Recovery

Chapter 32

"Morning," Laurel chirps.

"Same to you," I reply, taking a bite out of my biscuit.

"You slept in a bit," Ivy says, her voice eerily calm. "Late night?"

"Yeah," I answer, offering her a small smile. "I was feeling a bit insomniac so I watched a few episodes of the Office on my laptop until I could fall asleep."

"Uh- huh," she snorts. "I'm sure you did."

I narrow my eyes at her. "If you have something to say, just say it."

She opens her mouth to retort, but gets interupted before she can.

Someone sets a glass of orange juice in front of me, and I turn my head to see who it is.

"Thanks Marc," I quip, grinning up at him.

"No problem," he nods, taking a seat across from us.

Piper looks between him and I, her eyes suspicious.

"Hey, how come new guy can sit with you four and I can't?" Jesse calls from his spot near the end of the table.

"Bring me orange juice and you can sit with us," I retort, rolling my eyes.

Laurel turns to face me.

"You know he'll take you up on that offer, right?"

I laugh. "I guess I didn't really think about it."

-------------------------------------------------

After lunch, I lead Trigger out of his stall and clip him into the cross ties so I can groom him.

"Hey boy," I coo, patting his side. "You're such a pretty boy."

"You talk to your horse?"

I turn and see Marc walking towards me with Belle, and offer him a smile.

"Yeah. He's a pretty good listener," I reply, turning back to Trig.

"So I actually came over here cause I need help with grooming Belle- there are so many brushes and I have no idea which ones to use," he states, clipping Belle into another set of cross ties so she is facing Trigger.

"Sure- although I'm not really the best with horses, if you really want help you should Avery," I reply.

"Yes, but Avery's not quite as cute as you," he teases, winking at me.

"Ah, so you think Avery is cute on some level?" I retort. "Didn't know you swung that way."

"I don't-"

"Hey, I'm not judging. If you want to be gay, you be gay," I chuckle, running a curry comb over Trigger.

"Grace! I'm not gay!" he exclaims, throwing his arms in the air.

I laugh, and roll my eyes. "Whatever you say. Anyways, the first brush you want to use looks like this. It's called a curry comb. Run it over her in big, circular motions, okay?"

"Okay," he replies, shooting me another smile.

A few weeks ago, I probably would have thought he was cute. I might have even dated him.

But since I've met Avery, I don't really think of anyone that way anymore. He's just so-

"So what's going on between you and Avery, anyways?" Marc asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh my god, did I say that out loud?" I question, my cheeks flushing red.

He furrows his eyebrows together. "Say what out loud?"

I take a deep breath. "Nothing."

"Whatever you say. And don't avoid my question- what's going on with you two?"

"What do you mean," I innocently reply, playing dumb.

"He obviously likes you- he's always watching you when you aren't looking," he chuckles.

"No he doesn't," I defend, shaking my head.

"He's not the only one. You're always looking at him, too."

"I am not!"

"Yes you are!"

"Am not!" I huff, crossing my arms over my chest.

"So you don't like him?" he questions.

"No!" I laugh.

"Well that's good," he replies. Before I can ask what he means by that, he asks, "What brush do I use next?"

"Um- you use a hard brush. It looks like this," I reply, pulling one out of my tack box.

He digs through his tack box and frowns. "I don't have one of those."

"There are more in the tack room," I reply. "Go grab one."

"Just let me use yours."

"No," I giggle.

"Come on let me use it," he chuckles, lunging and trying to grab the brush from me.

I turn and evade him, pressing the brush to my chest so he cant grab it.

"Grace just let me use your brush!"

"No!"

He reaches around my waist, trying to steal the brush from me. I end up being held in middair, kicking my legs wildly.

"Marc, put me down," I squeal, fighting back laughter. I turn my gaze towards the barn entrance and see Avery standing there, a cold, almost jealous look on his face. My voice becomes more serious. "Oh my god, Marc let me go."

He does as I ask, sensing my change in mood.

"Hey Avery, whats up?" Marc asks, smiling at him.

I turn and scowl at Marc. He himself said Avery liked me- why's he being so nonchalant to him.

Avery doesn't reply, instead turning his gaze to me.

"Sorry to interrupt," he mutters, his expression blank, his voice emotionless. "I'm just here to grab Feather."

"You're not interrupting anything," I say. "I'm just showing Marc how to groom Belle."

Avery snorts, but doesn't reply otherwise.

The air is sufficiently awkward as Avery clips a lead onto Feather and leads him out of the barn.

"Avery-" I call after him.

"Have fun you two," he shoots, climbing onto Feather's back and taking off down the trail.

Apparently, he can ride tackless.

I groan and turn back to Trigger.

"So, tell me something Grace- if there's nothing going on between you two, why does it seem like I just witnessed a lover's spat?"

I don't bother to reply.

A/N

SO SO SO SO SO SO SO sorry for the wait. Bad Sparky *hits self in head with gavel*

Love you all!

I'm starving so I'm not going to bother with a long author's note!

Goodnight My Lovelies