Late Night

“Georgia! Hurry up and get your breakfast, or we’re going to be late - again!” beckoned and bellowed my overbearing mother. I curled up into a ball in my safe haven. I slid deeper under the covers of my bed - my natural reflex. I will not budge, she can’t get me when I’m hidden here. As much as I wished that were true, she could. And there was no stopping her when she was on a war path. The white, poster-covered door flew open as she barged in - like usual.

“For the millionth time, will you get up?! I sometimes think I have a sloth for a daughter! I want you cleaned, dressed and in the kitchen in ten minutes. Not more. You cause me so much hassle, young lady,” she sighed in exasperation as she ripped my safe haven off of me.

Sure, I was lazy, but isn’t every sixteen year old? I was just fitting the norm, doing my job.

“You caused yourself this much trouble by giving birth to me, you knew what you were in for…” I mumbled sleepily, rubbing my eyes with the back of my hands.

The sun seeping through the opened blinds momentarily blinded me. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I noticed the morning sky out - blue, cloudy, and surprisingly sunny. I turned my head around to face my clock. Nine. It was nine o’clock. I had no choice but to get ready in ten minutes. I had to get to my riding practice by quarter to ten.

I groaned as I moved my stiff limbs off the edge of the mattress. Placing my bare feet on the wooden floor, I shifted the rest of my weight on them as I stood up. I padded along to the bathroom in a very zombie-like way. Showered. Dried off. Teeth brushed. Dressed. I was done in seven minutes - record. That left me three minutes to make my bed, and get to the kitchen. Plenty of time.

My body had woken up when I showered but my mind was still in a deep, deep, sleep. It took me a while to figure out what I was doing looking in the fridge. When I realised I needed nothing in there, I tried the cupboards and found my box of Cheerios, a bowl, then a spoon. My mother had left the milk and juice out on the table like she usually did.

“Oh wow. You’ve made an effort - for once, I never thought I’d see the day. Have you got all your gear packed and ready?” she asked, commencing the Morning Interrogation. I groaned inwardly. I hadn’t got it all sorted, I mean for Christ’s sake, I’ve only just managed to be dressed in ten minutes. She expects insanely too much of me. It was hard enough opening my eyes.

“I thought not. That would have been way too much for you to handle,” she remarked sarcastically. I rolled my eyes at her snide comment.

I finished my breakfast whilst my mother hectically packed all of my riding gear. We were ready just in time. We scurried out of the front door, straight into my mother’s black BMW.

She drove us to the Equestrian Center, through the big wooden gates. She pulled up in the cream pebbled drive effortlessly. I unbuckled myself, and grabbed my gear from the boot.

“I’ll see you in a few,” my mother said, waving me off. I ignored her and walked to Shadowfax’s stall. I greeted a few people as I passed them and finally reached my beautiful black-coated horse. I put my bag down to pet him.

“Hey you, did ya miss me?” I chirped.
“It’s been a long time… They haven’t been keeping a close eye on you, your coat is filthy. You’ll need a good -”

“Talking to the animals? You know they can’t understand a bloody word you say.” I turned my head to face the source of the horrible high-pitched voice. Of course, it was Maria. Maria Lawson, the only problem with this Center. How do you solve a problem like her? She was the definition of a spoiled brat.

“I see you missed me too,” I smiled sweetly. She sneered at me then stalked off to pester someone else. No-one liked her - she was so snobbish. She didn’t even like horses, I don’t see what she’s doing here.

The rest of that morning did not go smoothly either. I got in trouble for fighting with Maria - only because she started it - and distressing the horses. If I got a third strike, I’d be held back this evening to clean all of the stables.

As I came back from my little country ride with Shadowfax, I noticed a few of the stalls were opened and a couple of horses had disappeared. I ran to find Sean, one of the teachers, to tell him, but when I arrived, Maria was with him. He looked angry.

