Country Love

vi

 It is finally the day of the great horse race. Just before going for breakfast, I sneak downstairs and take a peek at what Brad is wearing. I want to wear something of the same colour to show my undying support for him.

He is in a dark blue tank top, with matching shorts, and I swoon at all the muscles it exposes. I do not have anything in that shade, so I decide to wear my baby-blue top with the frills, and white jean shorts. I tie my hair in a high ponytail that brings out my flawless cheekbones. I apply light blue lipstick and eye-shadow, feeling completely prepared to cheer for team Brad.

When I enter the kitchen to have breakfast, I see the two sturdy lads sitting at the table across from each other. Brad is having his nutritious bowl of chickpeas, and I'm a little jealous that he gets to eat those while the rest of us have pancakes. But I don't want to take the pleasure away from him, so I sadly resort to pouring extra maple syrup on my plate.

"Oh, look, we're matching!"

I look up with a big smile on my face, but then I realise that it is Chad who spoke. Brad looks at my clothes sadly. Chad's blue polo t-shirt and white pants are exactly like my outfit. I should have realised that boys love blue. But I'm not like the other girls, who only own pink clothes and don't like blue outfits because they think those are for boys. Before I can defend my choice, Chatelle skips into the room, screaming "Horse race day!" at the top of her lungs. "You're still eating?" she asks, looking at our unfinished food disapprovingly. "No, it's too late to have breakfast. It's time for the race now." She drags Chad and Brad from the room, and I eat a spoonful of Brad's delicious chickpeas before following.

The boys go to the stable, and I follow Brad into his stall to see if he needs any help. Brad's muscular arms are busy saddling his chosen horse, Chadder. Chad had told me the story about Chadder. The beautiful stallion's mother's name was Chadwina, named after Chad, who wanted to honour her son by naming him after his favourite food. Chad has always had a soft spot for cheddar cheese so he decided to name his horse Cheddar, just that when he was getting Chadder's name tag made, which, in the Sloane household, is final and binding, he misspelt Cheddar as Chadder. It's okay though, he was sixteen at the time and cheddar is a pretty difficult word to spell.

I'm caught off guard by these thoughts I'm having about Chad, and return my attention to Brad. He says, "I want to show you something." He pulls out Chad's name tag which says Chadley in a beautiful font. "I stole it." he tells me.

I giggle, and that seems to please Brad. "I have an idea," he tells me in a conspiratorial whisper, and I automatically lean forward to listen. "But I need your help. Can you put this on the pile of horse dung that I scooped this morning? It's by the door." A wicked chuckle escapes my lips, and I can't help but think about how smart my Brad is. He always comes up with the best solutions. I nod eagerly and scamper out, ready to do as he bids. Before I can go very far, I see Chantelle entering the stable. "Chaddle, where's your saddle?" she asks, running into his stall.

"I have it. But where's my name tag?" he asks.

I hasten to put the tag on the pile of dung which Brad had indicated, but Chantelle sees me, and walks towards me crossly. "You have it! Chaddle has been looking all over for it." She snatches it from my hand and walks away, her nose in the air.

Chad retreats from the stall, "Brianna, what the hell? My name tag means so much to me, I can't believe you'd do that!"

I have to stop myself from rolling my eyes. Not wanting to give Brad away, I put on my most innocent face and say, "I- I'm sorry, Chad," his eyes widen, it's been a while since I called him that, "I just thought it would be a fun joke, I didn't think it would upset you."