Copyright © MonMoncheese
All Rights Reserved
31 Published 03.27.2020

•••

JAMES

Picking up the ball beside my feet, I throw it far for Theo to run after.

As soon as the ball is thrown, he sets into a race, his eyes focused on one thing.

"Theo! Run faster!" Screams Nico as he runs alongside the puppy.

Theo obediently pushes his small body to run faster as he slowly surpasses Nico causing Alec to laugh at our best friend.

"GIVE ME A HUG!" I turn to Vince who was now chasing the small puppy with open arms. But it seems the small puppy only wants to run.

"Wait! I will give you a treat if you let me hug you." Vince says before running to my side. "Mate, please give me a treat."

"You want a treat?" I cooe, shaking the bag of treats in front of his face.

Vincent smacks my arm with a glare. "You know what I mean, doofus."

Laughing, I hand him the bag of treats. "Here you go."

"Thank you," He says over his shoulder as he runs to Theo who was currently laying on the grass receiving a belly scratch from Alec, but the moment he saw Vince with the bag of treats he stood on all four paws, leaving a hurt Alec behind.

"Hey! I was playing with him." Alec glares at Vince.

"Sorry mate, but I need some love too." As Vince apologizes, he makes Theo do a trick before giving him a treat.

I smile at the sight.

It's not always that we can enjoy days like this with Theo.

Because of our wealthy families, they have certain expectations of us. One of them being exceeding in academics. Luckily for us, we don't struggle in that matter, but it does keep us busy at times.

Some days, we even get stressed.

Fitting our family's expectations, despite them being lenient in some aspects is not always easy. No matter what age you are, it can get too much to handle.

We may be only teenagers in this world, but coming from a wealthy family has its pros and cons. At least our families are not stuck up, like other wealthy families.

But even then, whether our families are snobbish or not, we are all able to feel stress.

That's one of the reasons I got Theo. Not just for me, but for my best friends as well. There were days when I noticed the stress they carried.

It wasn't good for neither of us. 

But then came Theo, and it seems that his presence made us all happier.

"Do you guys want to go out?" Nico brings me out of my thoughts as he stretches his arms.

"Where?" I ask, picking up Theo from the ground.

"I'm hungry, so we could go to the mall or stop at a restaurant first. Whichever is fine with me." He answers.

"Let's go to mall and just eat something good before the coaches start our diets soon." Vincent joins in.

"Are you in?" I turn to Alec as he types something on his phone.

He looks up from his phone and smiles. "Of course."

I look down at my watch to check the time. Theo has an appointment for grooming at 12:30 p.m. and it was 11:03 p.m.

"I will change first and then I'll take Theo to his appointment, so text me the address to meet you there," I say.

"Sounds good, mate." Nico nods.

Entering the house, I put the puppy on the floor as I walk upstairs to my room.

Shutting the door behind me, I head to my closet first. Searching through my clothes, I choose what I want to wear.

After putting on a pair of black jeans, I throw on a flannel shirt on top of my white shirt.

Since it was a bit chilly today I put on a denim jacket. After spraying some cologne I stand in front of the mirror. I had brushed my wavy hair into a neat style earlier, but I use my fingers to dishevel it a bit. Once I'm satisfied I walk inside the restroom to finish getting ready.

When I'm finally done, I place my phone and wallet inside the front pocket of my pants and walk to the dog that is waiting for me.

"Alright Theo, you're getting groomed today." I kneel down in front of him and pat his head. "Let's go, boy," I say, picking up Theo once again.

Grabbing the keys from inside the jacket, I unlock the car and place Theo on the front. After shutting the door behind me, I walk around to the driver's seat and get inside.

Not much time passes before I park in the parking lot of the building.

Opening the door, I pick up Theo and shut the door behind us.

I look down at Theo who was looking around in wonder.

Walking up to the counter I greet the lady. "Hello, miss, I'm here for Theo." 

The young woman looks up at Theo and she smiles at him.

"Hello, I'll inform someone that you're here. You may sit if you like." She tells me.

After thanking her I take a seat with Theo on top of my lap. 

In a few minutes, a guy wearing a uniform approaches me.

"Is this Theo?" He asks.

"Yeah." I nod.

"Hi, Theo, it's nice to meet you." He greets the puppy, but Theo only turns his head away, causing me to smile.

"Don't be shy, Theo. I'll be back for you, okay? I'll even buy you a new toy." I tell him as I stand up.

 After my comment, he seems to turn to the guy and I hand the puppy to him.

"Thank you," I say.

"No problem, we'll take care of him."

I watch them walk away before walking out of the building. 

Making my way inside the car, I drive to the mall.

