Chapter Twelve: Cute Dog
After having breakfast and doing some cleaning around the house, Stephanie is happy she's finally leaving the house. She steps out and locks the door behind her. She struts over to her neighbor's door and knocks. About a minute later, a woman opens the door.
"Why hello Stephanie," she smiles.
"Hi. Mrs. Grace. I'm here for Daisy."
"Oh come on in," Mrs. Grace ushers her in.
"How are you dear?" She asks.
"I'm okay," Stephanie answers.
"Are your parents back?"
Steph sighs, "No. They'd be back tomorrow, hopefully."
"That's great. Let me go get Daisy."
Mrs. Grace is in her late forties. She's divorced and has a son who is in college right now. His name is Harry and he's friends with Stephanie's brother, Brody.
Harry had gotten his mum a dog to keep her company when he's in school. Mrs. Grace named her Daisy.
Mrs. Grace walks into the room with Daisy who has a collar around her neck while holding a leash.
Daisy sights Stephanie and runs up to her.
"Hey girl," Stephanie kneels in front of the dog and rubs her fur.
The dog wags its tail happily and she grins. She really likes Daisy and sometimes, she wishes she was hers.
"Wanna go for a walk?" She asks Daisy who barks in response.
"Here," Mrs. Grace says handing her the leash.
Stephanie attaches it to Daisy's collar and stands up.
"Okay. Off we go. See you later, Mrs. Grace." Stephanie says leading the dog out.
"Bye Daisy," Mrs. Grace waves before shutting the door.
"Let's go to the park Daisy," she tells the dog as they walk in the direction of the park.
After a few minutes of walking, her phone begins to vibrate continuously in her jean pocket.
It's either Brooke, her dad or her mum, or Brody but it can't be him.
No one else calls her except her aunt who calls once in a while. She knows it's Brooke calling as she brings it out and answers it.
"Hey B," she smiles.
"Steph. What's up?" Brooke asks. You can hear the smile in her voice.
"I'm walking my neighbor's dog Daisy to the park. You?"
"We're going to my Dad's surprise. He still doesn't wanna tell us," Brooke says.
"You'll find out soon."
"You're supposed to be here, Steph." Brooke deadpans.
"I know. I have my reasons," Stephanie rolls her eyes.
"Okay then. We'll talk later. Tell me if you see any cute boys okay? And try talking to them," Stephanie can imagine Brooke smirking.
"Sure B."
"Bye," Brooke says and hangs up before she replies.
After some more minutes, they reach the park. She looks around as she walks with the dog beside her.
"I like your dog. It's cute," Stephanie hears a sweet little voice near her.
She looks and sees a little girl, probably nine years old staring at the dog.
Though Stephanie doesn't like talking to strangers, she likes kids and this girl in front of her is really cute.
So she smiles, "Thank you but it isn't mine."
"Oh."
"I'm just helping to walk her," Stephanie explains crouching down next to the dog.
"Wanna touch her?" She asks the little girl in front of her.
"Um....." She looks unsure.
"She won't bite," Stephanie chuckles assuring her.
The cute blonde girl nears the dog and touches its fur.
"You see?"
They both smile as they stroke Daisy's fur. They don't even notice the person approaching.
"Don't run off like that next time, Em." Stephanie hears a deep masculine voice say.
Oh my goodness!
It's a guy!
A stranger.
Probably the cute little girl's older brother.
Stephanie hates meeting new people. It freaks her out and now, she's freaking out. And Brooke isn't even here.
This would be so awkward, she groans mentally.
"Cute dog," she hears him say again.
Now she'll have to reply.
Geez!
Maybe this was a bad idea.
She forces herself to look up after a mental battle and then she freezes.
Her eyes widen.
Right in front of her is Christopher Hayes a.k.a first-class player a.k.a the person she had the best kiss of her life(so far) with.
He also freezes as if not believing his eyes.
All the memories from that night hit Stephanie in full force.
Oh God!
Help.
They stare at each other for a moment before Stephanie hears Chris say, "Hazel."
Stephanie begins to wonder if he remembers that night then something registers.
Did he just say, Hazel?
Wait.
Hazel.
She looks around to see if anyone is near them.
No one.
Oh, maybe Hazel is the cute little girl's name.
"Um...Hi," Stephanie rises to her feet.
Let's not make this more awkward than it already is, she decides.
He wouldn't remember that night so it'll be like they're meeting for the first time.
Chris who looks shocked shakes his head and then continues to stare at her.
"Hey."
She avoids his eyes.
He forces himself to look down at the dog and repeats, "Cute dog."
"Thanks," Stephanie says.
"I like the dog," Emily says still touching it. "What's her name?"
Stephanie looks at her.
"It's Daisy."
"I love it. I wish I have a dog like this," the cute girl replies.
