Meeting Dare
She woke at six in the morning the next day, and got out of bed, and put on a sweatshirt and some sweatpants, and went down the stairs, and out running.
The air was cool and nice, and though it was dark, Serena knew the grounds of the Castle very well, though the grounds were large. She always jogged the same route, by the pond, up the hill, through the woods, across the wooden bridge over the stream, past the lighthouse, and down the beach, and back to the Castle.
As she jogged in, truly awake, and went up the stairs, she smiled at the young man from the night before as he came in the front door as she was about to go down the hall. Apparently, he had decided to go jogging as well. *He IS hot, whoever he is. I don’t know who the Dredsdale prince is, but this guy is MUCH hotter than the prince could ever be!* She made that judgment on the fact that her cousins and herself had far different tastes in men, and while they examined the bank account and the looks, she preferred something much more deep. *The Dredsdale prince is probably some self-centered twit snob!*
She then took her shower in her private bathroom and changed into a pair of jeans and a white blouse. It was time to bring down her presents, for the kids would be up in a few minutes.
After breakfast, Serena wandered into the Castle library later, to do some paper grading.
Again she found the young man she had seen before! She decided it was time to meet him. He was correcting some papers as well. “Good afternoon!” she smiled, sitting down next to him.
“It is indeed, Miss…?”
Serena, mistaking his attempt to find out her name for a sign of respect just because she was the former first daughter, smiled and said, “Rena, please. Just Rena.”
Darien smiled. Rena. She smiled beautifully.
“And you are?”
“Dare,” he smiled, giving her his nickname, being friendly.
“Nice to meet you. Are you a teacher?”
“Yeah. And you?” he asked, gesturing to the bag at her side, with a paper popping out with a grade. Being a prof was being a teacher, he supposed.
“Um-hm. I think teaching’s so much fun, don’t you?” Serena answered, not really distinguishing being a prof and being a teacher. In her mind, they WERE the same.
“Why else would I live it?” Darien asked.
“Yeah.” Serena sighed. “I’m liking you a lot already, Dare.”
“Me too, Rena,” he said, putting aside the papers he was reading by students who were trying for their PhD. He found Rena a lot more interesting.
They went into dinner together.
By that time, Serena had found out that Dare was indeed a Dredsdale, and he was very into biology and sciences, and was an excellent conversationalist. He had a motorcycle at his home, by the university. He was a professor and loved what he taught.
Darien found out that Rena was a Larynce, and a happy person who loved to talk and laugh. He liked her smile, and could tell that her teaching must have drawn many students, if there were THAT many student papers for her to grade. Of course, she had only responded with the fact that she had procrastinated the grading of the papers, which made him like her even more.
“Hey Rena! Kinda late are we?” Lita smiled at Serena, confused. *Rena’s already tight with the prince! Woah! Just before, she wasn’t liking him much!*
“Yeah, I was talking with Dare here about life in general!”
Lita then realized that Serena probably DIDN’T know this man was Darien Dredsdale. *Well, let’s not unprejudice her right now. She likes him, and so, let her, and when she likes him for him, we’ll let her know who he really is. This will be so much fun!*
“Sit down, Dare. How have you been?”
“Fine, Lita.”
Serena smiled. *I didn’t know Lita already knew Dare!*
