My Cinderella Story

Chapter 9

Hollis' P.O.V.

I woke up on the dining room floor. There were burnt out candles around me. I remember that Kit asked me to marry him. There was a beautiful blanket wrapped around me and im not sure where it came from. I heard a creek and looked at who walked in the dining room.
"Good morning." Kit said as he walked inside.
"Good morning. Why did i pass out in here?" I asked him.
"After i asked you to marry me, you were confused and i told you that i would leave you alone. When i came back, you were sleeping. I didn't want to bother you so i got you a blanket and blew the candles out." Kit told me.
"Oh." I replied sitting up and starting to pick up all the candles.
"Your Highness," Captain said peeking into the room.
"Yes captain?"
"There is someone here to see you." He replied.
"Let them in." Kit said. I looked in the doorway and saw the blonde girl. She held her hands in front of her and walked towards Kit with her head down.
"Your highness." She said while curtseying.
"It's you." He replied.
"Just so." She said looking up. I knew i shouldn't be here. I took the candles that i could hold, and walked out of the room. Some of the palace staff took the candles from me.
"Hollis!" I heard. When i turned around, i saw Jane chasing after me. "When did you get this?" She asked.
"Kit gave it to me last night."
"What happened last night? I tried to find you but i couldn't." She replied.
"Kit gave me this dress and told me to meet him in the dining room. When i got in there, there were candles around the whole room. There was a woman playing the violin too. We danced and then we sat on the ground and talked. That's when he asked me to marry him." I shared.
"WHAT?!?!" She yelled then covered her mouth when she heard it echo through the whole palace. "He asked you to marry him?!" She asked.
"Yes. I didn't know what to say so he left me alone and i fell asleep. We started to talk this morning and now the blonde girl and him are talking." I replied.
"Let's go to your room." Jane said. We walked upstairs and into my room.
"Im not sure what to do now. I haven't worked for days." I told Jane.
"Go take care of the animals. We'll see how things go." She replied walking out of my room. I changed into my working clothes and pulled part of my hair back. I walked downstairs and out to the barns.
"Good morning everyone." I said getting the animals their food. I heard some barks coming from behind me. When i turned around, i saw my dog! I haven't seen him in a few weeks! He stays in a different part of the palace and gets fed by different people. I've been so busy lately! My golden retriever was still a baby! He was all muddy when he ran out to me. "Baby, why did you get so muddy!" I said as he ran up to me. I got out a tin bucket and filled it with water and soap. My dogs name was Teddy. I put him in the bucket. He loved swimming and anything to do with water. I was washing all of the dirt off him. He had a blast in the water. After i got him full of soap, i took him out of the tub and got the hose out. He knew i was going to hose him down. I started to rinse him down. He tried to drink the water while i sprayed him. Teddy was running around while i hosed him down. After i hosed him mostly down, he started to run towards the garden. "Teddy!" I yelled chasing him. He was running around the huge garden. When i turned the corner to see where he went, he was with the blonde girl and Kit. "Kit, im sorry. I'll get him back now." I picked up Teddy and started to walk away.
"Hollis, don't worry about it." Kit said. I nodded and walked away. I took Teddy inside and up to my room. He was tired from running around. I wrapped him in a blanket and brushed him while he was laying in his bed. It was taking him a long time to dry. I got onto my bed and laid down. After a few minutes, i felt Teddy jump onto my bed. He crawled over me and laid right next to me. He was a puppy that liked to be close. I started to pet him and cuddle him. I decided to take a nap with him.
I woke up to Teddy licking my face.
"Baby, what do you want?" I sat up and he jumped off my bed. He hopped onto the window sill and waited for me to walk over. When i looked out, i saw Kit and the blonde girl. He was taking her to the secret garden he had. Before they walked inside, he kissed her. I felt my heart break. Im normally not one to get back at people, but Kit didn't even let me answer if i would marry him. I changed into and got my horse out. I decided i needed to talk to Skylar. When i got to his house, he was surprised when he saw me.
"Hollis? What are you doing here?" He asked me.
"I need your help." I shared. We walked into his house and got some tea.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"Kit asked me to marry him last night. I didn't give him an answer and we were talking this morning and then the girl who he liked was there. I looked out my window and saw him kiss her. I never gave him an answer to if i would marry him! Im not one to do this but i need to get back at him. I need a guy." I shared.
"Kit already know's that im your friend and nothing more." He replied.
"I know. That's why i need your help." I said.
"Okay. I have a few friends that i think you would get along with!" He told me. "Wait! Do you remember my school friend Christopher?" He asked.
"Was that the blonde kid?" I questioned.
"Yes! I will go visit him and see if we can all go out to dinner tonight! How does that sound?" Skylar asked me.
"That sounds wonderful!" I replied.
"Okay! You go home and get changed! I'll pick you up at seven from the garden!" He told me.
"Okay! I will make sure the guards let you in!" I replied running outside and getting on my horse. I rode back to the palace and ran inside. While i was running to my room, i hit someone.
"You sure are in a rush!" The person said. I looked up and it was captain.
"Sorry sir!!" I replied.
"What are you up to?" He asked knowing i was up to something.
"Nothing!" I told him running up to my room. I busted through the doors of my room and saw Jane working on a dress.
"You sure are excited about something!" She replied.
"Skylar is setting me up with one of his friends. We are going out to get dinner tonight! Do you have anything i could wear?" I asked.
"Lucky for you, i just finished this dress!" She replied. Jane curled my hair as i did my makeup. She helped me put the on.
"Jane, you always make the most beautiful dresses!" I told her looking at the dress.
