"I fall asleep, hoping I'll forget."
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I was awoken the next morning by an obnoxiously loud alarm. I groaned and put my pillow over my head, trying to block out the noise. I looked at the clock above the door and saw that it was six am. Why do they have us get up this early?
Once I realized that it was probably a better idea to get up and get ready, I reluctantly got up from the bed. The cold air slapped my skin and it took everything in me to not run back under the covers and stay there for the rest of the day.
I couldn't remember if Niall had told me a certain time that I had to be out of my room. I was wasting time trying to think of it, so I just went into the bathroom to get a shower. My hair was a mess by this time. It was greasy and pointing in every direction.
It took me about fifteen minutes in the shower, once I got up I hurriedly got dressed and did my hair. When I was dressed and ready to go for the day, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. They never really specified to me.
My stomach was rumbling with hunger. I didn't know if I should go to the dining hall or wait here for someone to tell me to do something. Much to my relief, my thoughts were interrupted when Niall came barging in my room.
"Good, you didn't leave." He said with a sigh of relief. "I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do, so I just kind of waited." I said and he nodded, slightly panting. He looked like he was exhausted. It's six in the morning and he probably has had to run around the palace all morning.
"Yeah, that's fine. What time is it right now?" He said and I glanced at the clock which read twenty till seven. "Almost seven." I told him and he nodded. "You don't have to be upstairs until seven, so are you hungry?" He asked and I nodded.
"I'm starving, actually." I chuckled and he smiled at me. "Let's go then." He said and opened the door for me. I thanked him and walked out the door. I followed him down the hall, still not exactly sure where everything was, even though he gave me a tour.
Once we got to the dining hall, it was kind of crowded. He led me to a table near the door and I saw two other girls sitting there. I was guessing they were Annette and Sasha. "I'll go get your food." Niall said and I nodded.
I sat down and made sure not to make eye contact with either of them. "You're the new girl, right?" I looked up and saw that the voice belonged to a girl with bright green eyes and blonde hair. I nodded my head in response.
She rolled her eyes at me and the girl next to her elbowed her. "Sash, be nice." She whispered to her, but I could still hear her. "I'm Annette, and this is Sasha." The girl said and then gestured to the girl who had just rolled her eyes at me.
"I'm Crystal." I said, feeling a kind vibe coming from Annette. Annette looked a bit older. Maybe late twenties, where as Sasha looked early twenties. After our introductions to each other Niall came back with a plate of food in his hand.
He sat down next to me and set the plate of food in front of me. "Thank you." I said and he smiled. I started eating what looked like blueberry pancakes. "Why are you here, Niall?" Sasha asked, rudely. "I need to clear some things with Crystal and if you have a problem with that leave." He said and she looked shocked.
"Fine." She scoffed and abruptly stood up and marched out of the room. "I'm sorry about her." Annette apologized and followed Sasha out. "She's a piece of work." Niall sighed in exhaustion and frustration. "I've realized." I chuckled.
"Okay, so today I think you're scheduled just to take care of the pets from the upper quarters." Niall said while looking at a piece of paper in front of him. I nodded while I continued to eat. The portions weren't very big so I was finished quickly.
"Alright then, we better get a move on." Niall said standing up quickly. I began to grab my plate, but he stopped me. "Tyler will get that." He said and I nodded even though I don't know who Tyler is. I got up from my seat and followed Niall out of the dining hall.
I took a quick look over my shoulder and saw a boy about Niall's age picking up my dirty plate. I felt bad not getting it myself, because I was able to. I ignored my conscious and trailed behind Niall. We walked up the steps to the upper quarters.
We were stopped in the hallway, when Lord Harry came out. "What are you two doing up here?" He asked skeptically. "Taking her to the pets, sir." Niall said and Harry sighed. "Have her take care of the horses today. You can use the elevator." Lord Harry said and then walked away.
"Thank God." Niall said with a slight chuckle. I weakly smiled as he changed our direction to go back to where we came from. We stepped in the elevator and Niall clicked the ground button. The elevator lurched as it travelled downward.
It stopped and the doors quickly opened. Niall stepped out and quickly walked in front of me. I struggled to keep up with him, but I did my best. He opened the doors to the palace and I was nearly blinded from the sunshine.
I haven't been outside in ages, it seems. Niall chuckled as I my eyes tried to adjust to the brightness. Once they did, we walked around the palace until we were met with the stables. I heard the familiar neigh of the horses and I smiled, remembering of home.
"I take it, by the smile on your face, you have experience with horses?" Niall smiled and I nodded. "Good, because I don't know anything about them." He laughed and I was actually able to laugh along with him. "So, basically you just have to feed them, clean the stalls, and you can ride them if you want." He explained.
"Really?" I asked feeling happy for the first time in this hell hole. "Really." He said and I smiled happily. "I'll leave you to it then. There should be some clothes for riding in the barn." He shot one more smile at me then went on his way back to the palace.
