Kiara's Tiara

By Mythili Gubbi

Kiaras Tiara is based on the theme that one beautiful heart can make a difference. It is a young-adult fiction story, showcasing transformations, perceptions, and love: love between a father and daughter, love between best friends; love that exists between grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews; and love that binds people without a blood relation and call themselves family; but most importantly, it highlights the love that a teenage girl has for the world. The name of this girl is Kiara. Introducing Kiaraa chirpy, smiling, and affectionate fifteen-year-old Indian girl, living in the United States, who was raised by a single parent. The story traces the evolution of her character from her life in a cocoon to a scintillating butterfly-like persona. Life only throws the unexpected at those who can handle it. Kiara overcame life-threatening obstacles in unconventional ways. She became an inspiration and set examples for others, by aspiring for the moon but reaching far beyond other galaxies. Necessity and belief can give an immense amount of strength and courage. Sometimes, all you need to do is believe because hope is all you have. If you really want something, and your heart truly believes in it, then nothing can keep you two apart. The entire universe itself will make sure that you end up with your hearts desire.
Kiaras Tiara is a symbol of her strength, optimism, perseverance, and conviction.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing India
• Release date: Dec 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781482839739

Mythili Gubbi

Mythili Gubbi's passion and flair for expressing herself through words began with writing essays in elementary school, which morphed into scripting plays and drafting speeches in middle school, and transformed into “social journalism” in high school—all of which culminated in writing this book before her sixteenth birthday.

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KIARA’S TIARA

MYTHILI GUBBI

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Copyright © 2014 by Mythili Gubbi.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

www.partridgepublishing.com/india

Contents

Acknowledgement

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Passion and talent are worthless if they aren’t utilized or allowed to see the light of day. This book is not just my effort, but credit goes to all those special people in my life who supported me and held my hand on this journey. Although ‘Kiara’s Tiara’ is a work of pure fiction, it is a culmination of true feelings and sentiments. I am blessed to be amidst people who always shower love and encouragement on me and gave me the strength to pour my heart out and bring some pretty special and magical characters to life.

Some amazing people in my life include my inspiring family. Mumma, Daddy and my brother, Surya, I love you guys and you mean the world to me. Thank you for making this possible with your unconditional love, everlasting support and for being my strength. I love you, so thank you.

My extended family is by far the best set of people on this planet. You all have encouraged my writing and have made me the writer I am today. You’ve been there with me and never cease to make me smile. Grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, you know who you are; I love you, so thank you.

Friends who have stood by my side through everything and have always been there for me, you guys made this happen by being my strength. Every small gesture, every smile, every laugh, every conversation, every enquiry, every hug, everything means so much. The love you guys have given me is immense and I’m filled with gratitude. Thank you for being a part of me and for always motivating me to be that best that I can. I love you, so thank you.

There are so many people who have played a huge role in helping me overcome challenges and make writing this possible. I am so thankful and feel extremely fortunate to have you in my life. I love you, so thank you.

Payal, you deserve the most credit. If it wasn’t for you, I would have never even dreamt, in my wildest dreams, of writing a book. You encouraged me to use writing to express myself and make a difference. Thank you for doing this, for always supporting me and for loving me. I love you, so thank you.

Unfortunately, this book is about Kiara’s life and not about thanking all the wonderful people in my life who make me feel so special, so I’ll have to stop here.

Once again, a big shout out to all these spectacular people for bringing out the writer in me. I love you all, so thank you.

DEDICATION

For all those special people in my life who are constantly inspiring me to be the best that I can.

CHAPTER 1

The blinds kept hitting the window, the papers in the room were fluttering around because of the fan’s breeze and the cars outside on the road sped away with their tires making blazing noises. The universe was against poor Kiara getting some sleep.

She rose from her bed, climbed down the stairs of her loft, and just stared out of her bay window into the night sky. She opened the window and stuck her head outside. The cool wind blowing in her face was truly incredible. She could gaze at the beautiful crescent moon for hours together. As she was admiring the elegance and poise of the cratered world, she let out a sigh of relief. The moon reminded her that even though things may seem distant and afar, they can still hold a special place in one’s heart.

The girl was completely drained out after her long day, but even amidst her exhaustion, she had her signature smile with a beautiful expression of true happiness.

Kiara had spent the entire day preparing for her dad’s surprise fortieth birthday party. She had been planning this for quite some time and wanted everything to go perfectly. Thoughts kept racing through her mind and she just couldn’t stop thinking about the party and her father’s reaction to it. She kept asking herself whether she ordered the cake properly and hoped that the caterers got the right address of the party. All the possible scenarios raced through her mind as she foresaw every possibility – good and bad, and prayed that nothing would go wrong.

She got up for a second to pick her checklist up from her desk to make sure that she had done everything. All that was left to do was to tell the limo service to go to the airport and bring her grandparents who were coming from India. She missed her family immensely and couldn’t wait to see them.

She began thinking about her past and how her dad meant everything to her. He was the one who made her who she was and shaped her into the strong and lovely young lady she was today. She loved her dad more than anyone in the world. The fifteen year old picked up a photo frame with a picture of the two from a shelf with more pictures, held it close to her heart and hugged it, while she was looking down upon a quiet place that she called home, Angel Spring. It was a small town in the vast country of the United States of America, and a long way from where they started from, India.