“Sean, the stalls-”
“I know what happened, Maria has just informed me. Your little prank has just cost you your third strike. Now help us find the horses, and I shall see you tonight, at seven - sharp.” He snapped.
I couldn’t help but notice Maria’s smug smile from behind him. She set me up, the little…

We managed to find them all and lock them up properly back in their stalls. Just as we finished, my mother arrived. Great, she’s going to kill me now.

And just as I predicted, when she found out, she went mental.

“This was exactly what I needed!” she exclaimed sarcastically, “You, are grounded, for at least a month.” I groaned inwardly. She’s always treated me like I’m still a baby. I wished she’d give me a break.
“I’m so very sorry about this,” she turned her attention to Sean, “she isn’t normally like this, she’s such a good girl. I don’t know what’s gotten into her lately,” she babbled. She twisted her fingers in her shoulder-length brown curls. Oh no, she’s flirting. She looked up at him from under her lashes, he was considerably taller than the both of us.
“I don’t suppose you have any ideas why?” she asked, smiling stupidly at him.
“Beats me. Maybe she’s going through a ‘rebellious’ phase. If I were you, I would just talk to her about it,” Sean said.
“You’re right, of course,” she giggled idiotically as she placed a hand on his forearm. Sean seemed to have noticed, and flinched slightly at her touch. Dear God, she was practically throwing herself at him.

I did understand where she was coming from, Sean was quite good-looking: sandy locks, tanned skin, dark brown eyes and a pearly white smile. He was very nice, but just because some guy is nice to you doesn’t mean you should launch yourself at him. Mum has taken that up as a bad habit ever since she split up from Dad.

“Well, if she’s ever a bother here, please, don’t hesitate to call me,” she sang, inching toward him. Sean simply nodded and smiled though it didn’t reach to his eyes.
“Bye,” she danced her fingers, waving good-bye. He returned the gesture then stalked off back to his office. How could she embarrass me even more?!

The wind whipped my short blonde hair as I stormed off back to the car. I climbed into the passenger’s seat. I crossed my arms in a huff, a scowl forming on my thin pink lips. I averted my bright blue eyes to the floor of the car. I couldn’t bare to look at my mother anymore. She made my blood boil. I patted my fringe back into place before she clambered into the driver’s side.

We arrived back home, still not speaking to each other. I stayed in my room until it was time for me to go back to the Center.
I didn’t have a very exciting social life. I never had many friends, only one - Sarah. Sometimes, I even doubted if she was my real friend. I didn’t trust her with my secrets. She also hung out with other people and didn’t leave much time for me. So, I didn’t go out very much - I stayed in, on the internet, using Tumblr mainly. Or, I spent my time listening to music having nothing better to do. A sad, boring, monotonous life.

It was time to go. The sky was getting dark already. I was going to have a long night, that was for sure. The stables were huge, too big for one person alone to clean.

I was greeted by a sullen looking Sean, I couldn’t really look him in the eye after what happened with my mother. I suppose he must have gotten used to her antics.
“Hey Sean,” I sighed.
“Hi Georgia. Look, try not to take up too much time, I’d like to be home before sunrise,” he joked, “so you know where all the cleaning stuff is, if I see you’re doing a good job, then I might let you off early. Now, get to it.” He walked away leaving me to my own devices.

I took all I needed from the store room and headed to the first stall. I started the laborious task heaving a great sigh. I wasn’t sure I could guarantee Sean it would be finished before dawn.

I had been at it for a couple of hours. I was surprisingly half way through, I didn’t dally for one second. I decided it was time to stop, I would do the rest another day. I was putting away the cleaning things, when I heard a horse in distress.

By now it was dark, and I was quite scared being in an empty stable on my own. I made my way timidly to where I heard the animal’s cry. The horse in question was Stallion, who was Maria’s. I tried calming him, but he was too frightened, by what? I don’t know. The little gate to the stall was unlocked, but by then I hadn’t noticed, so it was too late. Stallion lurched forward swinging the gate wide open. I was too slow to react, to move. I felt a hoof collide with my nose and knocked me backwards. The horse carelessly trampled over my legs. I screamed at the top of my lungs hoping to attract Sean’s attention. Stallion backed off, the screeching noise did not please his ears. I was fading in and out of consciousness. The blow to my face and the back of my head hitting the ground were the obvious causes. The last thing I heard was the crunching of rushing footsteps on the gravel.



