When My Brother Stops Simping

The new transfer student introduced herself at the front of the classroom. She timidly said, "Hello, everyone. I'm Bella Umbridge. I hope we can all get along."

The moment I saw her face, alarm bells rang in my head. When my older brother Gale was younger, he had nearly ruined himself over a woman named Anna.

After breaking up with her boyfriend, she threatened to jump off a building late one night. Gale stayed with her on the roof until morning, only to learn that she had done it to make her boyfriend jealous.

When her boyfriend showed an interest in animals, Anna decided she wanted a cat. Gale carefully picked out a gentle kitten for her. But once she got pregnant, she abandoned the cat without a second thought.

Gale brought the cat home, and it still lived with us.

By the time I started kindergarten, I was getting into all kinds of troubles every day. Fighting and breaking things became routine until every parent at the school lodged a complaint against me.

Gale had no choice but to distance himself from Anna and spend his days cleaning up my messes.

I had seen a photo of Anna on his phone before, so I knew we were in trouble as soon as I saw the transfer student.

Then I heard her name.

Bella Umbridge.

My heart sank. Anna's daughter was named Bella Umbridge.

Mrs. Smith glanced around the room before finally turning to me. "Pearl, Bella can sit next to you for now."

I immediately stood up to my feet. "I'm too disruptive. I might be a bad influence on her, so she should sit with someone else."

Mrs. Smith waved me off impatiently. "Just sit together for now. We'll switch seats in a few days."

Bella then came over and sat down, but I shifted away from her.

She pulled things out from her backpack and slammed them onto the desk, making a huge racket.

What was wrong with her? Maybe she had some kind of mental illness? I moved even farther away, worried that she might pass whatever she had on to me.

Without warning, she slammed her backpack down. Then, she buried her face in her arms and started crying.

A student behind us whispered, "Pearl, did you bully the new girl?"

I stared at her, too stunned to react.

Bella jerked her head up and glared at me with red eyes. "Do you hate me? Do you think you're better than me?"

I froze. "What?"

Her voice rose to a shriek. "You do think you're better than me! You refused to sit with me in front of the whole class! What gives you the right to humiliate me like this?"

I frowned. "I said I'm difficult and didn't want to be a bad influence. What did I do wrong?"

As a villain in this story, was I not even allowed to avoid someone?

Bella sobbed as she threw all kinds of accusations my way. "It's my first day, and I made a mistake on my paper. You saw that I didn't have an eraser, but you refused to lend me one because you wanted to laugh at me! You even rolled up your sleeve so I'd see the diamond bracelet on your wrist. You were showing off!

"Your name is Pearl, so you think you're special? You get to be a precious pearl, and I'm just a belladonna! A mere plant!"

I was speechless. How was I supposed to know she did not have an eraser? I had not even looked at her. As long as the bracelet was on my wrist, I could wear it however I wanted since it was mine. What did that have to do with her? And if she hated her name so much, she could ask her mother to change it. What did that have to do with me?

Her string of accusations immediately made me remember her mother Anna.

Years ago, Gale had taken Anna to an expensive restaurant, and she accused him of using his money to humiliate her for being poor. Another time, Gale missed her call because he was working late. So, she sent him dozens of messages accusing him of not loving her anymore. She then blocked him and refused to forgive him until he stood in the rain outside her apartment all night.

Like a mother, like a daughter. They had the same sensitivity to take offense at everything.

My temper flared, and I rolled my eyes. "Are you crazy?!"