Chapter 3: I Did Not Miss This Evil Horse. Nope. Not At All.
As appreciative as I was that the Birch family was allowing me, Mom, and Dorothy to stay with them, it was very hard for me to sleep in. They were all early risers since they had work to do on the farm and even though Sawyer tried his best not to make much noise in the morning while he was getting ready for the day, it didn't take long for me to wake up because of all the noise outside.
All I wanted in my life was to sleep in on weekends after having to wake up early every weekday for school.
When I did wake up on Saturday because of everything going on outside, I laid on the mattress for a bit longer before getting up and walking to the window. I'd be lying if I said I didn't go to the window to check out Sawyer.
And unfortunately, I couldn't. Right as I looked out the window, I saw him walk into the barn. So much for being happy the room had a clear view of the front yard.
Even though my morning was officially ruined, I got changed before heading down the stairs to get something to eat. I could already smell bacon and eggs sizzling on the stove, causing my already hungry stomach to growl.
Trey was the one cooking breakfast with the help of Mom while Dorothy sat at the table, waiting patiently for her meal. A few dirty dishes already piled in the sink so the rest of the Birch family probably already got their serving before heading outside to get started on work.
"Good morning, Jamie," Trey said when he saw me. "Eggs and bacon?"
"Yes, please," I said, sitting down at the table beside Dorothy.
Trey got a plate ready for Dorothy before getting a plate ready for me, setting them down in front of us. I reached for the ketchup and squirted some on the scrambled eggs before I began eating the breakfast.
Dorothy scrunched her nose up in disgust. "That's gross. Ketchup is gross."
I shrugged as I continued eating. Dorothy could be a really pick eater at times so I never paid attention to the comments she made towards the food I chose to eat.
"I've been meaning to ask you how school has been going, Jamie," Mom said.
"It's okay," I said. "Same old, same old. Boring classes, interesting friends, someone looking like she wants to kill me every time she sees me..."
Mom furrowed her eyebrows. "Wait... What?"
"Nothing," I said. "There's just this girl who immediately decided she hates me. It's fine. More amusing than anything. I don't care what she thinks about me."
"Well, what's her name?" Mom asked. "And why did she decide she hates you?"
"Her name's Kitty," I said.
Upon hearing the name of my rival, Trey dropped the wooden spatula onto the pan with the scrambled eggs on it. He quickly picked it up, mumbling his apology for his clumsiness. Sawyer and Kitty's break up must have been really bad for Trey to react like this.
Mom didn't realize Trey's fumble was due to hearing Kitty's name but she still asked me, "Who's Kitty?"
"Sawyer's ex-girlfriend," I said. "My friend, Lulu, told me the way Kitty dumped Sawyer was very cruel. She didn't tell me why because it's Sawyer's place to tell, not hers."
"Cruel is putting it very lightly," Trey said. "We all loved her. Thought she was the sweetest girl ever. But then the way she dumped Sawyer nearly cost--" He cut himself off with a heavy sigh. "Needless to say, she's not welcome anywhere near the family." Trey looked over at me. "Kitty is a cruel individual. It's best to stay away from her otherwise she will try to ruin your life. Her parents aren't afraid to abuse their power to favour their daughter."
"I know," I said. "Lulu told me. All Kitty does is glare at me whenever she sees me. I don't bother to try and talk to her or anything. I just let her glare at me." I didn't want to tell Trey I was very tempted to get Kitty even more mad at me. If his reaction to hearing her name was any indication of how horrible she was to Sawyer, maybe it was best to stay away from Kitty as best as I could.
Even if it would be amusing to annoy her.
When I finished eating my breakfast, I placed my dishes in the sink before deciding to head outside. The first thing I noticed when I was outside was how the horses' fenced-in area worked. There were two areas for the horses to roam, one of them being smaller than the other. The bigger one was for all the horses.
All but one. That one was in the smaller area.
Sawyer was standing by the fence, his arms rested on top as he watched the single horse roam around the fields.
I walked over and stood beside him. "So what's up with that horse being on its own?"
"You're telling me you don't recognize the horse?" Sawyer asked.
I didn't really looked at the horse's details to begin with. I just noticed it was by itself in this area. Now that I was actually looking directly at it, I understood why Sawyer asked me the question.
"Is this a punishment for that evil horse?" I asked. "What did Paint do this time? Buck someone off of him?"
Sawyer chuckled. "Paint isn't evil, Jamie. We always have to have him by himself when the horses are out in the field."
"Really?" I asked. "Why?"
"Because even after ten years of owning him, we haven't been able to get him to interact well with the other horses," Sawyer said. "He hates them. He's violent towards them. And sometimes towards people as well. It takes a lot for me to try to clean him and feed him. And heaven forbid something bad happens to him because he won't let a vet go anywhere near him."
"I thought your mom has been able to tame any horse," I said.
"She has," Sawyer said. "But for some reason, she just can't get through to Paint. No one can."
"That doesn't surprise me," I said.
