"Non papa, je ne serai plus en retard", Belle groaned into the phone as she listened to her dad continue to speak into the phone. François Laurent, her father, was a very special person. Every promise he made was kept, he was never late, his clothes were always ironed, and his beard was always trimmed.

"No dad, I'm not gonna be late again"

In contrast to his daughter, who was obviously late on her first day at a new school, he wasn't a liar.

To be fair, she had hit the bar hard the night before and awoke with a "slight" hangover. In her head, last night of summer break meant last night of drinking for that year... but obviously she wouldn't stick with that

"Oui papa, j'ai mangé" another lie. To defend her again, she would've woken up early and made breakfast if she wasn't drinking last night, so technically not her fault yet again

"Yes dad, I ate"

"Qu'est-ce que ça veut dire "porter de vrais vêtements" ? Papa, je vais à l'école de mode" Belle chuckled at the same sentence her dad said ever since he saw her leave for school in a mini skirt for the first time.

"What does "wear real clothes" even mean? Dad I go to fashion school"

"Je sais, je connais mon vieux. Ne te fais pas de crise cardiaque en t'inquiétant trop" she assured him, while looking down at her outfit. A pink mini skirt and an oversized black shirt with long sleeves didnt really scream "fashion icon" but it also didn't say "I have daddy issues" so Belle figured her dad would definitely approve.

"I know, I know old man. Don't give yourself a heart attack by worrying too much"

"Assez parlé de moi, comment vas-tu ?" she suddenly asked, as she leaned on the closest wall. She heard her dad stop talking and she could tell his whole mood switched.

"Enough about me, how are you?"

"Je vais - je vais un peu mieux aujourd'hui.. je... ce matin j'ai oublié qu'elle était partie" he said, his voice trying to remain steady. Belle knew she shouldn't have asked, now her dad would think about her mother the whole day. Well, it's not like he wouldn't do that anyways, but she felt like she shouldn't have asked.

"I'm - I'm a bit better today.. I... this morning I forgot that she was gone"

You couldn't blame her, Belle wasn't even at her mother's funeral and her and her dad barely had any contact since her passing. They both obviously reacted badly to it, and without the ability to grieve together, they became unable to talk about it properly.

That also lead to Belle's dad not sleeping at all and Belle spending every awake moment with a bottle in her hand.

Belle's mother, Camille, was a lively woman full of every and life. Key word is "was". All it took was passing out randomly one day after feeling fatigue for the past few days. Francois, even though he wasn't a paranoid man, felt in his gut that something was wrong so he took his poor wife to the emergency room.

God how did he wish he would be wrong.

Belle had been just 16 at the time, and watching your mother trying to fight a cruel disease for years wasn't an easy sight.

The first time Camille forgot about her was just a few months into her treatment. She'd been in the hospital for two days prior and when Francois came to visit her, he kept apologizing because Belle didn't come with him. At first camille didn't question it, she figures Belle was a nurse or something, until her husband started mentioning her again and again and she finally had to ask.

"Who's Belle?" Are two words no teenage girl wants to hear while visiting their sick mother.

The doctor were confused by it just as much as the Laurents were. Working theory was "it's just the disease spreding toward her brain".

"Just the disease spreading towards her brain" easy to say

Nothing they said mattered to Belle, who at the moment couldn't believe that her mom was looking right at her and couldn't recognize her.

Having a sick wife is of course hard for any man, but when your daughter starts suddenly rebelling, your life becomes that much harder. Belle, a once average student with an interest in books and music, suddenly became a girl who wore skirts way too short for school and tops that made even her teachers look at her. Her grades dropped drastically and Francois had to pull every connection he had to not have Belle kicked out of school.

He tried to reason with her, he really did, but when Belle's senior year came and she was still the same rebel child, Francois had no other choice but to send her to boarding school. He knew his wife didn't have long, and as cruel as it sounds, he couldn't deal with her death with Belle around, he just couldn't deal with the death of his wife with Belle around.

So, he did the only thing he could think of and sent her to a boarding school. Belle hated the idea, party because her mom was dying and party because she felt like her dad was giving up on her. She didn't wanna go, she didn't wanna be away from her only family 10 months a year. She didn't wanna live with some unknown kids and have teachers act like her parents, but Francois was set on it.

Boarding school in Switzerland is just as you can imagine, snobby, strict and full of trouble children. Belle was far from being the worst kid there, but she sure gave her professors a lot of headaches. She drank, smoked, partied, stayed at boys' dorms even though that was strictly forbidden, and even accused a professor or two of looking up her skirt.

She did claim none of that had anything to do with her mother.

"This is just who I am, who I've always been" but Francois knew it was a lie. He knew his daughter was sad, sad about her mom, but also sad about him sending her away. He knew exactly how she felt, she thought he didn't want her anymore now that her mom will soon be gone, she thought their relationship will never be the same. She was so scared that once she goes back home, they simply won't have anything to talk about, so she rebelled, but she never went as far so they kick her out again. She knew she couldn't go home.

