Gone Country

Chapter 2 (It's Not A Date, But It's A Date)

I've always been an early riser, but apparently some people get up earlier than I do. When I woke, the first thing I wanted to do was freshen up. I showered last night before I went to bed, Avery told me it was better that way than to shower in the morning because of early morning feedings of the animals. 

I groggily sat up in my bed, noticing that Avery's bed was already made and she was no where in sight. Carefully I stretched, the little bit of sunlight beaming through the window forcing me to wake even more. It was probably six in the morning. The sun was up, but barely. 

I climbed out of bed and dragged my feet as I left the bedroom and headed into the hall. My teeth felt grimy and I had the fowl taste of slobber in my mouth from sleeping so well. I thought for sure that my first night in this house would be restless, but it was far from that. I slept so well I had to double check and make sure I was really awake.

I made it to the empty bathroom and turned on the light. My reflection in the mirror looked absolutely awful. I reached for my makeup, and then realized it wasn't there and I wasn't allowed to use it thanks to Avery. My face was so dull and boring, it was hardly even looking like an average girl right now.

I pouted at myself, but grabbed my toothbrush and toothpaste. I applied the paste to the bristles, ran a little water over it, and shoved it into my mouth. I got to scrub for two seconds before the foul taste of too much salt made me spit out the paste in my mouth. "What the heck!!!" I hissed, quickly rinsing my mouth out with water. Salt, that's all I tasted was sour and bitter salt. 

Laughter made me freeze, and with my foaming mouth I looked to the shower where nothing but chuckles and giggles were erupting from. I slung back the curtain, scowling down at Brant and Avery who had obviously set this up.  "You jerks!" I spat at them. 

They both continued to laugh, all while choking out how hilarious they thought my reaction was to the salt they had obviously sprinkled onto my toothbrush. Because they found it so funny, I flipped on the shower, laughing right back at them as the cold water came crashing down. 

They screamed at how chilly the water was and fought to get out of the tub area where they had been sitting. They were soaked, their pajamas were soaked, and I was still tasting salt after a whole minute of watching them struggle. 

"Char! Cut it off!" Brant yelled, using his sister as a shield against the water. Avery squealed, thrashing about and trying her best to break free. I decided to put them out their misery and shut the water off.

I laughed at them as they stood up in the bathtub, dripping from head to toe. They clearly were not amused, but neither was I. Brant raised a brow at me, a smirk pulling onto his lips suggesting something. He stepped out of the tub, his smirk deepening as he continued to step toward me. "You better run Char, and you better do it quick."

My eyes widened at the thought of what was running through his mind. I didn't hesitate to run out the bathroom, screeching in terror when I heard their footsteps behind me. I ran down the steps, reaching the kitchen where Jack and Stella were fixing breakfast, but that was as far as I got.

Damp arms grabbed me from behind, pulling me back into a wet body. Happily I laughed as Brant hugged me from behind, leaving Avery to come around and hugged me from the front. Even though I should've been mad at them for getting me wet, I hugged Avery back and continued to laugh with them.

Jack and Stella had questioning looks, probably wondering what in the world was going on. They just shook their heads and didn't bother to ask. Instead Jack said, "Charlotte, Brant, you have horse brushing duty. Avery I need for you to feed the chickens, and Brant you also need to bring down some hay bales from the hay loft in the barn."