I had just come back from the shops, getting a bottle of milk, eggs, pot noodle, cheese etc. Just what every student needs to maintain a healthy diet. I shut the door to my flat which I shared with David, a fellow student and best friend.
“You took your time,” he stated nonchalantly. I rolled my eyes though he couldn’t see me as he was sitting at the tiny table hidden by a wall. I took my coat off and hooked it up.

I went in to the kitchen, past him, and placed my bag of shopping on the kitchen counter. I emptied it’s contents into our empty fridge and cupboards. David was happily devouring a plate full of God knows what.
“I wouldn’t have to spend so much time in the shops if you’d stop eating for ten people, seriously, who eats a banana, cheese, peanut butter and Nutella sandwich?” I said, grimacing at the sight of him chomping down on one.
“A man has his needs…” he managed to say with a mouthful, crumbs falling everywhere.
“That’s just disgusting,” I retorted, closing the fridge door.

I made my way to the sink, piled high with dirty, unwashed dishes. I sighed, discouraged by the sight in front of me.
“And what’s your excuse for the dishes?”
“Um, I thought… you’d have more fun doing them than me?” he said hesitantly.
“Well, you thought wrong, once again.” I groaned. I started scrubbing the first mug of many.

David shrugged, stalking off to his bedroom, probably going on the computer to start an essay that was due in on Monday.
“Once you’re done, we could go down to the Hub and play Fifa if you want?” he called out from the room.
“Yeah,” I agreed, “if I finish,” I muttered quietly so only I could hear.

I’ve had to put with David and his lazy ways since coming to the University of South Wales. This was my second year here, I originally wanted to go to Leeds or Edinburgh but my parents didn’t want me to stray too far from home. So, I had to settle for South Wales. My parents lived in Port Talbot, that’s where I was born. I missed it, I missed my parents too. I do see them at half-term, but it’s not enough. My mother always cries when I leave. I keep telling her that I wasn’t going away forever, but you know what mums are like. Since I left my father has picked up a few new hobbies: golfing and fishing. I remember when we went to the park, we always flew a kite, or took a football and had a kick about. We obviously had to make the kite ourselves first. My father was that type of ‘hands-on’ man. He collects airplane models, and ships as well. He always has to have a little project keeping him going - he doesn’t like sitting down doing nothing. Unfortunately, he was made redundant last year, and has been looking for a job ever since. My mum’s a dentist, she‘s been keeping them going.

I finished the dishes after an hour or so and called David so we could go to the Hub. We got there and David flew onto the couch and grabbed the controllers to the Xbox, he threw one to me and I kicked back next to him. We both rested our legs on the coffee table in front of us.

“Now, watch me finally beat your arse, my dear James,” David chuckled.
“You wish, Davy-boy!”

We commenced the game, and as predicted I was winning. Not matter how hard David tried, he could never beat me - I was the supreme player. I was about to score a goal when David interrupted me.
“James, your nose is bleeding!” he shouted, he sounded panicked.
“That’s not fair just because you’re losing doesn’t mean you should cheat.”
“I’m not, I swear.” I looked at him quizzically, his green eyes widened at the sight of my face. My hand automatically reached up to feel my nose, I gazed down at my hand which was now covered in blood.
“Crap,” I whispered, staring at David who was now at the opposite end of the sofa.
“Argh!” I cried as I felt a blow to the back of my head, my hand flew to the affected area through my dark brown - almost black - hair, which was also seeping blood. My dark brown orbs were searching for the culprit who did it - but no-one was there. Only David who was next to me. It couldn’t have been him.
“What the hell man?!” David stood up from the couch.
“What’s happening to me?” I squeaked. I stood up from the seat but as I did so, my legs gave way. I collapsed on the floor. I could feel my conscious slowly leaving me. Everything was fuzzy, I could make out David’s spiky blonde hair as he was calling the ambulance.