••• 

Stepping out of the car I lock the doors behind me.

While walking through the parking lot I hear my phone ring and I answer the call thinking it is one of the guys, but I'm wrong.

"James!" My heart stops as she screams.

"What's wrong?" I ask in alarm as my feet freeze.

"James, my love. I'm heartbroken, I was watching Doctor Who again, and I can't get over the scene where the Tenth Doctor and Rose get separated." She cries out in sadness.

"Fucking hell," I curse closing my eyes to calm my racing heart down. "You scared me. I thought something had happened to you." I sigh in relief and start moving again.

"What do you mean, something did happen to me, my heart is broken, it was a painful scene to watch. This is probably more heartbreaking than Romeo and Juliet or Rose and Jack." She cries out and I hear a few quiet sniffles.

"Are you crying?" I ask with a knowing smile on my lips.

"Only a little bit, I tried to hold the tears but then one escaped and then came the waterfalls. It just truly broke my heart." She says softly.

"Princess, I-" I start but a chuckle escapes my lips.

"This is serious. Why are you laughing? Am I joke to you?!" She exclaims making matters worse as my chuckle turns into a full laugh.

In response to my laugh, she simply groans.

But somehow I found that even funnier.

When I finally manage to calm down, I clear my throat.

"Baby? Are you still there?" I ask.

"I am," She says boringly. "But I'm thinking of ways on how to end you."

Raising an eyebrow, I ask. "Why think so hard when you can just kill me with your love?"

The girl gasps and snaps her fingers. "True! See, we make a great team. Let's fight crime together."

"We'll be unstoppable," I bite my lip to stop myself from smiling.

I hear her scream before speaking. "I knew I loved you for something."

Feeling a sudden boost of confidence, I say. "It's hard not to love me."

"Yeah, aha, sure." She scoffs in return.

"It's true." I pout at her.

"Suck it up, you big baby." She nags and I grin.

There are a few seconds of silence before she speaks again.

"Hey, Stranger?" 

Entering the main entrance of the mall, I answer. "Yes?" 

"Where would our wedding be?" She asks.

I click my tongue and shake my head at her question.

This girl is meant to be cherished.

And if she ever became mine, I would make sure to do so.

I think about her question for a while, until I finally come up with an answer. "Seriously babe, first focus on willing my love."

"Which type of love?" She questions.

"Both"

She groans loudly at my answer but eventually sighs.

"Okay, okay, fine. But James, out of pure curiosity, what's your type? What kind of girls do you like? I need an idea." She asks again and I feel a sudden desire to hold her.

"Baby," I say softly.

"Yeah?"

"Don't worry about what kind of girls I like. They don't matter right now, you do. Make me fall for you. For who you are. It doesn't matter what traits you have, or your looks. If I fall for you, then make me fall hard, but make me fall for everything that is you, because I want to love everything about you, even your flaws. Nothing will be left unloved. Let it become a love so immense, it burns with passion. Because our love might have been written in the stars." When I'm done speaking, I look at the ground. There was an unfamiliar feeling blooming in my heart. One that I did not recognize.

After a few seconds, I hear nothing. 

Just silence.

Frowning, I ask. "Are you still there?"

Nothing.

"Princess?" I say again.

I hear the hitch of a breath and I sigh in relief. 

"I- I'm here, just, uh, I feel funny." She stutters slightly.

"Funny?" 

"Yeah... no! Just ignore me. I don't know what I'm talking about." She rambles on.

"But Stranger," She says and  I wait for her to go on. "I'm curious about what boy you are. Really." 

So am I.

Who are you, Princess?

And what is this unfamiliar feeling blooming within me?

Bust most importantly, what are you doing to me?

○○○

We're already in chapter 31!!!

I'M SCREAMING!

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if this book has like 100 chapters. And before you get scared (because you might be, and I'm watching you with my hawk eyes) it is alright. It seems cool to have 100 chapters. There could even be more. But considering that some of the chapters are small, who knows.

I DON'T KNOW, YET.

We are still far away from Rose and James meeting. And even when they meet, the book will still have more to give. This is going to be an interesting journey for me.

Not sure why, but I thought of the Titanic theme song. (Totally irrelevant right now).

BUT STILL, CHAPTER 31 ALREADY. YOOHOO!!!!

YEESSSSSS!

A heads up, I probably won't be updating tomorrow because I want to back up all the chapters I have so far in this book and my other book. I'm simply backing them up and saving them, nothing too bad. I'm doing it just in case an error was to happen on Wattpad and it deletes my books. I'm trying to prevent that, though. That's why I'll be backing up this book and my other book. So, I'm not sure if I'll be able to update. But if I do, you will know.