Expectedly, her mother did pass away. She was pronounced dead in the early morning but Belle found out about it only the day after. Francois couldn't call her, he just couldn't. He knew he was wrong for that but he just couldn't say those words to his daughter. "Mom's dead" are the two words no father ever wants to say to his children.

Which is why he didn't say it. Belle had to hear the terrible news from her English professor, Mrs Ponton. Belle was called into her office for what she assumed would be another lecture on her behavior, only to be met with Mrs' Ponton's sympathetic eyes.

Belle didn't cry in her office, she couldn't. It would be so embarrassing, right? She did ask for her dad though, even just a permission to call him.

"I'm sorry, but he specifically said not to call him" Mrs Ponton said and that's when Belle couldn't handle it anymore.

She ran out of her office and sobbed all the way to her room. Not only is her mother dead, but her dad gave up on her. He doesn't wanna talk, he doesn't wanna see her... he doesn't want her anymore, and that was crystal clear to Belle.

"I'm sorry, but he specifically said not to call him"

So Belle didn't, not even once. For the next 7 months of the school year she didn't call her dad at all, and even when he did call her, she'd refuse to talk to him. You could imagine coming back home for the summer break was awkward.

They hugged, but it felt forced, they smiled at each other but it felt fake, even the small talk Francois tried to make in the car felt excruciating.

Belle started college not much after that, and even though her school was at the same city and her dad's place, she opted for an apartment of her own, living with her dad just wasn't as joyful when it was just the two of them.

Francois understand, but he still kept her daughter's room intact. He just knew she'd come back one day, maybe next week, month or year, but she will be back. He was sure of it.

Until one day Belle informed him that she wanted to go to school in New York... that's when he knew it was over

Long story short, they were talking on the phone now. Francois called, he felt like he should, it was her first school day in a new city. Belle surprisingly didnt mind it, or maybe it was just the early hours making her irrational.

She hanged up the phone after a few minutes of talking, but not before telling her dad she loved him. It was a first time in a while she said that and she knew it meant a lot to both of them. Francois undoubtedly smiled on the other side of the phone and belle felt proud of herself. Turns out the Laurent's only needed an ocean between them to start fixing their father daughter relationship.

As Belle was picking up her keys and her bag, she quickly looked at the clock

9:02

Of course she was late, she always was.

•

Who would've thought American professors would be so boring. Certainly not Belle when she picked out New York as her transfer school. Yes, fashion was something she was passionate about, but how did this old guy, professor Anderson, manage to make fashion management sound like the most boring thing in the world. 

She didn't really mind that much though, she had enough time to scroll on her phone and take a few cute selfies

ma.bellee
📍 Fashion Institute of Technology

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ma.belle why didn't anyone tell me fashion could be so boring #iwanta9to5now #destinedtobeahousewife

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Her friends, both from back home and from the boarding school kept commenting but Belle couldn't bring herself to read any of the comments. She just prayed the bell would ring as soon as possible and she'd be free to go home.

As soon as the bell did ring, Belle was the first one to leave the class, but not before flashing her professor a charming smile. Smiling at him couldn't hurt, he'd think something could happen between them and Belle will let him think that as long as she has a passing grade.

With her Marc Jacobs tote bag on her shoulder and her iPhone in her hand, Belle slowly started to make her way out of the campus. She planned to go to a restaurant and have a date with herself, maybe FaceTime some of her friends, maybe even go read a book in the Central Park.

All those plans immediately sank down as Belle felt someone bump into her and a very cold sensation all over her front.

"Oh my god, oh my god- shit I'm so sorry!" The girl kept repeating, while simultaneously trying to pick up her fallen bags and wipe the coffee off Belle's shirt.

Belle actually couldn't believe this happened. No, something like this couldn't have happened on her first day in a new school. Everyone was looking at her and this clumsy girl, and even though this wasn't the worst thing that ever happened to Belle, it was still embarrassing

"I'm really sorry but could- could you please help me with my clothes, I can't ruin them" the girl asked apologetically, pointing to the clothing bags next to her and Belle actually couldn't believe her audacity

That little bitch, she thought

But she couldn't afford to be mean, not on her first day of school, and certainly not in front of the whole school. So what did Belle do?

She smiled softly and kneeled next to the girl

"Of course, and don't worry about it, this was an old shirt anyways." She said, cringing at herself for calling vintage Versace an "old shirt"

•••

Author's note:

guess who's back, back again

it's been almost 2 years since I've last written something and I honestly can't believe that this silly little alternative universe is the first thing I'll write after my way too long hiatus

I hope you liked this idea and the story so far, please leave a comment as it means a lot to me and inspired me to write more xx