She closed her eyes and unknowingly had tears running down her cheeks. They were tears of happiness as she recalled all the wonderful memories they made together. Happy tears were accompanied by heartache as the reason for this way of life was a tragedy.

When she couldn’t control her sleep anymore, she closed the window, placed the frame down, returned back to her loft and pulled up the covers of her bed. Slowly, her heavy eyelids started to droop, putting the girl to sleep.

The sun shone in Kiara’s eyes as she woke up in the early hours of the morning. Her alarm clock became the villain, disrupting the perfect love story between a girl and her bed. At six o’clock, she quickly got up, rushed out of bed and scurried into some fresh clothes. Then, she darted to the kitchen to fix up breakfast in bed for her dad before he woke up. She wanted to cook something for him because he was the one who would usually get up early to start his daughter’s day with a delicious meal. It was her turn to return the favour and please him.

She fixed up a bowl of his favourite cereal, made blue berry pancakes with whipped cream, sunny side up eggs and a glass of fresh orange juice. Everything looked like art on a plate. After all her hard work, Kiara looked down at the tray with the varied foods and had a bright and proud smile light up her face. When she glanced up to have a look at the time, she saw the clock striking seven – her dad’s wake up time.

She picked up the tray and rushed to the master bedroom, careful enough not to spill anything. She stealthily opened the door only to find her father sleeping like a baby. She tiptoed towards him and when she reached his bedside, she started to sing the birthday song in a hushed tone. Kiara sang, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Daddy, Happy Birthday to you!

Kiara’s father, Kunal, slowly opened his eyes and stretched a little. As soon as he saw his baby girl’s face, he started to smile and his beautiful brown eyes glistened in the soft sun rays of the morning. He slowly sat up straight and made space on the bed for Kiara to sit next to him. She wished him again and told him that she loved him a lot. He was thrilled and just so happy. Kunal was delighted to start his special day with wishes from his daughter.

The proud father beamed as his daughter presented an array of assorted foods for breakfast. He told her that he loved the breakfast and not just because it was his favourite, but because she made it with plenty of love and affection. Even on his birthday, Kunal was teaching his sweetheart valuable lessons of life that would be imprinted in her memory. Kiara fed her father and they both chatted for some time, shared hearty laughs and proved that they were each other’s everything.

Kiara finished the laundry, did the dishes, tidied up the beds, and did the dusting on the ground floor. Kunal did the sweeping and mopping. After they did their chores, Kunal got ready for work. Kiara ironed his clothes and packed some food. Kunal kissed Kiara on the forehead and promised to be home in time to go out for dinner. As Kunal pulled out of the driveway, Kiara waved.

Once he was out of sight, she dashed inside to get ready. She took a shower, wore a sea green top with dark blue jeans, tied her hair into a quick messy bun, picked up her blue bag, put her precious and priceless gold locket, wore her white flip flops and left home. As she was walking on the road into town, she waved at a few people she knew and was always smiling, as usual.

She walked into town and met some of her neighbours. She reminded them to come to her place for the party. After that, she opened the door of the building that had a sign outside indicating that the place was called ‘Angel’s Day Care’. As she opened the door, the chime on top jingled and alerted everyone that someone had come in.

The owners were a couple, Theo and Valerie. As they turned around to see who walked in, Kiara threw her bag down and leaped into their arms and hugged them with a huge smile on her face. She was so delighted to see them. The three of them looked as if they were a family. After Kiara’s welcome, she reminded them about the surprise party for the hundredth time. They promised to come and told Kiara that they checked in with the caterers and everything was set. Valerie listed out about ten families that called to RSVP. Theo told her that the decorations that she ordered had come and were out back. Kiara thanked them for their help and was very grateful to them.

She loved hanging out at the daycare as she deeply adored playing with the little ones and taking care of them. Kiara looked around as her eyes were searching for him. She asked the couple where their son was. They simply shrugged their shoulders. Suddenly a boy, her age, with fluffy brown hair, beautiful blue eyes, fair skin with a slight tan in an orange collared shirt and white shorts jumped out of his hiding spot and told the girl that he thought that she would never ask for him. Kiara fought with him and yelled at him for hiding from her. Even though she was the kind that could never shout at people, she tried her best and made her point. She told him that she already had enough to worry about with the party, and he was adding to it.

After seeing her so upset, the boy, who was five foot ten, hugged her tightly. She couldn’t resist a smile. Danny was Kiara’s best friend. They had known each other ever since she and her dad moved to Angel Spring, when she was a few months old. Kiara would sometimes stay at the day care when a sitter couldn’t make it and her dad had to go to work. Danny’s parents had always been there for them and the two families grew very close.

Danny was really special to Kiara. He was a great guy who took good care of her. They were as close as siblings, if not closer. In school, Danny was the guy that most of the girls were behind. He was handsome, smart and very caring. He knew that many girls liked him, and he enjoyed the attention. He would flirt around most of the time and was the Casanova at high school, but what he cared for most was his best friend, Kiara.

He was a big fan of nature and valued it