Bella was the firstborn in a house that never really felt quiet enough to notice her. Being the eldest didn't make her special... it just meant there were more expectations and fewer people asking how she felt. Her parents were always busy, always moving, always too tired to see when she needed them.
The caretaker they brought in didn't make things better. If anything, she made Bella's childhood feel heavier. Small mistakes turned into long lectures, and sometimes even punishments that didn't make sense. Bella learned early to keep her feelings to herself because it felt like no one really listened.
School became her break from all of that. Not because she had a lot of friends or anything .... she didn't. She was the quiet girl in class, the one who never caused trouble, the one people only noticed when taking attendance. She watched everyone laugh, talk loudly, fight, make up, share secrets… and she wished she had even one person she could open up to.
Then Yuri came along.
Yuri wasn't loud or dramatic. She was calm, soft-spoken, and the first person who made Bella feel like she wasn't invisible. Later, Yuri's twin, Yuna, joined them, and their little circle began to form. It wasn't perfect, but for the first time, Bella didn't feel completely alone. She liked walking to class with them, sharing small jokes, sitting together during break. It made school feel lighter.
Even then, Bella didn't know that her life was quietly shifting. New people were going to enter the picture .... new friendships, new problems, new feelings she didn't even know she was capable of.
And somewhere in all of that, one boy was going to change everything ... without warning, without preparation, and without caring about the mess he'd leave behind.
But Bella didn't know any of that yet. For now, she just wanted to hold onto this small, gentle beginning.