Dare [unfinished.]

01 | MORNINGS

"Well, I found a girl, beautiful and sweet"

- Perfect, Ed Sheeran

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CHAPTER ONE
MORNINGS

THEY say flowers are the most beautiful gifts you can give to a significant other. That seeing the smile on their face when they were met with the soft floral scent. It was supposed to be an adoring sight to see your partner light up at the extravagant, yet simple gesture. That the floral scent would make anyone want to fall in love just by presenting the bouquet. Veronica thought it was a feint.

Flowers wilt over time and while it may be pleasant for a few hours, it won't last forever. Nothing ever lasts forever, flowers were no exception. One flower she didn't have an aversion to was roses.

There was something elegant and freeing about the shrub, and though it wilted away into nothing, there was something innocent and beautiful about a rose turning darker as the days went on. It was a weird fascination, one she wouldn't bother explaining, but it made her calm despite having nothing to worry about.

It was seven in the morning, it was late for her standards. Usually it'd be six or six thirty, never seven. Being an early bird gave her some sort of pride in mornings that were unsatisfactory due to the normalcy of it all—nothing made sense in the morning if you caught her drift. Clearly she couldn't think that well when a routine was already broken at the beginning of the school year. But the day goes on, like it usually does.

Veronica rolled out of bed, careful to not bang her head on the bedside dresser. Yes, she literally rolled out of bed like an idiot who didn't know how to wake up. She ran a hand through her hair as she took in the time on her phone she managed to grab before landing bottom first on the carpet floor.

7:05.

It meant that she had at least fifteen minutes to get ready before school started at 7:30. The one day she woke up late was the day it mattered. Veronica was a senior and impressions meant everything, especially the first ones if she wanted to get into Harvard.

Harvard University was her dream school. Veronica has always wanted to go Harvard and become a lawyer and all that bullshit. There was something that drew her to the job despite it coming from absolutely nowhere. Her mom was a famous fashion designer in New York along with her father being the CEO of some company he built from the ground. Being a lawyer did not fit in any of those categories nor was it in between.

Veronica quickly scrambled off the ground and rushed to the bathroom. She didn't have enough time to take a shower (she didn't want to go to school with slick wet hair alright?) so she'd have to settle for the basic routine. The brushing of teeth, face washing, etc. The typical routine one would do, Veronica was just about done brushing through her unruly hair when she stepped back into her bedroom.

7:15.

Ten minutes? Just to go through her morning routine? Jesus Christ. Thankfully Veronica laid out her clothes the night before otherwise this whole morning would've been a disaster.

She slipped on the tartan pleated skirt that was high waisted with ease, a white dress shirt, and tied the satin lavallière (French style tie/bow) around her throat. Veronica ran her fingers over the crisp shirt, satisfied with the getup. She eased into the stockings a few seconds later and did it as fast as she could so she didn't rip the black sheer tights.