Leave Me [h.s] (On hold)

Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Consumed

My back ached from being on my feet all day. I still couldn't comprehend why my body hadn't gotten used to all this work. I'd been on this ranch for 2 years now. I never fail to surprise myself with how weak I actually am.

"Noelle, Spencer never got fed this morning." Wes said, entering the rickety old barn which smelled more of mildew than actual horses.

"And is that my problem?" I snapped. God he already was starting to give me a headache.

"Yes. You were supposed to feed all the horses in this barn remember?" He snapped right back. He had never put up with my shit. I was somewhat thankful for that actually.

"Well I never heard anything about that. I heard I was supposed to groom Warren. And that's exactly what I'm doing." I told him, which wasn't a lie. Nobody had told me anything about feeding. I probably wouldn't have done it if I had been told anyway. I can't stand the smell of the feed. It smelled like someone had chewed up and then spit out a bunch of week old vegetables. Sounds very appetizing right?

"Well I fed him. Next time I'll send a better messenger." Wes said and walked right back out of the barn. I rolled my eyes and lifted one of Warrens front hooves. I scraped it out and decided one was good enough for me, so Warren should be grateful. I led Warren, who was the biggest horse we owned, or that Wes and Marion owned, back into his stall and walked down to the river.

I sat on the banks and pulled off my converse, which were caked with mud from the walk down here, and stuck my feet into the frigid water. When I say frigid, I mean this water would be solid ice if it wasn't moving so quickly. The cold water was the best indication, besides looking at a calendar, that winter was coming. And fast.

"Hey Noelle. How weird to see you down here." Came Ambers oh-so-familiar voice. Even her voice made me want to cringe.

"I'm always out here Amber. Anyone with half a brain knows that. Oh my bad. You don't have half a brain so how would you know?" I said, the annoyance clear in my voice.

"Oh haha. Very clever. I was going to ask a favor." She said, not slinging an insult back at me like I had anticipated.

"And why would I want to do you any favors? What have you ever done for me?" I asked her, not moving my eyes from the rapidly moving water of the river.

"That's what I thought you might say. So I came prepared. I have some hot pink hair dye with your name on it. I heard that you've been trying to get some. Finally decided to get rid of the grey?" She said smugly. Damn I hated that she knew that I had wanted to dye my hair again. But I hated it more that she had what I wanted.

"So what is the favor?" I asked.

"I need you to get me cigarettes. I ran out and Wes and Marion won't let me into town. They're worried I'll spend all the money on make-up." She said, acting as if she hadn't done just that in the past.

"Well, in their defense, you did spend all the grocery money on make-up two weeks ago."

"Some of us care about our appearances around here Noelle. Not that you do or anything."

"Fine. I'll get you cigarettes. I have to get some for myself anyway. But I have one condition."

"Whatever you want."

"You need to dye my hair for me. I'm shit at doing it myself." Dear god did I just ask Amber for help? This place is really fucking me up.

"You got it. I dye the hair once I get the cigarettes." She said, and left without another word. I think that was the longest conversation I'd ever had with Amber, unless you include all the time she aimlessly rambled on about some celebrity or something. But it's not like I ever participated in any of those 'conversations.'