"Jamie..." Sawyer began, sounding a bit disappointed.
It didn't take long for me to realize why he sounded that way so I quickly corrected him. "Oh, no, I'm not saying that because I think he's evil. I mean, I still do but... You remember when and how we found him, right? In the forest with fresh blood on him. We still don't know exactly what hurt him. It could have been another horse. Could have been a human. Could have been a human on a horse. I wouldn't be surprised if he's still traumatized from whatever happened."
"I guess you're right," Sawyer said before he sighed. "I just wish there was something anyone can do to help him through it. It sucks that he can't play with his own kind. It sucks that whenever someone is trying to clean or feed him, he reacts so negatively. We just want to help."
"You'll figure things out," I said. "Eventually."
"Ten years," Sawyer said. "It has been ten years. When is eventually?"
I couldn't give Sawyer an answer.
Mainly because I didn't have one and because the twins decided to walk over. Erica stood on the other side of me while Monica stood on the other side of Sawyer. "So Jamie, I have a very important question," Erica said. "What's your sexuality?"
"E, you can't just ask what someone's sexuality is," Sawyer said.
"Go away, Sawyer," Erica said. "I'm a lesbian. I can ask someone all I want. So, Jamie, what are you? Straight? Gay? Bi? Pan? Ace? Demi?"
"Why do you care?" Sawyer asked. "You have a girlfriend and you're not attracted to guys."
"I care for other reasons," Erica said.
"Stop being rude, Sawyer," Monica said. "She's just trying to ask Jamie a question but you're not letting him answer."
"I'm bisexual," I said.
Erica gasped, and it was clearly a fake one for a dramatic event. "What a coincidence. Sawyer is bi, too!"
"You two can bond over your bisexuality," Monica said.
"And you two can leave us alone," Sawyer said. "I'm trying to decide what to do with Paint."
"What do you mean?" Monica asked. "Do the same thing as always. We tried with him. Nothing works."
"Wait..." Erica said slowly. "You're not planning on... on putting him down, are you?"
"What? No," Sawyer said. "No, definitely not. He doesn't deserve to be put down just because he doesn't get along with other horses and humans. Why would you think I was planning to?"
"Because you said you're trying to decide what to do with Paint," Erica said.
"I think he meant what else he can do to try to help him out," I said.
"Like I said, we tried," Monica said. "Nothing works. Just feed and clean him when you can and let him roam in his side of this area."
Sawyer didn't reply. He really loved animals, especially horses. He would do whatever it took to help them out. I could tell not being able to help Paint get along with other horses again was really bothering him.
Paint had been simply roaming around the field the whole time but he soon stopped and looked over in our direction. I took all the willpower I had not to glare at him for being the evil horse he was.
It was even harder to hold in the willpower when Paint trotted over here, standing close to the fence, just staring at me.
I couldn't take it anymore.
"Don't think I've forgiven you for kicking mud at me," I said, narrowing my eyes at him.
"Really, Jamie?" Sawyer asked.
"What? He never apologized."
"He's a horse."
"Really? I thought he was a cat."
Sawyer rolled his eyes at my sarcasm as Paint walked a bit closer to the fence. In fact, he was close enough for me to pet him if I wanted to. And as much as I wanted to be mad at him, I couldn't. He looked too adorable right now.
I stroked his neck, softly smiling. "I sort of missed you. Even if I'm still mad at you."
"Uh, Jamie?" Sawyer asked but I ignored him to continue stroking Paint's neck.
Paint let me for a while before deciding to go run around the field again.
"Is Jamie a wizard?" Monica asked. "I think he's a wizard."
"Not a wizard," Erica said. "Maybe a garden fairy. Or are there animal fairies? Aren't all fairies good with animals?"
And I thought Lulu and Beau were two confusing people for me to be around.
"What?" I asked.
"Paint hates people," Sawyer said. "I just told you that a few minutes ago. I don't remember the last time he ever let someone pet him for as long as you did, let alone pet him at all."
"So what I'm hearing is I'm better than everyone here?" I asked.
"Of course that's all you heard," Sawyer said. "I'm being serious. It's hard for someone to go near him but he just... accepted you. Right away. If that wasn't a one time thing, do you... Do you think you could be the one to take care of him? It would be a lot easier if it was someone he clearly trusted."
"Yeah," I said. "Yeah, sure. But if he kicks mud at me again, I'm out."
"Are you ever going to get over that?" Sawyer asked.
"Nope."
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yay we got to see some of trey and the twins as well. we just need to meet vincent and we'll be good with the birch family.
also sawyer should just let jamie hold a grudge against the whole mud thing. he's as traumatized as grant is with ollie threatening to kill him :( :( :(
does anyone have any guesses exactly what kitty did to sawyer? i want to reveal it but i also don't want to do it too soon because i like secrets lol.
also i now have to go cry myself to sleep because i have a long day at school tomorrow, and i have to wake up early :( (early for me is 9 am or earlier. maybe even 10 or earlier)