ijusthadanotheridea:)

Ch. 1 - Saturday Morning

Cody placed a box of rocks (don't ask why) onto the ground and swiped at his forehead.
It was a Saturday morning, which meant he and everyone else in the estate were busy. The following week had given him piles upon piles of chores to do to fix up his state a bit.
The box of rocks were picked from a empty highway that he cleaned out. The rocks were too big for cars to pass them safely so he collected them.

The job took up almost the whole night but he shouldn't be complaining.
A lot of people are working more than what Cody has to do.

From the corner of his eye, he spots Kai peeking out from behind the wall.
Cody waved but Kai motions for him to come over instead. So he walks over and wipes his hand on his shorts "Hey Kai. Is something wrong?"
Kai shives "Uhh well yes. Uly's acting kind of weird."
"How can you tell? Is she sick?"
"No. Noah was trying to ask her something so when he came into her room it was a mess. I think she's stressed over something."

Cody sighs "We're all stressed today."
Kai nods "Yeah but can you go check on her? It shouldn't take too long."
With one final sigh in defeat, Cody crosses his arms "Fine."

When he reached Uly's room, Kai steps back "I-I'm gonna go do my chores now. Bye Cody."
"Bye Kai."
He gives a small wave and rushes down the stairs. Cody open the door a crack and knocks twice "Hey, Uly?"

To his surprised, Uly was sitting on her bed in the corner of the room, rocking back and forth and mumbling something. Books and papers and folders and writing utensils were scattered all around her.
Cody opened the door more and leaned against the frame. He immediately knew what Uly was so stressed about. "How much have you studied already?"

Uly peeked up from behind her arm "Not even half."
He sighs and walks over to the bed, kneeling down before picking up a set of new flash cards that fell on the ground "Okay, what are you studying about?"
Uly stirs slightly "Sir English just called. Saying I have to take some sort of test."
"Sir English?" Cody questioned.

Sir English wasn't really his real name. But he was technically royalty so we all have to be very careful around him. Lady Merick, the person who takes care of the states (who we represent) , is the daughter of Sir English. Who's real name is Sir Britain.
Who I think has a history of abusing some of the states back when Lady Merick was young.

If Sir English says she has to take a test randomly, than it must be something more.
Cody shakes off the thought "Okay." He opens the pack and starts writing information on them.
Everything Uly has learned, Cody had unfortunately had to also. He sat through every lesson with Uly, slightly falling asleep but Uly would always wake him up at the perfect moment.

___ Uly Tah ___

The next day, Uly grabs all the flashcards Cody made last night and placed it in her bag. Then she brought extra books so she could study on the way there. And she grabbed a water bottle from downstairs for the road.
She had a strategy for when she got stressed. When she and Cody were younger, she would always get so overwhelmed because of school. So, he made a calming exercise when it does.

She grabbed a random book from a bookshelf and sighed. The Adventures of Uly and her sidekick Cody. A book they had written together and their parents made it official. They had the options to publish it but they grew too embarrassed too.

Without noticing, she realized her mouth turned upward into a small grin as she stared at the cover.
"Uly! The carriage is ready for you!" Cody yelled from downstairs.
Uly quickly shoved the book into her bag and rushed down "Coming!"

She wasn't expecting a carriage be sent for her, but the estate was extraordinarily far away so of course the ride has to be comfortable.
When she got down, Cody shoved a plate of toast in her face "Good luck Uly! We'll be waiting here for you to get back."
Uly nods and grabs the toast "Thanks Cody." She looks around the room. Where to her surprise, everyone was holding up a banner with the words Good Luck Uly! painted on it.

She eyes Cody "You set this up, didn't you?"
Cody just smiled brightly and set the plate down.

Uly sighs and tugs on the string of her bag. She ate a small bite of the bread and started walking to the door "Bye everyone."
"Bye Uly."

Outside was a carriage like she expected. She had never seen it before. Nor has she seen any carriages before but it felt odd that she was the one who was sent one.
Never had she even talked to Sir English before. Why had he suddenly called her for a test of all things?

Either way, she approached the doors as a servant stepped down from her seat in the front and opened it for her.
"Thank you." Uly softly said before climbing inside and settling in the leather seat.
The servant-lady got on the front seat again and started the horses.
She took one last look out the window before the carriage left.
There, waving from the front entrance of the west estate, was all her friends. Or, at least, all her friends that have states from the west.

When they made it out of view, she laid back against the back rest of the seat and closed her eyes.
All of a sudden she felt a vibration in her bag. So she opened her eyes again and reached down to grab her phone.

Cody: I actually didn't set that up
It was Aiden
I promise

Uly couldn't help but chuckle.

That lying idiot.