"Me too," Stephanie agrees momentarily forgetting about Chris.
Christopher notices and clears his throat to gain both of their attention.
"Chris," the girl calls the name that Stephanie has heard numerous times.
"Yeah?"
"I want a dog."
"You'll get one eventually," Chris replies her smiling.
"You look familiar. I feel like I've seen you before," Stephanie hears Chris say.
She panics, please don't remember me.
She avoids his gorgeous green eyes and shrugs, seeming nonchalant.
"I'm Chris. This is my little sister, Emily," he introduces.
She knows who the infamous Christopher Hayes is.
No need for introductions but did he just call his sister Emily? She asks herself.
She assumed her name would be Hazel.
Then who was he calling Hazel?
She asks herself more questions.
Maybe it's her nickname.
She realizes that she hasn't said anything.
He probably already thinks she's weird or smitten by him so hard she lost her tongue.
That's what hot boys think, isn't it?
"Uh...I'm Stephanie," she finally speaks.
"Nice to meet you, Stephanie. Do we perhaps go to the same school?" He asks.
Of course, he wouldn't know her.
"Yeah. We do," she says carefully.
"Really?" He asks surprise evident in his tone.
"Yeah. We do," she reiterates. " We even have a few classes together."
"I've never noticed you," he confesses.
She shrugs.
That isn't surprising.
Why would he possibly notice her?
"Stephanie? Can I play with Daisy?" Emily asks.
She smiles down at her and offers her the leash. "Here."
Emily grins, "Thank you."
She takes the leash and begins to walk forward pulling Daisy along.
Stephanie and Christopher fall in stride behind her.
"So....what about Brooke?" Chris asks trying to make small talk.
"B-Brooke? My friend?"
"Yeah. Why isn't she with you?"
It takes a moment for her to answer.
"She's having a thing with her parents today. I'm sorry but do you know her?" Stephanie can't help but ask. The question comes out colder than she expects.
"We talked once at Jason's party," Chris replies.
Her breath hitches.
He spoke to Brooke that night after all.
Does he remember the game?
Gasp!
Please don't, she thinks.
She really doesn't want to do this right now. Someone, please save her.
Just then, someone yells, "Emily."
They stop walking and turn around to see a girl around Emily's age run over to them.
Thank goodness, Stephanie exhales.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yeah.
It's Hazel.
Well, her real name is Stephanie - unfortunately.
He was hoping it would be Hazel.
He likes it though.
When he has decided not to bother to find her again, she has shown up.
There's a difference though.
Her hair is shorter.
She cut it and it looks hot on her.
Wait, how has he never noticed her?
He only said she looks familiar to make her less tense and see if she'd mention where they met.
He knows exactly who she is but he doesn't want to be the one to say it first and scare her. She looks like she would pass out if he mentions kissing her at the party.
It seems like she doesn't want him to remember.
Chris feels like bowing down at Emily's feet to thank her for running off which led him to find Hazel - no, Stephanie. He'd have to learn how to stick to calling her by her real name.
Or he could keep calling her Hazel, right?
She wouldn't mind, would she?
Looking at her right now, he sees that she's uneasy and looks like she doesn't want to have a conversation with him.
And that's surprising.
Who doesn't want to have a conversation with him?
Her. Obviously.
And the fact that she doesn't want him to mention the kiss - that's a shock.
Girls always try to make him remember any form of interaction he had with them.
They'd flirt with him to get that moment again or even better, progress and get in a more intense situation.
Hazel looks far from flirting with him let alone hooking up with him.
Shocker!
And again, they've sat in the same class almost every day throughout the week as he searched for her, and he didn't see her?
Her shorter hair might have caused some confusion.
"So...what about Brooke?" Chris asks her wanting to talk about anything.
"B-Brooke? My friend?" He doesn't miss her little stuttering.
"Yeah. Isn't she with you?" He asks not caring about the answer.
"She has a thing with her parents today. I'm sorry but do you know her?" Hazel answers a little harshly after a moment.
"We talked once at Jason's party," he answers having the serious urge to smile but deciding against it.
It probably wouldn't be best.
She even seems panicked with his answer.
He watches her quietly, waiting for her to say something.
"Emily!" Someone yells excitedly.
He recognizes the voice almost immediately to be Nora's. They stop walking and he watches Emily hand the leash back to Hazel with a grin on her face.
"Nora," Emily yells and hugs Nora who has found her way to them.
"Let's play," Nora says and drags Emily away.
Chris smiles and heads over to greet Nora's mum who is watching them with a smile on her face.
"Hello, Mrs. Hart," he greets her.
She smiles, "How many times have I told you to call me Liz, eh?"
He laughs lightly.
They talk for a minute and Liz leaves, leaving him to watch Nora and Emily.
He turns around remembering Hazel but finds the spot she was once occupied, empty.