BELLA
Before the fear.
Before the marriage.
Before the lies—
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There was just a boy.
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And a girl who couldn't look at him for too long.
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High school wasn't kind.
Not to most people.
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But for Bella—
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It wasn't cruelty that made it difficult.
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It was him.
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Rico Zander.
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The name alone carried weight.
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Whispers followed him everywhere.
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Dangerous.
Untouchable.
Cold.
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The kind of person you didn't approach.
Didn't question.
Didn't even look at for too long—
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Unless you wanted trouble.
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Bella knew that.
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Everyone did.
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And yet—
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She looked anyway.
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Not directly.
Never boldly.
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Just… quietly.
From a distance.
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She only came to the senior block because of her friend.
That was her excuse.
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Waiting by the staircase.
Leaning against the wall.
Pretending to check her phone.
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But her eyes?
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They always found him.
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Standing with that same controlled posture.
That same unreadable expression.
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Like nothing and no one around him mattered.
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Except—
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He always noticed everything.
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That was what scared her.
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Because if he noticed her…
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What then?
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Her heart would race every time he walked past.
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Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
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Just enough to make her aware.
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Too aware.
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There was one day—
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She remembered it too clearly.
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He had walked closer than usual.
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Too close.
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Close enough for her to catch the faint scent of his cologne.
Close enough to feel the shift in the air.
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Her breath had caught.
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Her fingers tightening around her bag.
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Don't look up.
Don't look up.
Don't—
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She looked.
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Just for a second.
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And their eyes almost met.
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Almost.
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Because she panicked.
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Her gaze dropped immediately.
Her cheeks burning.
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And he?
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He walked past her like she didn't exist.
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That should have hurt.
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But instead—
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It made it worse.
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Because she knew—
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If he ever truly looked at her…
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She wouldn't survive it.
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She told herself it was nothing.
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Just a crush.
Just a phase.
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But it didn't go away.
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Even when she stopped coming around as often.
Even when life moved on.
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Even when she convinced herself she had forgotten him—
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She hadn't.
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Because some things don't disappear.
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They wait.
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NOW
Bella stood in the quiet of her room.
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Her chest tight.
Her thoughts tangled.
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Because now—
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Everything felt different.
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That boy she was once too shy to look at—
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Was now the man who looked at her like she belonged to him.
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The man she was supposed to fear.
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The man she wasn't supposed to trust.
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The man—
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She was falling for.
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Her fingers curled slightly.
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Because the truth was—
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She had never really stopped