Maude was Hazel's best and probably only friend in the whole world due to how socially awkward she used to be.
She was mixed; Jamaican and American. Gorgeous dark pupils, full hair and skin rich in melanin. All her features matched her perfectly. One would say she was a goddess because she looked similar to one.
"You don't even go to this school. How on earth did you find my room?" Hazel asked, perplexed that Maude was standing in front of her.
"Forget that. Hazel, please introduce me to your friend." Dahlia requested as she scanned through Maude's physique from her hair to her feet. Hazel simply rolled her eyes and ignored her.
"I was worried about you. I was at your house a few minutes ago and your mom told me you were at college and gave me the address and your boyfriend's number. He's a jerk btw." Maude stated abruptly without taking a single breath of air.
Hazel sighed in relief. "Dahlia, could you please give us a second…? I'm sorry."
"Sure." Dahlia shrugged and picked up her headphones before leaving the room for them.
"I think you should sit down for this." Hazel offered while patting the empty spot on beside her on her bed.
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"Oh gosh, I feel like such an awful person now. I'm so sorry about everything you've been dealing with, Hazy." Maude pleaded with an apologetic look on her face.
Hazel nodded tightening her lips in an attempt to hold in her tears. Maude noticed and quickly passed her a tissue. Failing, Hazel let out all her pent-up pain through her tears.
"Oh it's alright, let it all out, babes." Maude cooed rubbing her back softly in an attempt to console her. "But Kyle set up a date for you two. You should go. Might help get your mind off all of this."
"Yeah…you're right," Hazel replied before blowing her nose into the tissue and sniffling.
They get up off the bed and decide to head back to Hazel's house together.
"Still can't believe you came from a whole other city just to see me." Hazel giggled.
"I was that worried you know?" Maude chuckled and squeezed Hazel's hand softly.
On opening her house door, Asher runs toward them but paused and started to growl ferociously at them. Hazel had never seen him like that before it was a first.
"Hey, Asher…" Hazel whispered as she went down on one knee and stretched out her hand in a fit to calm him down, but then she noticed that his attention wasn't even on her at all. His gaze was set on Maude.
It became clear as it's never seen her before. "Aww, you got a puppy? It's so cute." Maude states reaching into her bag and pulling out a little remote-control mouse. Maude had a cat at home but she wasn't sure how it got in her bag.
She had noticed it earlier. She set the mouse down and turned it on by a button on its back. The mouse started to whirr and ran around the living and into a corner of the kitchen.
An astonished Asher hopped in excitement and chased after it in an attempt to catch it. Its tail wagged and its fur blew in the wind as he ran.
Hazel and Maude chuckled simultaneously and ran up the stairs and into her bedroom. "Girl, your room is prettier than I remember!" Maude commented.
Hazel shrugged with pride, "Well just a few touch-ups here and there but thanks for noticing."
Maude plopped down in Hazel's bed and heaved a sigh before quickly sitting up again.
"You have a date tomorrow. What are you going to wear!?" She asked with eyes glistening in delight.
"Oh, I haven't even thought about it yet," Hazel stated raising an eyebrow in indecisiveness. "But I guess we can start looking."
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"Daddy!" An excited Annie screamed at the top of her lungs as she ran toward Malcolm, her little legs tapping the floor as she did.
Malcolm went down on one knee and opened his arms to receive his little girl. "How's my princess doing?"
"I'm okay," Annie replied as she made contact with Malcolm's hand. She wrapped her little arms around his neck. "Did you find Cookie?"
Malcolm's face went pale. He had completely forgotten about the dog going missing. His mind was mostly filled with thoughts of Hazel at that point if anything.
How strong and courageous she was. How feisty her attitude was and her gorgeous hazel eyes that blessed his sight the moment he had seen them for the first time.
He began to get lost in his thoughts when another call from his daughter brought him back to reality.
"Daddy!!" Annie screamed waving her little hands in his face. "What are you thinking about?" She asked as she held his face worriedly.
"Nothing, sweetheart. Daddy's still working very hard to find your dog, alright?" Malcolm assured in a low and soothing tone while softly patting her hair.
The smile on her face slowly faded as her father's words seeped through her head. "Cookie's not here..?" She asked, sniffling and slowly migrating into tears.
"I'll find him soon, sweetheart alright?" He stated pulling her closer to hug her tightly but she pushed him away and ran through the door she came in.
Malcolm sighed heavily and rubbed his temples as he pulled out his phone from his suit pocket. He dialled a number and put it in his ear.
"How hard can it be to find one dog in this city?! I'm not paying you a lot to slack off." He yelled into the phone and cleared his throat when he realized he was too loud. He didn't want Annie to see him like this.
"Find that dog. You have until the end of the week." He ordered before hanging up the phone without waiting for a response from the recipient.
Soon afterwards, he walked through a huge door and took the lobby which led to an elevator. He clicked the button and the door slid open. A maid stood in front of him and was startled at the sight of her boss.
She bowed her head but he simply ignored her and walked in. At the click of a button, the door slid shut and it started to move. The maid broke into sweats and was shivering.
"There's a lot of shaking and I know it's not this elevator. Stop it at once." He ordered without looking at her once.
She yelped and held her breath to stop her from shivering so much. He was known to let his workers off their much-needed jobs for the littlest things which he found displeasing
When the door finally opened up to reveal another lobby on the highest floor of his mansion. He walked out of the elevator and the maid finally took a deep breath of relief. She was afraid that was the end of her job.
There were only two doors on this floor. Malcolm walked over to the first door and placed his hand on the knob to open it, but glanced over the second door for a few seconds before walking in.
He shut the door and locked it behind him. Turning around, he walked over to his bed and lay on his back. Facepalming himself and whimpering like a sad puppy before kicking off his shoes.
When he sat back up, he glanced over at a framed photo on the side of his bed. He picked it up and in the picture was a beautiful woman with long jet-black hair and black pupils.
A tear drop fell on the framed photo and Malcolm wiped his eyes frantically trying to not let it out. "Oh, dear. I almost ruined your picture, my love." He stated as he sniffled and put the photo frame back on the table.
He got off his bed and walked out of his door to the door at the end of the lobby. He paused in front of the door, took a deep breath and unlocked the door with the pendant on his necklace.
The door unlocked to reveal a huge size bedroom that looked like it belonged to someone. On walking in, a huge mural of his wife's photo was framed on the wall.
Malcolm searched his pocket for something. He paused and picked out an origami rose flower, and placed it in a homemade vase that was filled with all sorts of origami flowers.
"Good evening, my love." he greeted once he was done setting the vase down. He blew a kiss to the giant mural and walked out of the room locking the door behind him.
His wife used to be all he had until he lost her. Since then his heart became frozen solid and he never smiled at anyone unless it was Annie.
And no one had ever been able to make his heart flutter the way it did whenever he thought about Hazel. It was a first for him since she died.
Ever since that night, he saw her, her daring attitude, the fire and determination in her eyes, and the story of her fearlessness all seemed to catch his attention.
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