THE GOLD | b. hargrove

chapter one

The late autumn sunrises meant that when Harriet's alarm clock went off, her room was still cloaked in darkness. The shrill beeping jolting her out of what had been an already restless night. Without lifting her head off the pillow, she reached her arm over and blindly tried to silence the incessant noise, eventually hitting the right button and plunging her room back into silence.

Finally she sat up in her bed, her eyes slowly adjusting to the dark room around her. She still sometimes forgot where she was in the mornings, expecting to wake in her family home to the sound of her parents starting their day. It'd been 2 years now, but the realisation that she was in the spare room of her aunts house still hurt the same as it did the first night. With a small groan, she threw her legs over the side of the bed and flicked on her bedside lamp, a warm light now swelling through the room.

Harriet ran her fingers over the clothes that hung in her wardrobe. She always made an effort with her appearance, even for school, she appreciated the sense of control it gave her no matter how small it was in the grand scheme of things. Her light wash denim mom jeans were a staple for her at the moment, and today she decided to pair them with a simple white collared shirt and an oversized burgundy crew neck jumper lazily tucked into the waistband. Her long blonde hair had become a mess due to her constant tossing and turning through the night, but after a quick brush through and blow drying her bangs she was happy enough with how it was sitting. She didn't need to wear make up really, but decided to put on a coat of mascara and a slick of pink lip gloss just for good measure nonetheless. After pulling on her white hi-top converse, she cast one last look over her reflection and headed towards the kitchen.

"Morning Harriet." Karen Wheeler was stood at the hob, cooking up breakfast for her family when Harriet walked in, offering the young blonde a tired smile before turning her attention back to the sizzling pan of bacon. Harriet yawned out a 'morning' in response and took a seat at the kitchen table, joining the rest of the Wheeler family who were already sat. Nancy and Mike were bickering in the way siblings usually do, over something or nothing.

Harriet picked up a piece of toast from the plate that was already in the centre of the table. She didn't have much of an appetite but knew that her aunt wouldn't let her leave for school on an empty stomach, so she settled on the easiest option and took a couple of small bites before placing it onto the small plate in front of her. Karen brought over a couple more plates of food, with pancakes and bacon stacked high on them, Mike and Ted diving straight in though the latter made sure to put some pancakes on Holly's plate before loading up his own.

"Are you still getting a ride with me and Steve today?" Nancy was looking at Harriet as she spoke, which snapped the blonde girl out of her own little world as she realised her cousin was speaking to her.

She nodded, smiling over to Nancy, "Yes please, if that's okay? Looks a bit cold to be riding there today." In the warmer months she'd taken to cycling to school much like Mike and his friends, though she'd made sure to set off before them to avoid being hounded with pre-teen boy nonsense by the group in the early hours.

Mike scoffed through his mouthful of food at the comment. "It's not even cold out, you could definitely bike to school." You could hardly make out the words between the pancake and bacon that currently filled his mouth, but the stubbornness with which he spoke got his message across fine.

"I'm just not as tough as you Mike, I like the comfort of a car." Harriet shrugged her shoulders and smiled at her cousin, taking the final bite of her toast before leaning back a little in her chair to indicate she'd finished. She rarely indulged in the full breakfasts her aunt cooked up, hating the heavy feeling on her stomach so early in the day. She woke feeling nauseous most days too, and didn't want to risk making it worse by stuffing herself before school.