The New Beginning

"A very beautiful welcome to my angel," Flora heard her aunty Bellyana telling her while hugging her. She giggled before caging her back. 

"How are your parents and Rican there?" Her aunty asked her after pulling back.

"Everyone is fine and they miss you and uncle Joseph a lot," she answered. Joseph was her aunt Bellyana's husband. Bellyana was her father's sister but not blood related. And despite not having blood relations, her aunty Bellyana meant to her and her parents more than a family. She had always stood by her and her family in their worst and best. 

"Well now you are here. We will call them here too or else we will visit them there with you very soon," Her aunty Bellyana uttered, smiling. Flora beamed back. 

"By the way, he is my friend Axle and she is Niley," she introduced her friends to her aunty. They were going to stay with her in her aunt's home here. Bellyana greeted them with open arms.

"Now let the kids freshen up, Bella. They must be tired after their long flight," her uncle Joseph uttered. He was the one who came to the airport to pick them up because her aunty had been preparing everything for them back in their home.

"Go and get freshen up, my kiddos. After that, me and your uncle will look after satisfying your tummies with tasty tasty food," Everyone chuckled, hearing Joseph. 

"Come. I will show you all your rooms," Bellyana said and the three friends followed her.

……….

"Your aunty and uncle are amazing," Axle remarked, eating the apple in his hand. Flora smiled at him.

"Yeah, especially the food they both had prepared for us. I ate so much that my tummy is still tingling in happiness," Niley uttered, laying on the bed. Both Flora and Axle chuckled. They all were present inside Flora's room. Her aunty and uncle had given separate rooms to all three of them as their house was spacious enough and had a lot of rooms inside and her aunty and uncle lived in this big house all alone.

"Hey, it's my momma," Flora uttered, seeing her mother's call flashing on her phone's screen. She immediately picked it up and walked towards the window.

"Hello, momma," she stated.

"Did you reach there? Are you all fine? Your uncle aunty? Is everything alright there?" Her mother uttered in one breath.

"Let her answer first, cara mia," her father spoke from behind.

"Keep quiet, Riccardo Alfanso. I am talking to my daughter,"

"Hey! Our…why do you keep forgetting that, Aniya Alfanso?"

A smile broke out on her face, hearing her parents' adorable bickering. As far as she could remember she had always seen her parents teasing and taunting each other like this but she knew they loved each other more than anything.

"If you both are done then should I speak, Mr and Mrs Alfanso?" She spoke, making her parents chuckle.

"Is everything alright there?" This time her father asked.

"Yes, everyone and everything is alright here. We landed and reached here safely and we have just eaten so much food that Niley's tummy is still dancing in happiness," she replied, smirking at Niley who scowled at her in her response.

"Where is Rican? Didn't he fall asleep?" She asked. 

"Yes, he has some early classes today," her mother replied.

"Okay, Ora. Be careful there. Don't trouble your aunt uncle and yes, take care of health and immediately call us if something happens," 

"As you wish, my beautiful lady. I will keep everything in my head," she uttered, giggling. 

"Okay then, bye. Take care, you both. Love you," 

"Love you more. Take care you too," 

Hearing her parents' reply, she hung up the call.

"Our parents still worry about so much," Niley stated, laying flat on her stomach on the bed.

"And that's a blessing for us," Flora answered, grinning. She believed every parent was a blessing in their child's life because not every child was fortunate enough to have them in their life. There were countless children in the world who still craved to get the embrace of their parents. She herself had felt that emptiness in her past until her papa came into her life and completed her and her momma's lives with his existence.

"Okay now let's get some sleep. Tomorrow is the first day in our new campus, so we need to feel fresh," Axle said, looking at the wall clock. It was already 11 in the night.

"Okay then. Good night," Niley spoke and stood up on her feet. 

"Good night," Flora wished back and saw her friends leaving her room. 

Exhaling a heavy sigh, she walked towards the glass window. A cold blow of air hitted her face as soon as she opened the window but somehow she liked it. Closing her eyes slowly, she inhaled a long breath. It felt good.

Opening her lashes, she looked upward at the dark sky where the beautiful stars were twinkling. Flora smiled. A new phase of her life was about to start tomorrow and she was feeling really very excited about it. 

With a beam, she returned back to her bed, without closing the window and without being aware of what actually had been waiting for her in the new phase of her life. 

Next day, her uncle dropped all three of them on their campus. It was one of the best and most prestigious education institutions in the entire country. 

"Wow, this place is actually looking amazing," Niley stated, roaming her eyes everywhere inside the campus. It was huge and had a lavishing interior. There were countless students like them there.

"Seems like it would not feel that boring to study here," Niley remarked.

