad eyes.

“You see...I promised something to him but...I couldn’t do it.”

Hearing my words, Wanda looked at me with a serious expression and smiled right after.

“You can be quite serious sometimes after all,” Wanda whispered. “Is it too late to try it again?”

“That’s...” I replied after looking at her. Then, I averted my gaze and followed, “I don’t know.”

“Then, try it again, Ms. Trying-Hard,” she teased with a smile. “That’s one of your good points so don’t give up that easily. It’ll be a waste.”

“Wanda...” I muttered while looking at her with a slightly surprised face.

“It’s because you’re trying to be too perfect again, am I right? I told you countless times that no one is perfect, you know. So swallow that pride and fulfill that promise of yours. Promises are not meant to be broken, I heard that from your mouth before so you better do it now,” she added with a wink.

“Thanks, Wanda,” I said with a smile. “But the drink is still not on me.”

“You cheapskate,” she followed with sudden squinted eyes.

That’s right...I promised him. So I’ll stick with him until the end. Tomorrow, I'll come back to his house.

★Pixie’s Point-of-View★

“Prince has....turned into a puppy?” I reacted with widened eyes as I look at the newly-transformed black puppy on Prince’s bed.

I asked what year did he meet ‘that’ old friend of his but...

“What do you mean two? Two years? Do I have to go back two years from today? Answer me, Prince!” I asked in desperation.

Not understanding a thing, the dog barked at me as it wagged its tail.