Mannat grinned as she got up from the bed, the best sleep ever. The woody smells still thick in the room and the morning fog still surrounded the surface of Shenoir. Looking out of the open window, Mannat smiled at the chirping birds and the gray sky. Slowly moving to the edge of the bed, she dropped her bare leg on the wooden flooring covered in a red rug.
It was wet, like grass covered with dew. It may be the fog, She walked towards the window to breathe in the fresh, alluring smell of wet earth soil, and woods. It easily reminded her; of hazel eyes and long messy dark hair. The calloused chest crushing her against the marble flooring of the school. "Griffin" This attraction was annoying the Indian, to another level. All she could do was think of the boy, how he smiled, how he laughed, how he smirked, and how he smelled. Everything about, it was so inviting to the shy girl. Just like this scenery. The mountains dusted with the white fog of mystery and Gray sky looming over its peak. A picture was necessary. Running towards her bed, she bent to look around her phone. The white t-shirt she wore riding up slowly over her bare-toned thighs. "Aha"
Clicking on the power button she saw a new notification. DM from Griffin_hayes. Smiling, she opened the DM happily.
'Hey, beautiful! Would you like to go for a morning walk?'
The message was sent only a few minutes ago. Her heart raced at reading the simple question, annoying.
'Yes,' She didn't let her excitement show.
'Cool, meet me near Hope's Coffee Parlor in 10 mins.'
'Okay!'
She dashed towards the washroom to freshen up and wear some decent clothes.
Brushing her long dark auburn hair in a high ponytail, the haircut was still annoying but still manageable. Pulling on her jogging shoes, she picked up her phone and headphones from the drawer next to the bed. She slowly tiptoed downstairs. It was hardly 6:15 am Mother, Mark, and Riaan were still sleeping. Slowly walking out of the house, she closed the door behind her.
Her petite body clad in black joggers and a red zipper jacket. She had got it last winter but didn't really have a chance to wear it while they were in New York. The boys would always stare, at the fitting. But, she felt it was okay to wear it today when she was going jogging with a boy. In fact, she was hoping for him to like the attire.
Jumping down the porch, she took slow and eager steps towards the coffee parlor. The direction towards the small parlor was well learned. This has been the fourth time the Indian visited the Parlor. Since she had become Hope's friend, the visits to the parlor had been regular and she had grown to enjoy them.
But the route never seemed so long for the young girl. Maybe it was the fact that she was running or the fact that she was excited today. It was all new, sneaking out of the house to meet with a guy and all, it was all new and surprising the Indian. She had never done those things; sneaked out of the house or got excited to meet a mere boy. Especially a boy she had met just 24 hours ago.
Her sprints steady and slow, but her heart was a different story. It raced and jumped to its own beats as she thought of meeting the boy once again, it skipped a beat as she saw the silhouette of the tall lad across the street; leaning across the bricked wall of Coffee Parlor. Turning from left to right, she crossed the street and jumped towards the boy.
"Good Morning." She sang happily, her sweet voice straightening the boy as he unintentionally towered the girl. His hazel eyes meeting her honey-brown orbs, and the only thing she could hear her own heart; dancing to his shallow breathing pace. He moved closer to her as he breathed in her strawberry perfume as if breathing after a long time.
"Good Morning." He wished his husky voice sending shivers down her spine. She simply nodded tucking a loose hair strand behind her blush-covered ears. Her wheatish skin tone making it almost impossible to notice it. He smiled, as she trained her earth-colored orbs to her shoes.
"Ready?" Mannat turned towards the new voice, just as groggy as Griffin's. Dylan walked out of the back door of the Parlor, and Hope slowly trailing behind him. Both glowing in the morning's light breeze and looking too happy for early morning. Mannat slowly smiled at the other boy as Dylan and Griffin clapped each other's back in a boyish greet. While Mannat was pulled in a bone-crushing hug, by Hope. That's when Mannat noticed the Flush on her cheeks, turning she ignored it.
The four youngsters ran towards the woods, the boys simply trailing towards the direction as if it was already decided. It slowly occurred to Mannat that this was a daily ritual for the trio. This was noticed with the help of Hope's constant anecdotes and comments. It was also obvious, as they seem to have enough stamina to continue to run, for this long. It was almost 35 minutes and now, they were fairly in the dense dark woods. Mannat noted as she stopped, breathing deep breaths and huffing in irritation; as Hope called out for the boys to stop. Dylan quickly passed her a mocking stare that clearly said 'tired so soon, weakling?' While Griffin eyed her with worry. "Are you okay, babe?" He asked as he bent down to her eye level. Her palms simply rested on her bent knees as she panted slowly, seemed to have lost its base as met his hypnotizing gaze.
"Y... Yeah," She sighed as he held her up straight. He held her two hands as he steadied her slowly. A breeze of cool air, rustled through the long woods.
"Mate.." He inhaled wrapping arms around her petite waist, pulling her closer, and breathing her scent again.
"Yeah... But mate this a little awkward! " She tried to pull away, this was weird. She casually addressed him with the same term, not thinking it was a big deal. What was more important was the position they were currently in. She had heard from her cousins about how their first dates went by, and this was weird. Truly and entirely weird. For god's sake, Dylan and Hope eyed them with a worrisome gaze.
The purr in Griffin's throat was not heard by the girl, as she worried about the onlookers. But he was excited to hear her acceptance of being mates. Even though, she might have no idea of how much that one word meant to him.