Dare Trilogy | Book 3 Editing | ✓

1.5 + 1.5.5 | Pretty Girl + Friend In Need

Dedicated to hajaraghafoor . Thank you so very much for your sweet encouragement & feedbacks. It's been nice lately getting to know you <3

Published on March 25th, 2018

| . . . C H A P T E R . . . 1.5 - P R E T T Y - G I R L . . . |

So very lost in the task at hand, I was startled when something licked my elbow. Flinching and twisting around, I was met with a medium sized dog. My guard dropped as I chuckled and patted him. "Hey there... are you lost?" I looked around for its owner and sure enough, he was running towards us.

Pausing some decent feet away, he hunched over to catch his breath. "Sorry about that. She just took off. She doesn't usually do this."

I smiled my hand still patting the dog. "That's alright." There was no leash and I assume he was speaking the truth that she doesn't usually run off. Surprisingly, I find myself at ease as I started a conversation, "She's cute. What's her name?"

"Buttercup."

"Definitely not obvious." I joked. Her skin tone made sense why she was named this.

He chuckled again, "Yeah, my little sister named her when we got her couple years ago. I couldn't say no to her."

"How old is she?"

He questioned sitting next to me, "Who, buttercup or Jaz?"

My back stiffened a bit even though he maintained his distance, "B-both, I guess." I answered and instantly work on controlling my stutter.

If he noticed my sudden nervousness, he didn't make it a point to show it. "Buttercup is two and Jaz is four."

"Ah."

"Yeah..."

There was such a massive gap between the siblings. He looked to be atleast eighteen, if not older.

"What's your name?"

I raised a brow, "Why would I tell my name to a stranger?"

He gaped, "Because I just shared so much with you! I told you my pet's name and age and that's sacred information."

I laughed. Was it really this easy to tease people and talk to him? I hadn't done it in what seemed like forever. "I'm kidding! You should have seen the look on your face."

He grumbled in embarrassment, "Not funny."

I offered my name as compensation, "Khushi."

"That's a pretty name. Mean something?"

I nodded and then realized he probably couldn't see that in the semi-darkness. "Yeah, it means happiness."

How ironic, isn't it? This name suited me perfectly years ago. Now? Not so much. Actually, not at all.

He said, "And yet your eyes hold such sadness," causing my head to snap towards him. It wasn't that he could see my eyes and yet he caught it and took me by surprise.

"Wh-what?"

"Sorry if I said something wrong... it's hard to not notice that."

"You don't even know me."

There was something gentle in his tone, "You don't need to know someone to know that. It's New Year. You're out here when your friends are all probably out there partying. Either something is really bothering you or you're one of those lonely people - no offense."