Good Girls & Bad Girls

The Good Girl

Bella is a good girl whether she likes it or not, it’s just how she was brought up. When someone needs help and she’s able to help she was taught to go and help even if helping would cause for her to be late to the SATs, a meeting with her school counselor, her first job interview, a date, her brothers wedding, the birth of her niece or college move-in day, she would stop and help is she had the ability to do so. And when she’s asked why she was late her response was the same rehearsed line she’d been giving since she was four; Giving goodness and kindness makes me happy so I do it anytime I can. The responses she gets ranged from Oh,isn’t that adorable to,If you’re being nice to people to make yourself feel good then you’re not doing it for the right reason. But Bella didn’t really care much for how people responded because deep down she hated giving goodness if all she got inreturn was missed opportunities and having to send lengthy emails apologizing and asking for a redo. At some point between her senior year of high school and sophomore year in college she came up with different ways to avoid noticing the people that needed help, she always kept her headphones in, her head down, and she focused. Bella learned to focus on exactly what she was doing because it’s easy to notice when someone was busy or when they were giving something their full attention and those people don’t usually get bothered. Ever since she learned to avoid helping people Bella has only had her focus broken a handful of times and majority of them were by Alex. 

The first time they met Alex had clumsily sat in the seat next to Bella at the beginning of their English 101 lecture and proceeded to spill the contents of their pencil pouch under Bella’s desk. Alex had then proceeded to crawl under her desk and pick up all of their pens.The entire time Bella tried to avoid being knocked out of her seat as Alex’s shoulders continuously bumped into Bella’s legs.

The entire situation was awkward and uncomfortable for the both of them and remained that way until halfway through the lecture Bella noticed a Pink pen that had made its way under her bag. 

“You missed one.” She whispered to Alex as she placed the pen on the very edge of her neighbors desk.

“You can keep it. As a cheap apology for spending an uncomfortable amount of time under your desk before the first date.” Alex smiled as they spoke and held the pen out to Bella.

Bella took the pen with a small Thank you and dropped it into her bag. 

The pen would stay in her bag the rest of the semester unused. It would eventually come apart and the corner of a book or binder or laptop would crack the pen and cause it to bleed pink ink all over the inside of her bag.

Their first “date” was a pizza night a week later with four other people, Jessica, Samantha, Sean and Sara. Sam, Sean and Sara are triplets although only Samantha and her sister Sara were identical. They were both born with hazel eyes and red hair but as they grew up Samantha was bored of looking like her sister and dyed her hair dark brown, got a fake tan and blue contacts. 

Sean and Jessica were together, well they got together and slept together. A lot. And something about that amazed Bella but she never knew why. 

As time passed Bella grew close to Alex and the triplets and when Sean and Jessica broke it off, Jessica left the friend group too. Then slowly Sara and Sean left the group for a band and then it was just Bella, Alex and Samantha.