chapter 1

Alaris watched the girl from the top of the tree with pure admiration. It had already turned into his daily routine to watch her every day in her glowing morning beauty.

Today she was looking more beautiful than ever. He watched her as she stood by the window of her room and taking in some fresh air.

His friends always criticized him for crushing on a girl who he didn't even know her name. The girl wasn't even aware of his existence.

However Alaris did not give a fu*k to any of that. He was contented with being her secret suitor though he never moved closer to her than a few miles

His heart sank when he imagined that one day he might see her kissing her boyfriend while he had always been watching her for years.

The mere sight of her was enough to brighten up his day. He watched as the cool breeze blew away her long silky hair exposing her beautiful face to the sunlight rays.

She was glowing with beauty than a full moon would in a very dark night. Those soft pink lips even from a distance drove him crazy.

He had had a crush on the lady for sometime now but never took any step forward other than admiring her secretly.

Everytime he came up with a resolution to approach her he would chicken out while still miles away from her.

If only he could get a little courage then maybe he could get to know her name in the least. But that would not be anytime soon as Alaris was the greatest coward among his peers.

His eyes focused on her face and he could only imagine how it would feel if his lips pressed against those soft delicate pink lips.

Lost in his fantasies, he did not even notice her leave the view of the side of her window.

She walked down the stairs exited the house and headed towards the little forest nearby the homestead. Still Alaris did not notice that.

How could he when he was busy kissing her by the window. ' How I love that girl ' he thought. Only if she would have the slightest idea...

" What are doing up there?" asked a soft voice. Alaris was startled and fell off from the branch he was sitting on.

He hit the ground with a thud and was sure that he broke some bones. He opened his eyes slowly and found his lovely dream staring at him.

' Is this really real ' Alaris wanted to ask. " Are you going to answer me or will you just keep staring at me?" she asked coldly.

Alaris sensed the coldness in that soft voice. "Me...umh...I was busy picking up some apples" he blurted.

The girl let out a hearty laughter and Alaris joined in nervously. " Did you really come here to pick up some apples?" she asked still laughing.

Alaris started smiling nervously. " Yeah sure. I even had my fill for the morning and was planning to leave" he said.

The lady increased her laughter on his words. " You are so funny. By any chance could you be some sort of a magical panda that shape shifts?" she asked shocking Alaris.

" Why would you ask that. What even made you think of such an absurd thing?" he asked trying hard to hide his annoyance.

Instead of responding to his question the girl kept on laughing. " It's ... It's just that I don't see any apple trees in the midst of these hardwood trees. Unless you were referring to cones that is. That's why I thought that maybe you were a panda eating ' apples ' up there" she added laughter to it.

' Really She thinks that is funny?" he asked in his head.

Alaris had always imagined that when he got a chance to have a chat with her they would only talk about lovely and interesting things.

But here she was making fun of him. However he was the kind of person who was too nice to reveal his anger.

Instead of a grown he forced a bright smile that even a child could tell was not sincere. Still the girl was determined to have her fun.

" I am not a magical creature by any means in the first place. I only came here to relax my mind" he said in a serious tone.

The girl stopped laughing and her face turned serious. The smile vanished from her face and you could not even tell that she was laughing a second ago.

" Are you not aware that relaxing your mind by trespassing is a crime?" she asked seriously. Alaris began sweating in his palms.

His heart threatened to break free from his ribcage. Was he really trespassing? Oh boy! Life was not being fair to him even for a moment.

He could not see it as a crime if one came to spy at a girl whom he loved watching. Why couldn't fate just give him a break.

" I didn't mean to trespass. It's just that this place has very beautiful trees and Angels the..." he bit his tongue.

' Silly boy. Why do I have such a shallow brain. I can't even come up with a good lie. I think I will have to undergo a brain transplant soon ' he complained in his head.

The girl searched on the tree tops before a slight smile crept on her face. Alaris thought she would erupt in laughter again but she didn't.

' Weird girl ' he thought. " I don't see any Angels. Apart from being an herbivore do you like...get hallucinations too?" she asked pressing hard to suppress her laughter.

Alaris would have answered her back but he could not dare offend his secret crush. " I was referring to my guardian Angels" he said nervously.

' Now what is she going to say. I guess she will ask if my guardian Angel lives on tree tops. I just hope that she won't be making any more fun of me'

" Would you prefer it if I called for help and informed my father that you were trying to sneak into my room?" she asked out of the blue.

Alaris started sweating literally. " Why would you tell such a lie. I haven't done anything wrong" he did not care to hide his fear.

