The girl everyone feared on campus was Aresha Malik—the “campus belle bully.”
Pretty face, deadly attitude.
Two shadows followed her everywhere—Zara and Myra, her loyal companions in cruelty.
Every day she walked through the college gates like she owned the place, chin high, hair perfect, eyes sharp. Students moved out of her way automatically. She loved the power… or at least, she pretended she did.
Because the moment she crossed the threshold into her house every evening…
her life turned into hell.
Her stepmother, Rina, didn’t wait even a minute.
Aresha’s wrist was grabbed.
A slap—sharp, practiced.
Then the insults.
Then the kicks.
And sometimes… the type of abuse she never spoke about, the kind that made her feel dirty even in her own skin.
Aresha never cried.
She simply swallowed everything and let the anger ferment inside her until it needed to spill somewhere.
College became the place she released it.
And the person she bullied the most?
Rehan, the boy she secretly, pathetically liked.
Rehan, who never liked her back.
Rehan, who always looked at her like she was a monster.
Rehan, who liked someone else—a quiet girl named Naina.
So when Aresha cornered Naina that day with Zara and Myra, mocking her clothes and snatching her notebook, she thought it was just another normal morning.
Until Rehan arrived.
He grabbed Aresha’s wrist and shoved her back so hard she lost balance and crashed into the wall behind her.
A sickening thud.
Her scalp split at the back and blood trickled down her neck.
For a second, no one moved.
Even Aresha didn’t react—not with a scream, not with anger.
She simply blinked, confused at feeling pain on the outside for once.
Then Zara screamed, “Aresha! You’re bleeding!”
Myra grabbed her waist, panic in her voice.
“Come on—nurse’s office, now!”
And Rehan… stepped back, suddenly horrified at what he’d done.
But Aresha didn’t look at him even once.
Her eyes were empty.
The nurse patched her up.
Her companions kept hovering.
Aresha stayed silent.
Because silence was safer than showing weakness.
---
That Afternoon
A group of five students finally snapped and went to the teacher.
“She bullies everyone! Someone needs to stop her.”
“We’re scared to even walk in the corridor.”
“She hurt Naina today!”
The complaints reached the principal faster than Aresha expected.
During the last period, the classroom door opened.
“Aresha Malik,” the peon announced.
“The principal wants to see you.”
The entire class fell silent.
Aresha stood, dusted her skirt, lifted her chin like she ruled the world…
even though her head was still throbbing.
Zara whispered, “Do you want us to come?”
Aresha did not look at her.
“No.”
The walk to the office felt longer than usual.
When she entered, the principal, vice-principal, counselor, and two teachers were already seated.
Her file was open.
Her name written in red.
The principal folded her hands.
“Aresha… we have received multiple complaints. This isn’t a small issue anymore.”
Aresha smirked lightly, hands in pockets.
“Oh? People are finally brave enough to speak?”
“This is not a joke!” the teacher snapped.
“You’ve been hurting students for months. You even injured Naina today!”
“And Rehan pushed me into a wall,” she replied tonelessly.
“No complaint about that?”
Her voice was steady but her heart was beating too fast.
The counselor leaned forward gently.
“Aresha… why are you doing this? Is something happening at home?”
That sentence…
That gentle tone…
It cracked something she didn’t want touched.
Her jaw tightened.
Her eyes remained cold.
“No. My home is perfect.”
“Aresha—”
“Are you done?” she interrupted. “Because I have a class.”
“Aresha!”
The principal’s voice rose sharply.
“You are suspended for three days. And your guardian must come tomorrow morning.”
Her blood turned to ice.
Guardian?
Her stepmother?
No.
No no no.
Anything but that.
Aresha swallowed hard, hiding the tremble threatening to show on her lips.
“…Fine.”
She turned to leave.
But just before she touched the doorknob, the counselor’s soft voice stopped her.
“Aresha… you don’t have to face things alone.”
She froze.
For half a second.
Then she walked out without looking back.
Outside the office, the corridor was empty.
And for the first time in years…
Aresha felt something she’d sworn never to feel—
fear.
.
.
.
.
.
