On Our Own

Chapter 13

"You must be the Miller's," Serenity cheerily states. "I'm Serenity and this is Taylor."

"Pleasure to meet you," I shakily say.

"The pleasure's all mine," the mom says. "My name'd Allison, and this is my husband Clark. These are my children, Sam and Joyce."

"Nice to meet you all. I'll take you to your cottage after you check in with Corrine- she owns the ranch," Serenity informs them. She leads them away, but I stay frozen to where I stand. Serenity gives me a questioning look, but walks off.

I feel a tap on my shoulder, and turn around.

"Hi, Joy. Thanks for not saying anything," I fearfully whisper.

"Explain now how you got from Oakville to here, and why you left Oakville in the first place."

I open my mouth, and tell Joy everything. She's the third person I have told so far, so I expect the reaction she has.

"Oh. My. God," she gasps, causing me to let out a chuckle.

"That's what they all say. So you won't tell anyone?"

"No, no I promise. So you and Carter, huh? That explains a lot," she mutters.

"What do you mean?"

"Well when we all went back to school after spring break, he was so different. He always had a bored look on his face, and nothing made him happy. No one understood it. He was a pretty popular guy, but with his sudden mood swing, not so much anymore," she tells me.

On one hand, I feel awful for leaving him like that. On the other- it is sort of flattering that I impacted him so much. But overall, I feel awful.

"Hey, Tay what happened to you," Serenity calls out. She looks as if she were going to say more, but then she noticed Joy.

"Serenity- she knows," I whisper.

"Knows what?" she replies, obviously confused.

"She knows. About me. My past," I clarify.

Serenity's eyes widen, and she gapes at me. Then her face hardens as she glares at Joy.

"I swear to god if you tell anyone-" she starts, before she's interrupted by Joy.

"Relax, it's okay. I wouldn't tell anyone," Joy laughs.

"So, how long are you staying," I ask Joy.

"Until the Gala," she replies.

"The Gala?" I question.

"Oh did I not tell you about the Gala?" Serenity asks in mock shock. "It's a huge fundraiser thing we do every year to raise money for the ranch. We have an awesome barbecue with hay rides, pony rides, and even a rodeo. After that, everyone leaves and takes their children home, only for the adults to comeback the same night. That's when, we have the actual Gala. Everyone comes in beautiful dresses, and dance till morning. This is the first year I actually get to stay for the Gala part, because apparently Corrine didn't think I was old enough until now."

"All three of us should go dress shopping," Joy squeals in delight, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Um, hello! Little runaway here who has no money," I joke.

"Oh, well I guess we can-" Joy starts, her face falling, but I cut her off.

"I'd love to go dress shopping with you guys. I'll just try dresses on, and have fun. Besides, the Gala doesn't sound like my cup of tea, I probably won't got. But the rodeo- maybe Ezhno and I could do that," I say, feigning excitement. If I'm completely honest with myself, I really would love to get all dressed up and go to a Gala. I never went to school dances because none of my foster parents ever wanted to spend the money to buy me a dress. But I'll live.

"Okay- when will be the best day to go," Joy asks.

"Probably Tomorrow, after the morning chores. Tomorrow's Thursday right? Yeah, it is. The Gala is on Saturday" Serenity plans.

"Okay, mark your calendars girls- we're going shopping," Joy announces, causing us to burst into fits of giggling.

A/N Here's the update! Are you excited about the Gala? I am. Plus, Taylor will be getting a few surprises at the Gala- some great, and some very, very bad.

Also, I've started another book called 'What is Love.' It's a little different than my other books, but there are horses in it. Please check it out, my lovelies. Thank you in advance!