"Yeah ..yeah. we will see if you would say this same exact thing when we would be sitting in our class and listening to our professors," Flora teased her, making Axle chortle and Niley roll her eyes.

"Let's wander a little more because we still have half an hour before our very first class here," 

Flora nodded her head at Niley. They all had the first class together. 

"The cafeteria is amazing. I loved it," Flora stated, extremely happy, after coming out of the cafeteria. 

"Yeah, who doesn't love eating food," 

Both the girls tittered at Axle's comment. 

"Let's check the garden now," Niley suggested.

They all were wandering the garden of the campus when suddenly Niley spoke out.

"Hey! What's happening there?" She pointed towards a direction. Flora's gaze followed and caught a group of students who had gathered in one of the corners of the garden. 

"Let's check,"

"But we would turn up late for our class, Niley," Flora said.

"We still have 10 minutes, so let's see what's happening there," Niley dragged Flora with her and Axle followed them.

They entered the crowd where some students were laughing loudly looking at something. 

"Please give this back to me," hearing that voice, Flora snapped her eyes forward and her eyes widened, witnessing the scenario in front of her.

A group of students were bullying a boy by playing with his bag. That boy was trying to take his bag back but they were not handing it back to him and were making fun of his pleadings.

"Please, give me my bag," Flora saw the boy requesting and instead of helping him, other students were laughing at him and his state. Flora's palm clenched.

"Aww….you want your bag? Come on get it," another student stated and when that boy tried to take the bag, that student passed it to another group member. 

"Come here and take it," another student stated, making the boy walk towards him but instead of returning his bag, he tossed it in another direction.

Stepping out of the crowd, Flora walked forward and caught that bag in her hand. Everyone turned their heads in her direction, including that boy.

Flora's hardened gaze glared at all of those students of that group and she finally saw their leader stepping forward towards her. 

"Good catch," he remarked while roaming his eyes all over her from her head to her toe. Her grip tightened around that bag, witnessing it.

"You are a freshman, right?" He asked, analysing her frame.

"Why? Are you getting paid from the campus to note down the attendance of the freshmen?" She retorted back. Some students chuckled at her comment. That student before her narrowed his eyes on her. He took another step in her direction but she remained standing on her ground and completely unaffected.

"Trust me, you don't wanna get into hot water with me, sweetheart," he warned her.

"Sure. You can all alone burn your bullying ass in the hot water. I have no interest in joining you there," she snapped back. This time, everyone laughed loudly. That student gritted his teeth but then Flora found a wicked grin forming on his face.

"So would you like to join me in my bed because I would like to see if this fierceness of yours can work under me or not on my bed,"

Flora's fist ached to make his mouth bleed but she knew this place was not for losing her temper.

"So …." He took another step in her direction, invading her personal space. His eyes took another view of her body and then he lifted his hand to touch her.

"Would you like to show me your fierceness in my bed, sweetheart?" saying that he tried to grab her waist but before his hand could even touch her, Flora grabbed his wrist and spun him around. 

Everyone's eyes widened when she twisted his wrist, making that student growl in pain.

"Even think about touching me without my consent, I don't know about me but you won't be able get up from your fucking bed for the rest of your life," she snarled at him, enraged, twisting his wrist more. That student yelped.

"And I will make sure about it," she shoved him away. That student stumbled. Everyone was stunned to witness that thing. Flora roamed her eyes all around.

"Enjoying bullying is more pathetic than bullying," she blurted out and every student lowered their eyes.

Flora frowned at all of them, especially at that group of bullies. After that, she trailed her eyes towards that boy finally.

Flora walked towards him and extended his bag towards him.

"Here," she said, looking into those bluish grey eyes of that boy. He passed her a small smile.

"Thank you," he said, taking his bag from her hands. 

"No need. By the way, don't mind me but why don't you report them to the campus authority? I am sure they will take action against them for bullying," she told him. She saw that boy's smile fading.

"It's my first day here and I don't want to get into more trouble," he said. Flora sighed.

"Okay," she nodded at him.

"By the way, I am a freshman too," she extended her hand towards him.

"My name is Flora Alfanso," she introduced herself. She saw that boy smiling at her and then he raised his hand to shake it with hers.

"Easton Marzel," he said, colliding their palms. 

Her smile widened as they both held each other's hands and shook them until her eyes fell on her wrist watch. Her gaze enlarged.

"Shit…. only two minutes left for my class," she withdrew her hand from his hold.

"Bye, Easton. See you soon," saying that she ran towards her friends and they all stormed away from there.

His piercing grey eyes continued to stare at her retracting back before he took his gaze back to his hand. Closing his fist, he placed his bag on his back and went to his very first class.