Chapter 1: The Yellow Bell Girl

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There’s something about high school that feels like the middle of everything—not quite the beginning, not yet the end. For Belle Jane, it was when she bloomed—not because she tried, but because she simply was.

People described Belle in many ways:

“She’s elegant but not intimidating.”

“She’s mysterious, like a girl in a movie who walks in slow motion.”

“She’s like a flower. Quiet but powerful.”

Her best friend Mandy would always say,

"Girl, you’re the kind of beautiful that isn’t obvious at first, but when someone sees you the second time—bam! Love at second sight.”

Belle would always laugh that off. She never thought much about attention.

But people noticed her anyway.

She was like a yellow bell flower—bright, soft, warm, and striking even in silence. She had an old soul. She liked reading paperback novels with folded corners, writing poems on tissue paper, and choosing warm taho over iced coffee.

While her classmates were obsessed with social media likes and viral dances, Belle found joy in sketching flowers on the backs of her notebooks while listening to early 2000s music.

It was during junior high when she first noticed Jhong Uy.

He was loud. A little annoying. Always cracking cheesy jokes. But he had that strange charm that made you laugh even when you didn’t want to. Jhong wasn’t your typical heartthrob—his socks never matched, and he always forgot his school ID—but he had a good heart. Goofy, but kind.

Belle didn’t fall in love right away.

But during one Science Club field trip, Jhong offered her the last pork bun while the rest of the boys were still arguing over who would get it.

He said, “This suits you more—because you’ve got a soft heart too.”

She smiled.

That was the beginning.

By their senior year, everyone knew about the slow-burn romance of Belle and Jhong. The “almost lovers.” The “when-will-they-finally-date” pair.

Every hallway conversation included their names:

“Don’t they look perfect together?”

“When will Jhong finally confess?”

“Is Belle even sure about him?”

But both Belle and Jhong had made a promise to each other:

“When we enter college, let’s give this a real shot. Let’s not just be high school memories.”

What Belle didn’t know was that while she held onto that promise with care, Jhong had already taken someone else’s hand in secret—Carla, a girl from another section who had admired him since junior year.

It started as harmless messages.

Then coffee meet-ups.

Then study sessions that weren’t really about studying anymore.

Jhong told himself,

“Belle’s for the future… Carla’s just for now.”

But the heart doesn’t work that way.

And neither does fate.

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Hi, hope this story will make you kilig even a little. This is an Imaginary story of mine that I tried to write with the help of AI, but I rewrote some of it.

Hope this will pass even if it is not completely/whole my own written story. But don't worry it was my idea since it's my fantasy.

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