Learning to Let Go: Part 1

“As a part of the Belladonna family, there are many expectations that you must uphold.

1. You must be intelligent. We will not tolerate stupidity.
2. Be prim and proper. Being carefree and lazy will get you nowhere
3. Work is never done. You work until you die. It is that simple.

Despite these rules, men of the house never had to uphold these rules to the letter. As long as they followed the principle of it, then it was no bother. As for the women of the house…

It was to obey or consider yourself disregarded.

…... I no longer wish to follow those rules.”

***

“I would like you all to study these theories on the slide present. Each theory will be on a hand-on you will get after class. By next Friday, I would like to see an essay on each theory and their potential solutions for them. You will need to find evidence of how the solutions could be plausible.”

In a small, dark classroom, the professor paced back and forth. A remote in his wrinkly hand, ready to change his slides of the classroom presentation once the noise of their keyboards had died down.

“I feel obligated to remind you all that I have been generous to place this PowerPoint in your cloud drive servers for this class. However, I advise you to pay attention to my words as they will not be in the PowerPoint.”

A few students chuckled; a couple just groaned in boredom. In the back, there was a lightly tanned girl who sat alone. Everyone knew she was, regardless if she had wanted them to.

One, Amaryllis Belladonna. Disowned heiress of the Belladonna family. However, no one truly knew about the disowned part. Many would label her as a quiet and stuck-up loner. It wasn’t something that she enjoyed, but she wasn’t in a rush to correct them.

“The next slid-” The professor started until the door suddenly flew open.

“Sorry I’m late folks, I overslept.” A tall blonde male says as he heads up the small stair set that had led to the upper area of seats.

“Mr. Starcos.” The professor sighs. “I do not tolerate tardiness in my classes, especially on repeated cases and without notes.”

“Yeah, yeah. Won’t happen again, Teach.” The male replies.

Amaryllis watches as the male comes up. In one arm, he haphazardly had his laptop tucked under his armpit. In his other hand, there was a large steaming cup of coffee.

“Let me guess, gaming tournament last night?” She asked.

“Bold of you to assume, lil lady, but yes. Also, a gift for taking notes for me, 2% milk with two sugars.”

“Thank you, Mikey.”

Those nearby stared in disbelief. The child prodigy and the misfit college student. What in the world were they doing together? Clearly a Belladonna wouldn’t associate with someone… like him, right?”

***

[A Few Months Before]

Amaryllis stands in front of the tall blonde, a wad of money in her hand. Of course, this led to a confused look on the Starcos’ face.

“So…. short-stack? What’s this offer you're trying to sell me?”

“My name is Amaryllis Belladonna… Not short-stack…” *She pauses, looking away from him before stomping her foot and looking back. “... I-I…. I am offering you money… because I hear you are one of the most interesting people on campus.”

Mikey raises an eyebrow, amusement also forming on his face. “Okay? And this relates to you giving me money because?”

Amaryllis blushes, and then she backs away, giving him some space. “.... I’ve grown up in a strict household my whole life. College might be my one freedom…. All work and no play-”

“Makes Jack a dull boy?” Mikey adds.

Amaryllis nods.

“.... I’ve admired your sense of freedom and disregard for many things for a while now. I’ve learned a lot in academics, but now I wish to learn the concept of fun.” Stopping, she looks up at him, a look of plea glossing over her eyes. “Will you please help me?”

Mikey could only smile. However, instead of teasing, it was soft and sincere.

“Sure, it’s always nice to make a new friend here. Hell, I’ll do it for free.”

***