A Princess's Guide to Dragon Domestication

(4) Red Dragons, Purple Dinosaurs and Lone She-Wolves

I was up early the next day.

Really early.

It took me half an hour to find the red food dye that I had bought a few months back to make a vampire cake (a disaster that will not be mentioned again) and mixed it in ice-cold water before adding a dozen eggs in it. And then I just patiently waited on my side of the fence.

It didn't take long for that good-for-nothing, sexist, wanna-be dictator to come out. He looked at me suspiciously, but I just smiled at him innocently.

He was in black, and dear Lord! He looked too good to be real.

It made me falter for a moment, but only a small, fleeting moment.

As soon as he was close enough, I threw the bucket of red water on him.

He cursed. I laughed.

"Take that, you obnoxious giant!" I screamed at him before running back inside and locking all the doors.

A while later, once I had stopped laughing like a maniac, I realized that what I had done wasn't a wise thing to do. I didn't know Raees. What if he was some sort of criminal like Ricky said? What if he came after me? What if he killed me?

"Maisha?" my mom called. Weird, she was supposed to be at work.

"Coming!" I answered before running downstairs. A thought struck me. Oh no! Did Raees talk to my mom?

I stared at her, searching for signs. She looked upset.

"He's lying!" I nearly screamed. "I didn't do it!"

She looked at me in confusion. "Do what?"

"Whatever he said I did!"

She looked even more confused. "Who said what?"

Oh. "Nothing." I giggled nervously. "What did you want to talk about?"

She looked at me suspiciously before sighing. "A colleague of mine was supposed to go out of town for a meeting, but she isn't feeling very well, and my boss wants me to fill in for her."

"Cool," I answered while picking up an apple in an attempt to earn brownie-points.

"I'll have to go out of town for a few days," she said slightly louder this time. "I want you to pack whatever you—"

I put the apple back. "Your work is even more boring than your choice in movies. I'm not coming with you."

She frowned. "Bring a book, or five. You—"

"I have a job too!" I said dramatically, "Are you telling me that your work is more important than mine?"

"Maisha, you know very well that's not—"

"The poor librarian lady! She can't even walk without a stick!" Okay, that was a lie. "Do you really want her to climb ladders to put books on shelves that are too high for her?"

"I—"

"Do you really want to be responsible for her broken hip? How could you live with yourself after that? How would you possibly be able to sleep at night?"

She sighed in defeat, and I tried not to grin in triumph. "You'll be alone."

"I've been alone at home before."

"Never for this long or without Ricky being home with you." She frowned.

"I'm legally an adult, old enough to survive on my own for a few days." I rolled my eyes. "You seriously have nothing to worry about."