Bela
- “I hate you, Anto.”
- “I hate you much, Bela.”
Bela is staring straight into my eyes. That familiar arrogance is clear in her eyes.
But I don't look away even once.
To be honest, right now I feel like slapping her so hard that she forgets her own name.
Bela twists her lips into a smirk and says, "What happened, Mr. Beggar? Want to hold out your hand? Go ahead. You're lucky today. I don't have any change with me. I'll give you a five-hundred-rupee note."
I smile slightly.
"I don't need it, Miss Witch. You should beg your daddy for money for plastic surgery instead. Though, I don't think there's enough plastic in the world to make you even slightly pretty."
She frowns.
Looking at me with poisonous eyes, she says,
“I'm not surprised. Beggars like you wouldn't understand beauty anyway. You only know how to beg. Even if you saw a beautiful girl, you'd probably think a money tree was standing in front of you!”
I pretend to look around.
“Beautiful girl? Where? I don't see anyone!”
“Is your empty stomach making your vision blurry too?” she says through gritted teeth. “Can't you see me standing right in front of you?”
I laugh.
"Calling yourself beautiful? Wake up, witch. You do not even look like a normal person. I think even your mirror laughs when it sees you every morning."
This time, her patience finally reaches its limit.
She says with anger, "Anto, today might be your last day on Earth!"
I pretend to feel sad.
"Really, Bela? Now I'm feeling sad. Out of billions of people, on the last day of my life, I have to die after looking at your terrifying witch face!"
Bela can't take it anymore.
"I'll..."
Just then, Rina arrives and cuts her off. She grabs Bela's hand and pulls her back.
"Bela, come on! We're already getting late."
Bela looks at Rina once, then turns back and looks into my eyes.
"Lucky you! Rina came and saved you. Otherwise, today would've been your last day."
I shake my head.
"She only saved me from throwing up. My body couldn't handle staring at an ugly witch for this long."
Bela silently moves her lips.
"F**k you."
I move my lips the same way.
"F**k you too."
She turns around and walks away with Rina.
Rony, who has been standing beside me, lets out a long sigh.
“Bro, I really thought you two were about to start fighting! I was ready to run to the principal's office."
I laugh lightly and pat his shoulder.
"Come on, forget it. Let's go to the cafeteria."
------------------------
My first meeting with Bela happened last week.
On the day of our college orientation.
Since it was a new college, I was walking around and checking out the campus.
Our college is quite big for a small town. There's a three-story main building, a large field in front, a library beside it, and the cafeteria at the back.
I was walking through the second-floor corridor, looking around.
For one little moment, my eyes lingered on a girl.
She had short, thick black hair that framed her face, with sharp, confident eyes that seemed to notice everything around her. Her expression carried a quiet arrogance, like she already knew she belonged wherever she stood.
She was wearing a simple but stylish top with jeans, a watch around her wrist, and a good-quality backpack over her shoulder. Her clothes weren't overly flashy, but everything about them looked expensive.
She also looked fit. Her arms had a subtle muscular definition that made it obvious she worked out regularly. Not bodybuilder level or anything, just the kind of strength you could notice if you paid attention.
She was beautiful. Perhaps the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.
But there was something about her presence that made me forget about her looks almost immediately.
It was the way she carried herself.
She had the kind of presence that made people notice her without her even trying.
She stood with confidence, looked at people without hesitation, and wore that confident little smile like the whole world belonged to her.
Suddenly I noticed what was actually going on in front of me.
She was standing in a circle with her friends, making fun of a skinny boy.
The boy was looking down at the floor while the short-haired girl kept insulting him with a victorious smile on her face.
Seeing that, I immediately lost my temper.
I walked straight up to them.
Then I copied their laughter and went,
“Hehehe... Having fun, aren't you? All of your parents must be really proud of you after seeing this!”
The entire group went silent.
The short-haired girl narrowed her eyes at me.
Then she said, “I didn't know they were allowing beggars into this college now. Specifically, someone who loves to put his nose in other people's business.”
I calmly replied, “I didn't know modern colleges had witches walking around either. Specifically, someone who loves to pick on easy prey with her personal cult. I guess I'm going to see a lot of strange things these days.”
Her face turned red with anger. “Who are you calling a witch, you...”
“Not interested!” I didn't even let her finish.
I grabbed the boy's hand and took him away from there.
-------
About half an hour later, I was sitting inside the auditorium for the orientation.
The place was crowded with new students.
Some were talking to each other, some were looking at their phones, and others were trying to make new friends.
I was sitting somewhere in the middle.
A boy was sitting to my right.
The orientation was about to start in a few minutes.
And then that short-haired girl showed up again.
She looked at the boy sitting right beside me and ordered him, “Get up. I'm sitting here.”
The boy didn't argue. He almost jumped out of his seat and moved somewhere else.
The girl calmly came over and sat beside me.
Then she placed her bag on her lap.
For the first few moments, there was an extremely awkward silence between us.
Then she turned toward me and asked in a cold voice, "You...What's your name?"
I asked with confusion, "Why? What do you want?"
- "Why? Are you too ashamed to say your own name?"
- "I am Anto."
- "I'm Bela. Remember my name. I'll make your college life such a hell that you'll regret insulting me.”
- "Honestly, I don't care. But I'll be grateful if I won't have to look at your witch face for more than the next two seconds.”
A slow smile appeared on the corner of Bela's lips.
"Oh! You'll see me." She leaned slightly closer and said, "Way longer than you'd like."
Then she turned back toward the front.
I sighed. Whatever.
We're just going to the same college. There are thousands of students here. There's no way we'll keep running into each other.
I'll live my life. She'll live hers.
Peace.
But that hope lasted for only about forty minutes.
After the orientation ended, we were told to go to our classes according to our departments.
I checked the list and found my department.
Then I reached the classroom.
A few students were already sitting inside.
I was about to enter.
Just then, I heard a familiar voice from behind me.
“Excuse me.”
My body went stiff.
I slowly turned around.
Bela.
She was standing right behind me.
Our eyes met.
At first, surprise appeared on her face.
Probably the same thing happened to me.
But within a few seconds, that surprise changed.
A slow smile appeared on the corner of her lips.
I knew that smile.
She didn't say anything.
But her eyes clearly said,
"This will be fun."
I stared at her for a few seconds.
Oh, for God's sake.
At that time, I still didn't know.
Bela Roy wasn't just going to become my classmate.
She was going to become the biggest problem of my college life.
A problem that would eventually get me addicted to a feeling I had never known before.
