Arranged marriage : I hate you

Chapter 8

Riley awoke in the early hours of the morning, sweating and panting. She rubbed her eyes and quickly looked around, her breathing finally slowing down as she sat back on the chair.

The rims of her eyes were red. She shut them close, before they opened again. She was having a nightmare, just like most nights ever since the incident.

She shook her head and stood up, checking her wristwatch to see that it's just a few minutes past 2am in the morning. Leaving her study, she walked upstairs to her room. The house was quiet, but the lights were still on. The maids probably forgot to switch them off.

She switched off the lights, but only the ones she came across as she was too tired to move around the whole mansion. As she reached her bedroom door, she grunted, her hand moving to touch her aching head before she entered the room.

She froze when she entered the room to find Jennie sleeping on her bed. "Oh God," she cussed under her breath, internally scolding herself for forgetting about the girl.

She turned to leave the room, carefully closing it behind her before walking away to the spare room next to it.

Getting in bed, Riley exhaled deeply. Her mind was all over the place. She had work to do in a few hours time yet she hadn't even gotten enough rest. To be honest, she hadn't gotten enough rest in years. She has gotten better though, especially since she went from being insomniac to being able to catch a few hours of sleep before the nightmares attacked.

It was 3am when she finally fell asleep, but that was only for 2hours as she soon woke up and prepared for work. She was going to bath in the spare room, but all her things were in her room. Reluctantly, she left and was walking right into her room.

Jennie had woken up a few hours ago and had already taken a bath and gotten dressed. A maid had brought her the bag she came with, her uniform washed and ironed. She wasn't sure where to put her mother's pictures yet so she just kept it in the bag and stored the bag on her side of the walk in closet. Her accessories were stored in an empty drawer by the huge mirror.

Although she had worn her school uniform, she wasn't sure on what to do next. It was way too early to go to school and she was too afraid to leave the room.

When Riley walked in, Jennie quickly sat up on the fixed bed, her eyes staring at the door in fear, her heart beat rising.

Their eyes met for a second before Jennie looked down. Riley entered the room, gently closing it's door behind her.

"You're up," she pointed out the obvious, her eyes quickly spotting the uniform worn by the younger girl.

Jennie looked up then. She wasn't sure if her wife expected a response or not, so she just nodded quietly.

"Right. And you have a uniform on," Riley spoke again before sighing awkwardly. She wasn't sure why she suddenly felt nervous in the presence of the younger girl because she didn't feel this way yesterday.

Walking further into the room, Riley quietly sat herself next to the girl, her eyes looking anywhere but her. Jennie felt her body stiffen at the sudden closeness of her wife, but she didn't move away. Somehow the thought of doing so felt very wrong.

"Would you like to be enrolled in a different school? A better one I mean, one where you will be treated like the wife of a Brown that you are," Riley offered.

Jennie side eyed the older woman before looking away. She didn't want to change schools. She didn't want to be away from her only friend, but she was too used to being pushed around to voice out her thoughts.

"I wouldn't mind," she said quietly.

Riley turned and faced the girl, which made Jennie look at her.

"That's not what I asked you Jennie," Riley spoke, offended by the fact that the girl was willing to accept everything dished out to her like a slave. Jennie stayed quiet then, she was not used to all of this.

"Do you want to change schools?" Riley asked again, making emphasis on "want". Jennie shook her head no and looked down.

"Okay, how do you usually get to school?" Riley asked again. Safety was something that Riley took seriously, maybe even too seriously sometimes.

"By bus, but my father would drive me there sometimes," Jennie responded truthfully.

"What about your books and school things? Where are they?"

"I keep some of them in my locker, but some of the things are left at home. I didn't have enough time to pack before coming here,"

"What time does school start?"

"8"

Riley checked the time to see that it was still 6am. She exhaled before standing up.

"I'm just gonna take a shower and freshen up. We can have breakfast after that then I'll drive you to your father's house so you can get the rest of your things. From there, I'll drive you to school. Is that okay with you?" Riley asked, looking at the younger girl to make sure that she was okay with the arrangement.

Jennie wanted to smile at being showed so much care, but she quickly folded her lips to hold it in. She nodded yes, making Riley exhale in relief.

"You can wait for me downstairs," Riley spoke getting her things before turning on her heels and walking into the bathroom. Jennie allowed herself to smile for a second, but she quickly pressed down the warm feeling that had started to burn at the bottom of her belly. She left the room shortly after the encounter, walking downstairs to the tv room with her phone in hand.