In The Pursuit of Success

Sweet & Sour

Next chapter! WOOP!

Shoutout to jessica_1211 & CarlyCosgrove for your lovely reviews!

Hope you like/hate/have some sorta strong feelings towards this chapter.

Warning: angstyness & some cursing (this fic is rated PG-13, after all).

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"So then Dez actually jumped in front of the president and saved him from the giant flying sneaker. He got a medal for it, too," Trish explains, reminiscing about past adventures she had with her three best friends. She lets out a light chuckle at the image of Dez diving towards the sneaker floating through her mind. Her smile drops for a moment, suddenly remembering that she had promised herself that she would lock away any thoughts of the auburn-haired goofball. The focus right now is Kye, she reminds herself, smiling back at her date. She and Kye had broken off from the rest of their group, once Trish felt safe enough with the guy to hang out with him alone.

"That's so cool! You guys actually got to meet the president of the United States? And did you get busted for scratching his limo?" the fairly short young man asks her, a look of childlike awe upon his face. Trish sighs in response.

"Yeah, he knew it was me. Let me off with a warning, though. But hey, I got pictures of myself in the president's limo! It was worth it," she says smugly, flipping through the photo gallery on her phone, showing him the evidence. His eyes light up as he looks through the photos with her.

"Y-you look really pretty," Kye responds, pointing to one of the pictures that they had come across – a tinge of redness upon his face. "Well, n-not that you don't always look pretty, cause…Cause y-you do, and I uhm…I…" the boy stutters, looking down at his hands as he tries to gather his words. Trish smirks, patting him gently on the back.

"Deep breaths, Kye," she laughs, attempting to comfort the apprehensive boy. "And thank you – I appreciate that," she adds, grabbing her smoothie and taking a sip. Kye smiles back at her shyly, taking a sip from his own drink.

"So, Trish…I don't mean to pry or anything, but uhm…You do talk a lot about that one friend of yours. Dez? Were you two ever…?" Kye trails off, suddenly feeling awkward about asking as he watches Trish's expression change. "N-never mind…Sorry, I didn't know it was a t-touchy subject," he apologizes, looking back down at his hands. Trish shakes her head dismissively.

"It's fine. We were never actually a thing, but…" Trish bites her lip, wondering what to say to him. She wanted to avoid the subject, but she could not help herself from revealing to Kye the many adventures she had with her freckle-faced friend. That is, if they are still friends. " –Hey, you wanna do another round on the Whirlwind?" she asks him, changing the subject and gesturing to the nearby roller coaster.

"But, of course, Miss De La Rosa," he responds, getting up onto his feet and tossing his empty cup away into the nearest trash can. "Are you finished with yours?" he asks her, pointing at her smoothie cup. Trish nods, and the young man recycles hers, as well. He then lends her his elbow to escort her over to the coaster. Trish hops onto her feet and takes his arm – quite delighted that he had turned out to be such a gentleman on their date.

"Now you have to tell me about your adventures back in Laos," Trish states, as they walk over to the line. "You said you came here when you were fifteen, right?" Kye nods.

"Well, they certainly aren't as exciting as the ones you and your friends went through, I'll be honest. Oh! There was this one time my friends and I got chased by this nest of giant hornets. That was terrifying," Kye shivers at the memory. Trish raises a brow.