"Thank you!" She replied. I looked at the clock and saw that it was time to meet Skylar at the garden.
"Jane, i have to go! Thank you so much!!" I said giving her a hug and kiss on the cheek. I took my heels off and began to run through the house to the back garden. There were voices in the main dining room. I peeked my head inside and saw that Kit and the girl were eating dinner. My heart began to hurt again. I went outside and put my shoes back on. Skylar was there waiting.
"You look lovely!" He said helping me on his horse.
"Thank you!" I replied. We began to ride into town. One of the restaurants in town looked familiar.
"This is where we're meeting." Skylar said. He got off the horse and helped me off. When we walked inside the restaurant, i could see many people sitting at tables eating at laughing. I began to feel nervous to meet Christopher. "There he is!" Skylar said. He began to walk over to this beautiful blonde . He stood up and i saw that he was very tall.
"Skylar!! Long time no see!" Christopher said.
"Agreed!" Skylar said as they hugged.
"Christopher, do you remember Hollis? We went to school with her!" He said.
"How could i forget?" Christopher said taking my hand and kissing it. "It is very nice to see you again!" He said pulling out the chair for me.
"It is wonderful to see you too." I replied sitting down.
"Well i better be going! I have to watch my sister!" Skylar said.
"You never told me you weren't staying!" I said.
"It seems i forgot!" He said walking out of the restaurant.
"So Skylar told me what's going on." Christopher told me. "Im sorry." He replied.
"You have no reason to be sorry!" I said.
"Well, i know how it feels." He told me. I gave him a questioned look. "My fiancé left me for another man. They're married now and have kids. Our daughter is very confused about it still. She's only three." He replied.
"You have a daughter?" I asked.
"I do. Her name is Basil." He shared with me.
"She sounds wonderful!" I replied. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small picture of her. She was with Christopher and they were flying a paper . It was the cutest picture! "This is a beautiful picture!" I replied handing him the picture.
"Thank you. Normally people get scared when i tell them i have a kid." He said laughing.
"I love kids!" I replied. "But im sorry that your fiancé left. I know how that feels." I said.
"Both of us do." We both took our glasses of wine and clinked them together.
After dinner we were walking around outside. The stars were beautiful. It was a perfect night.
"Would you like to go back to the palace?" I asked him.
"That would be wonderful." He said. We got on his horse and rode back to the palace. We went to the garden and walked up to my room. When i walked in, i saw that Jane classed up my room. I swear she knows everything! We sat on my bed and talked for a long time. "Im going to use the bathroom." He said getting up and walking into my bathroom. I looked over at my counter and saw that Jane put champagne on my counter. "What is this?" Christopher said coming out of the bathroom. I got off the bed and looked in the bathroom. It was my golden dress that Kit gave me.
"Its the dress that he gave me when he proposed to me." I said looking at it all.
"Bad memories with it?" He asked.
"They're not happy ones." I replied.
"Put it on and we can make new memories with it." He said. I smiled at him and shut the bathroom door. I put the dress on and smiled. When i opened the door, i saw that Christopher was sitting on the bed. He dimmed the lights and put on one of my favorite records. Christopher began to dance with me. He was one of the sweetest guys I've ever met. He was wonderful. Christopher picked me up bridal style and spun me around. I wrapped my arms around his neck and laughed. He set me on my bed and laid next to me. Christopher poured us both a glass of champagne. "You are one of the most genuine people I've ever met." He said.
"I was just thinking the same thing. You are so sweet." I told him.
"It's nice to meet someone who understands what i went through and how hard it can be to love again." He added.
"You've got that right." I replied. There was a loud clap of thunder. "The horse!!" I yelled jumping off the bed and running down to the barn. It didn't look like it was going to rain so we left his horse outside. I took the horse into the barn and put him in his own stable. When i was done, i ran back upstairs. When i walked back into my room, Christopher saw me and started laughing.
"Is it wet outside?" He asked laughing at me.
"Dry as a bone." I replied. "You should stay the night here. It's really bad out there if you couldn't tell." I said.
"You really don't need to do that!" He replied.
"I do need to. It's pouring rain and im not making you go all the way home in this weather." I told him.
"Fine." He replied.
"Im going to get you some clothes to sleep in!" I said. I walked downstairs to find Jane in the kitchen.
"Hollis! How was your date?!" Jane asked. She turned around and gave me a weird look. "Why are you soaked?" She added.
"Christopher is here and we left the horse outside and i needed to put him in the stable. Im having him spend the night here. Do you know where i can find any clothes to give Christopher to sleep in?" I asked.
"Yeah! Let me grab them really quick! I'll bring them up. When i drop them off, i'll leave them outside of your door and knock on it." Jane said.
"Thank you!" I replied. I started to walk back upstairs. My room was very close to Kit's. When i was about to go into my room, i heard someone call my name.
"Hollis?" He asked. I turned around and saw Kit. "What are you doing soaked and in that dress?" He asked.
"Im really busy right now, i cant talk." I replied.
"Please." He said.
"I had to take the horses inside and someone wanted to see it on me." I replied about to walk into my room.
"Who?" He asked. "Jane?"
"Yeah. She wanted to look at how the seamstress made it fit so well without my measurements." I said. I opened my door a crack.
"Hollis wait." He said. I shut the door.
"What?" I asked.
"Can we talk?" He questioned.
"Not right now. Im busy!" I said. I was about to open my door but it opened from the other person. It was Christopher.
"Who is this?" Kit said.
"This is my friend Christopher." I replied. "We have to go." I said going into my room and shutting the door. This day couldn't of been more awkward.