Chapter Five
Bella arrived at the dormitory.. she wasn't looking so happy at all.
"How did the disciplinary hearing go?"
"Did you cry?",
"I cried a little and a lot on my way home"
"Bella",
"I think it's gonna be fine"
"I hope so",
"Me too",
The email from the honour board came in. Bella couldn't afford to check it. Her heart beat profusely as she opened the email..
"What does it say?"I was concerned.
"I have been expelled", she slumped down on the couch in the room.
"I hate to admit but I think it's because of me",
"If the accident hadn't happened you wouldn't have been tempted to take in anything to the hall and get caught for mal-practice",
"I am so sorry, I failed you", I voiced out. "Bella has been there for me but in the end what did she get in return expulsion from college",
As I helped Bella pack I couldn't deny how awful as a person I felt. Why did I always leave people worse than when I met them?
Bella fixed her gaze at me. "Well, I had to inform my dad about it. I know he was so disappointed in me but there is little or nothing I could do, I guess I will just look for another college and apply there",
"I need you to stop beating yourself up Whitney, you think this is all your fault. It's totally not",
"I failed myself as well, I shouldn't have carried any foreign material that was going to make me regret my actions and for the record you are one of the best gifts Essex gave me",
I cried that day with no one to comfort me. I couldn't believe Bella was gone just like that. Not that my grades were pretty okay. But at least I was still in Essex college and pushing.
Her dad struggled to meet her gaze, as if the weight of disappointment pressed down on both of them. "Honey… I am not judging you," he said slowly, his voice gentle but firm, trying to reach through the storm raging inside her.
"I… I tried my best," she whispered, her voice trembling. "I really did… but it feels like everything I've worked for is gone. Everything."
"I know you did your best," he said, reaching out to squeeze her hand. "And no matter what happens, I promise to support you. I'll make sure you can still build something meaningful with your life. One setback doesn't erase your future."
Tears pricked her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Dad… I've let you down."
"Shh… it's okay, honey," he murmured, brushing a loose strand of hair from her face. "We all stumble. It doesn't make you any less capable or strong."
I didn't leave. I stayed where I was, watching Bella walk away from Essex College, the weight of her backpack matching the weight in my chest. My heart shattered into a million jagged pieces with each step she took. The reality of it hit me in waves: she was gone. My one true friend—the only person I'd trusted so completely—was gone, and I couldn't believe it.
I went back to my room, and the silence swallowed me whole. The empty space echoed with her absence. Tears blurred my vision as I sank onto my bed, my body trembling. Each sob felt like a confession I couldn't give voice to: why did this always happen to the people I cared about most?
First, I lost my other friend to cancer, the cruel finality of it still a fresh wound in my heart. And now… now Bella. Expelled. Punished for trying to be there for me. All because I'd been hit by a car, all because she had to cover for me, all because life had handed us both an impossible burden.
I clenched my fists and buried my face in the pillow, rolling my eyes in disbelief. The rage and frustration were almost as suffocating as the grief. It was all Jason's fault. If he hadn't run me over with his car… if that accident had never happened… none of this would have unfolded.
I could still see her face in my mind—her hope, her fear, the way she'd tried to fix everything and now lost it all. And I blamed myself. I blamed myself for bringing misfortune to everyone I cared about. I blamed myself for being unlucky, for being the kind of person who left only wreckage in her wake.