Broken Prodigy | COMPLETED ✓

Chapter 20

Doug stomps into the tack room. Oh boy. What is it now? Kayla and I exchange glances, and I help her grab Polly's saddle from the rack.

"Where's Elliot?" he demands.

I'm pretty sure my jaw just dislocated from falling so hard. Duggie is angry at... Elliot?

Something must be going on. First Elliot gets all drunk and stupid at the party, and now Doug is storming around the stables after him? Elliot's always been so sensible. Normally it would be Gus that Doug's mad at.

"What do you mean?" Kayla is the first to ask. "Why?"

"I haven't seen him all morning, and Angus is playing dumb. He isn't answering my questions directly, and keeps on telling me he thought he saw him here or there... you girls better not know anything! I swear, if he-"

"Woah, woah," I stop him. "Elliot hasn't turned up to work?"

"Yeah. And here I thought he was the only mature kid out of you lot!" Duggie grumbles.

"You know what?" I hand Polly's saddle to Kayla, whose arms almost collapse at the sudden weight of the expensive jumping tack. "I'll find him. Don't worry. He might just be caught up in something."

Doug grunts his reluctant approval, and I tell Kayla I'll be back and to tack Polly up before I leave them both and go to find Gus.

I've since forgiven him for eavesdropping on me, but everything else is on hold. Yes, including 'the kiss'. I don't know what Gus thinks of me now, and I'm still figuring everything out. Of course, Connor, Georgia and Gus have been great with the whole Ollie-and-her-horse-Mars-almost-dying-in-a-stable-fire revelation, but I still need to somehow break the news to Elliot.

After I told my friends about the secret I'd been hiding, I have to admit that I felt a little lighter, like for the the first time, I wasn't alone. And I'm not. 

I've also forgotten about Dad. The fire affected him as well. When we got Mars free and evacuated, my father was the one to go back home and find it burnt to ashes. He didn't let me go, but I was already beside myself from what happened with Mars. I still haven't gone back to my childhood home to this day.

But Dad did. Dad had to face it, and this whole time I have unknowingly been pushing him away. I should've been there for him. I should've realised that this didn't just affect me, but him too. I should've-

"Hey Olivia!" Gus slows Caspian down to a walk as I pass the indoor arena. I stop and walk into the arena, hoping to get some answers about Elliot's whereabouts.

"It's boiling as all hell in here," Gus complains, wiping his forehead underneath his helmet. "How on earth are you wearing jeans?"

I thought Gus was smart. He's seen the scars. There's no way I'm wearing shorts again. Just another reason for people to see my differences. It might be 35 degrees celsius, but I won't risk having people stare at me everywhere I go. I can deal with the heat.

"Cut the bull, Gus," I tell him, changing the subject, and he widens his eyes as I give him the best death glare I can muster. "Where's Elliot?"

He climbs off Caspian. "Jeez, when did you become so scary?"

"C'mon. Duggie's on a rampage, and I don't want extra chores. I know you don't either."

"I see the nickname has caught on."

"Gus," I groan, still waiting for my answer.

Gus looks sheepish, and he takes a step forward. "Okay, you can't spread this around 'cause Elliot will kill me, but he's having some... boy troubles."

"Boy troubles?"

"You know, with Connor. Our parents have no idea about either of our love lives because they're hardly ever around anymore, but we both know for sure they won't take him and Connor together so well. They don't exactly agree with all the gay rights stuff. And Elliot's stressing out about it because they've got next week off and Connor thinks he should tell them if they want to be together. He's at Connor's place now."

"Ohhhhh," I say. That makes sense. And knowing Gus, he would definitely make up the worst excuses to stall. "Should we tell Doug he's called in for a sickie?" I ask, wondering whether Elliot will be back today or not.

"Yeah, you can tell him that. See ya," he says, leading Caspian past me and out of the arena.

"Hey!" I stomp after him. "You're Elliot's brother. You tell him."

Gus grimaces. "Aw, please can ya do it? You know Doug's gonna make me do all Elliot's jobs otherwise."

"And you're making me do it so that I get all the extra work? Not cool, Gus."

"Well... Georgia will help you! And Kayla, and Eb-"

"Tell me you weren't about to add Ebony to that list."

"You know what?" Gus huffs in exasperation, leading Caspian into his stable. "Fine. You tell Doug, but I'll still help with the chores. Just let me put Cas away first."

I mumble my agreement and go to find Doug.

* * *

My explanation for Elliot's absence wasn't a fun one. It took a bit of persuading Duggie, telling him that Gus was just stalling in case he still came to work, but eventually he gave in, right before he handed Georgia, Gus and I Elliot's workload as well as extra chores, just because he could.

Georgia and I are cleaning the stables when Ebony walks up, her head held high and her friends following behind her.

"Listen," she hisses at us. "I don't want to do this. I swear, I'm only asking you because my father said we need to invite everyone to keep our clients. I don't know why I still have to invite the stable hands though." Ebony huffs and hands us each a slip of paper.

"What's this?" Georgia asks, opening the folded paper up.

"An invite to our annual summer barbeque. Keep in mind that this doesn't change anything," Ebony starts to walk off, before she turns and looks at me in distaste. "Oh, and wear something... proper, please. Not an outfit like that."

"I'll have you know, Ebony," I counter. "That there isn't a dress code on the invite."

Ebony glares at me and walks off, Chelsea and Hannah trailing after her.

She's right. I can't really go to an event in the clothes I have now. I've gone to the shops a couple of times, but I've only bought stuff I can work in.

"On the 22nd of January," Georgia read. "At the Reeves' Estate. From 6:30 to 9:00pm. You gonna go? I know Maya's gonna want me to."

I shrug. "If you have to be there, I'll be there. I can't let you suffer from Ebony and her family alone, can I?"

Georgia hugs me. "You're the best," she says, and looks down at the invite again. "Dammit, families are invited, too."

"What's wrong with that?"

"I have 3 younger brothers, and they're at that age where they all love to be annoying. Jamie's 5, Ethan's 6 and Darren's 8. So they'll be nuts. And my parents don't exactly like my choice of hobby. They don't believe riding is a sport, and even though I want to ride professionally after high school, they want me to get 'a real job', like a lawyer or a doctor or whatever. They couldn't even deal with me being a vet!"

"That's tough. They know what you want, though?"

"I've tried, Ollie. Even Maya's tried to talk to them, tell them that I have the potential, but-"

"You don't need potential, Georgia. You already are amazing at riding. I've never seen anything like it. I swear, you could go to the Olympics."

Georgia looks at me, her eyes full of pride and happiness. "You think?"

"I don't even need to think about it. I've known since I first saw you on Aladdin."