I looked down at what I was wearing and I decided that I didn't want to ruin my dress, so I walked to the barn and heaved the doors open. It was dusty and smelled like manure, but it did smell like home. I walked around, peaking my head around the corners until I saw a drawer in the back of the room.
I walked over to it and pulled it open. There were a few pairs of jeans and tank tops in it. I looked around making sure no one was around, before I stripped down and put the clothes on. They fit almost perfectly, which I was actually shocked by.
There were a few pairs of boots, so I tried them on until I found one closest to my size. I folded my dress and put it in the drawer, and closed it. I made my way out of the barn and to the stables. Once I got there I opened those doors and looked around.
There were about seven horses in the stalls. I was kind of surprised that there weren't more, but I was kind of thankful that I didn't have more to clean up after. I looked in each stall and saw all the different horses.
There were two black ones with a white stripe down their head, and one pure black one. There were three huge white ones, and in the last stall was by far my favorite. There was a foal in the slightly smaller stall. It was a tan color with white down it's head and bright blue eyes.
Above all of the other horses was name tags. Dominick, Angel, Pedro, Penelope, Star, and Breyden. I was confused when the stall above the foal had no name. I made a mental note to ask Lord Harry or Niall later, but I got to work quickly.
After what felt like hours all of the horses had clean stalls, filled food and water troughs, and they were all brushed. I looked out the window and saw that the sun had just started to set. I decided that if I was going to ride today it'd have to be now, and not long.
I quickly browsed the horses and decided to ride on Breyden. The pure black one. I pet his head and he neighed in appreciation. I chuckled slightly and started looking around for a saddle. I saw in the far right corner there was a beat up saddle.
I shrugged to myself and went over to it before lugging it over my shoulder. It was pretty heavy for a saddle, but then again we didn't have saddles back home, we just used blankets. Our neighbors used to have a saddle so that's the only reason I know how to put it on.
I put the saddle on Breyden's back and it landed with a thump. I buckled the saddle from underneath and then opened the stall door. I mounted onto the house and lightly kicked the horse in the side so it'd move. He trotted out of the barn easily, making me thankful that I chose him.
I rode him to the opening of the large fence, then hopped off of the horse to open the gate. Once the gate was open I mounted onto him again and rode into the field. Since the sun was setting the ride was extremely short.
Once the sun had officially set and it was almost completely dark out, I rode Breyden back to the stalls. I unmounted from him and grabbed his reigns so I could pull him into his stall. I lightly tugged the reigns and he started walking slowly.
I was walking backwards and I ran into someone. I came to a halt, but Breyden didn't, causing me and whatever I ran into to fall down. I knew it was a person when hands wrapped around my waist. I was hoisted up and I turned around to see who it was.
My heart sunk when I found out that I had just knocked Lord Harry down. "I-I am so sorry, sir." I said quickly and he chuckled. "Don't worry about it." He said and walked around me to go to Breyden. I pet his head and Breyden leaned into his touch.
Lord Harry had a genuine smile on his face. "I saw you riding him." He said, looking over his shoulder at me. "Y-Yeah, he's a really good horse." I mentally cursed myself for stuttering, but he didn't seem to notice.
"I've been riding him since I was ten." He said and my eyes widened. "He's your horse?" I asked and he confirmed it with a nod. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have ridden him without asking." I said and he had an amused smile on his lips.
"Like I said earlier, don't worry about it. I am kind of shocked though." He said with a slight frown on his face. "Why are you shocked?" I asked and he shrugged. "Breyden has never let anyone ride him, besides me of course." He said and my eyes widened, once again.
"Really?" I asked and he nodded. "I don't know what to say to that, actually." I said nervously. "Let's get him back in his stall, yeah?" He said and I nodded. I grabbed the reigns and walked beside Lord Harry to Breyden's stall.
Once we got in, Lord Harry shut the stall door, and I took the saddle and reigns off of Breyden. He went straight for the water trough, I chuckled and pet his head. I looked at the clock above his stall and saw it was nearly eight.
"You've been out here awhile." Lord Harry commented, seeing my gaze on the clock. "I didn't mean to be, I just had to ride before I went back inside." I explained and he nodded. "Did you have a horse back home?" He asked and I nodded.
"Her name was Belle, she died last year." I said sadly. He didn't say anything, so I walked out of the stall and did a double check on all of the horses. When I got to the foals stall I opened the door and crouched down next to it.
It was laying on the ground, just as it had been earlier. Horses don't usually rest this much, which made me concerned. "You like her?" I shot my head over to the door and saw him standing in the doorway. "She's my favorite here." I said.
"I see." He said and I nodded at him. "I think she's sick." I said with a frown. "I'll have the vet look at her later, but for now you should probably eat before you go to bed." He said and I nodded. "Okay, I guess." I said and stood up shooting one last glance at the foal.
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[I honestly didn't know how to end this chapter oops. I promise everything will get more interesting soon. I have a few ideas in mind. hehe. Note! I changed covers so lmk what you think!]