Our Life Together

Chapter Twenty Two

"Come on, Celia!" my brother yells from the other side of my bedroom door. I groan loud enough for him to hear and cover my head with my pillow. After a few minutes, all traces of him still being at my door are gone and I remove my head from underneath the pillow.

A few minutes later, I hear acreaking sound, but I ignore, just assuming it is my maids. Then, a cold feeling washes over my body and I sit straight up to see my entire side of the bed is covered in ice water. Charles is standing next to it with a large, empty, red bucket.

"What the heck, Charles?" I ask. He shrugs. His face has a playful grin on it. I immediately hop out of bed and tackle him to the ground, one of the advantages of being five years older than him.

"You promised to spend the day with me," he says, knowing that the only way he will be out from under me is by telling the truth. I, then, remember that I did promise to spend today with him since we haven't really spent much time together since the selection began. He stands up, grabs my crutches, and help me up off the ground. "By the way, I'm not sure attacking me was the best move for someone on crutches." I roll my eyes.

"Sorry, I kind of forgot about our plans. Let me get ready and I'll meet you downstairs for breakfast," I say. He nods and runs out of my door. As he walks out, I realize that he is in his riding clothes and I let out a sigh. I crutch over to my wardrobe, get out the riding clothes, and go into the bathroom. I pull on the clothes, wash my face, and put my hair up in a ponytail, completely ignoring my makeup since I know it will be useless.

I crutch myself downstairs and eat a healthy breakfast of fresh berries, oatmeal, and orange juice. As I guessed, my brother drags me out to stables even though my ankle is broken. Despite the struggle to get on her, I manage to get up on Miley (That was her horse's name, right?) and ride out of the stables with Charles behind me.

"Where are we riding?" I ask as he moves up beside me. He points to the woods where, the last time I entered them, I got lost and was threatened by rebels as well be saved by one. I nod and follow behind him, both of our horses at a steady trot.

"We're going out to the field. There is a better clearing for the horses there," Charles yells back from in front of me. I nod and we stay silent as our horses approach a path wide enough for us to be next to each other. He moves over and slows down, allowing Miley and I to walk next to them. "So, how you been, sis?" Charles asks. I shrug a little and watch cautiously as my horse steps over a fallen tree limb.

"Boring and worried. How about you?" I ask. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him shrug. He has undoubtably been worried about our father just not to the same degree.

"Eh. I keep busy," he comments. I nod in reply, not really sure what to say. We ride in silence for several minutes, the only sounds are the steady click of horse hooves hitting the ground. "What about our guests? Haven't they at least kept you busy?" Charles finally asks. I shrug.

"Well, yeah. It just isn't the same as Flynn being here. I feel like everyday is some kind of constant sleepover. I love Astra and Emily but sending them home for a while seems like a good idea," I say. He laughs. I know he agrees that our cousins are annoying. The only people weirder than him would be Astra and Emily, and that's saying something.

"I have to agree. What about Teegan and Quinn?" he asks. A squirrel running by grabs my attention, delaying my reply.

"They're good, I don't mind them. They're somewhat normal. I'm just not sure how they have been able to stay away from their families for so long," I reply. He nods his head slowly and I can immediately tell there is something on his mind.

"What about Coen?" he asks. My eyebrows automatically shoot up at his question due to my confusion.

"Coen is fine. He's a really nice kid," I say, not reply sure what to say about my brother's newest friend. He nods slowly but I can tell something is bothering him. "What is it?" I ask.

"Coen was really nice at first but lately he has been acting weird. You might want to be careful around him, Celia," he says. I roll my eyes. As Miley trots forward, I can begin to see the light at the end of the path, signaling that we are almost to the field.

"I'm not sure what you mean. Do you think he is a rebel or something?" I ask. Charles shakes his head.

"I don't think it is anything like that. . . He is just kind of strange," he comments. I nod in reply and we let the footsteps of our horses cover the silence between us.

"Now, my good friend, shall we race our noble steeds to the other side of the field?" he asks. I giggle and nod.

"We shall, my good friend," I say. We both laugh as we urge our horses to their full speeds and begin galloping through the field of emerald green grass.

I'm sorry that it took me so long to write this update this is shorter than usual. I've been really busy with school. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Someone suggested that I include a brother sister bonding scene so I did. :D Since I'm gonna watch OUAT in like 30 seconds, this has poor editing so I apologize. And if Charles is ever had George please mentally correct it. I have a problem with calling him George... Please comment and vote!

Disclaimer: Since Kiera Cass thought of the idea of The Selection, wrote The Selection, and copyrighted The Selection, she owns The Selection, which means I donut (Yeah, that does say donut. I felt like writing donut instead of do not.) own it.