' I should have followed my friend's advice and stopped coming here every morning. What kind of trouble have I gotten myself into this time. Why don't lightning just strike me and kill me once and for all' he scolded himself.

He was feeling very tensed just thinking of what would become of him if the lady decided to actualize her threat.

What if the dark knights came. He was still so young and did not wish to make his loving parents childless.

If he got out of this mess he promised to stop going to watch the girl every morning. He would listen to his friend's advice and keep put on his ground.

" You are right about that. You haven't done anything wrong. But let me remind you that trespassing is also a sin. Once you are caught trespassing any lie that I present as an accusation against you will be believable" she said coldly.

" Please I beg you don't get me in trouble. I promise I will never come here to watch you again" he pleaded on his knees.

The girl chuckled at his reaction. She moved closer to him and held his hands in hers making get up on his legs.

"Relax! I was only joking. Stop being a little kitten'' she said playfully.

" Really?" he asked in disbelief. He sighed slightly in his heart. He had been imagining the worst but it turned out she was only joking.

" Yes. I wouldn't do that to a fellow human just because of trespassing" the time she spoke warmly. She had a warm smile on her face.

' Now that's my Angel' he smiled inwardly. Alaris wished to inquire about her name but his courage kept on failing him.

' I guess I will do that after I am already an old man ' he mumbled in his head.

Her smile was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. How on Earth could such a beautiful girl who came from a powerful family ever look at him twice.

The girl came closer and leaned forward. His heart began racing and he shut his eyes out of nervousness. " Now leave from here and never trespass again" she whispered in his ears.

She still had that pleasant warm smile on her face that looked so sincere to be false. " Ok... I will leave" Alaris said but did not even move from where he was standing.

" I would like to ask you a question" Alaris said. " Go ahead" Came the soft reply.

Again his nails started digging into the skin of his palms. His confidence disappeared as soon as he opened his mouth to speak.

" How did you know that I was here. I thought I was very careful not to be caught?" he asked though that was not the question he had been intending to ask in the first place.

In his dreams he would have said a lot of things. Maybe tell her how gorgeous she was and how crazy she drove him.

How her image kept appearing in his mind or how her smile filled him with life. But this was real life and not his dreams.

Even if he had the power to be invisible he would still be a coward. A coward was what he was and what he would always be.

His friends always told him that but he never believed it until today. " Is that all you wanted to ask?" she asked in a playful tone.

' Of course not. I wanted to ask you why I feel your lips tempting me so much. Like are they made of magnet that attracts flesh ' he said that in his mind obviously.

Alaris nodded reluctantly because that was not in the list of things he was dying to ask her about. ' Now she will make fun of me for sure '

" In the past few days I have always been feeling as if I am being watched then today I spotted you on the trees. I thought you were one of those spies" she said in almost a whisper.

His face turned red out of embarrassment. So she knew that he always came here. Now he really wished for the Earth to split open and bury him.

' Shameless brat. Did you have to come here?' he scolded himself again. He had been spared this time but the same couldn't be said about next time.

" Ok. Thank you for...uh...not snitching on me" he could not find the right words " I mean it was nice chatting with you"

" Take care and be careful not to be in trouble again. You never know WHO will find you the next time" he noticed how she stressed the ' who '.

Things must be very serious than it seemed. He had always known that powerful people never took trespassers well.

" Fine. Have a nice day. And don't worry I will keep your words in mind" he still did not make any effort to budge from his position.

Her beauty was draining away his mind and energy. " Forget that you came here or that I talked to you" the girl said shocking him even further.

" Why would you say that?" he asked surprised. The girl's face turned pale and she stared at him in disbelief.

" How did you..." the words stuck in her throat. " What do you mean?" Alaris could not understand what made her so tensed.

Her face expression changed again faster than it would take a chameleon to change colours.

The warm smile on her face broadened and she looked even sweeter. " I mean have a nice day too" she replied simply.

Alaris wanted to ask a few more questions but did not want to take any chances with his luck.

' Have a nice day too ' he replayed those words in his mind over and over again. Feeling that sweet voice tell him to have a nice day would surely bring him a lot of good luck.

" Are you perhaps planning to camp here?" she asked sarcastically with a slight chuckle. One thing that Alaris had noticed about this girl was that she loved laughing and making fun of people.

But it didn't bother him. Instead, it made him happy because she got more beautiful than a goddess whenever she laughed.

" No. I am leaving" he said " here I go" with that he raised his hand and waved slightly at her as he walked backwards.