The Falling Rider

Chapter 9

The Next Morning

I wake up to a knock on the door. No one opens it. That's weird. Li usually comes right in, even if I'm changing.
"Who is it?" I ask sleepily, yawning and getting up.
"It's Gallagher. The Queen wanted me to wake you." Gallagher says through the still closed door. Jeez, it sounded so formal. It makes me feel like I'm in trouble with "The Queen" AKA: My mother.
"Oh, ok! I'll be right down!" I say, stretching and walking over to my closet.
"Ok, Adira. Remember that we have our morning planned out!" He shouts before I hear footsteps walking away. Planned out? Seriously? I take out one of my normal outfits before I hear another knock on my door. Twice in a row? Oh, this should be good.
"Who is it?" I ask.
"Your mother." My mom says as she lets herself into my room. She takes the outfit I hold in my hands, examines it, and scoffs while glaring at me.
"You can't wear this!" My mother shouts as she throws them at me and walks into my closet. I catch them and place them back in my closet like any normal person would. My mother is definitely not normal.
"Then what should I wear?" I ask, trying to calm down. Okay, yes, I have anger issues. Whatever! Don't forget mother issues. Ugh!
"Don't you dare use that tone with me. You will wear a nice dress. Not an ugly shirt and shorts." She says glaring at all of my clothes and searching for anything suitable. She pulls out a white summer dress with lace patterns all across it. It's a pretty simple dress, but it'd probably be my favorite if I ever had to pick between all of the ones my mom made me buy. She curtly shakes her head and throws it on the ground. I narrow my eyes at her, but she doesn't pay attention as she searches for more dresses. I pick up the dress she threw and hang it back up. My eyes widen when my mom takes out another dress. A long, puffy pink dress with about a hundred jewels on it. Ok, I may be over exaggerating a little bit, but there are so many! I am mentally begging my mother to not pick that dress! I know I'll have to wear it if she approves of it.
"This one will do!" My mother exclaims happily. She throws it at me and I groan quietly.
"Stop groaning and put it on." She scolds. I mentally groan and change in my bathroom. Oh God. It's even worse than I thought.
"Help! This dress will be the death of me!" I shout to Storm. I just hear him laugh and I groan loudly.
"Well? Come on out!" My mom shouts. I walk out of my bathroom and she smiles widely and clasps her hands together.
"Gallagher will love it! Ok! Now for your hair!" She shouts as she drags me to my bathroom mirror and starts brushing and styling my hair into a tight bun. I wince when she pulls it in tighter. After tugging at my hair for five minutes, she finally ties it and stares at me in the mirror.
"I suppose that's good enough." My mother says right before pulls me up out of the seat.
"Ok, be downstairs in five minutes. Don't you dare be late." She says, then leaves my rooms. She quickly opens my bedroom door again and peeks her head in.
"Also, wear heels that match." She says, then slams the door behind her when she leaves. So much for a good morning... I wish I could just do what I want. I hate this so much. I would much rather fly on Storm and hang out with my friends this morning, but no; my mother just had to interfere.
"I know how you're feeling, Adira. I'm sorry." Storm comforts. My wall must've been down.
"Yes, yes it was." Storm comments. I chuckle at this.
"Well, thanks for the comforting. I needed that this morning. I hope Gallagher doesn't try to kiss me. That would be weird since I would reject him." I explain.
"I hope not either. Well, you better get down there. Good luck, Adira." Storm says.
"Thanks Storm." I say as I put some pink heels on and walk out of my room. I take a deep breath and walk downstairs properly. Yep, my mom taught me how to walk properly. I know, weird. I get to the kitchen pretty quickly. There, I see my parents, Gallagher, and his parents sitting at the table. My parents look up at me and send fake smiles my way. I know they're fake since I remember their genuine smiles from when I was a kid, and apparently after I turned into a teenager, I became a disappointment, so I get fake smiles instead of real ones. Then, Gallager and his parents turn around in their chairs. Gallagher stares at me in awe as his parents send me real smiles. Genuine smiles that my parents used to give me as well. Smiles that I miss... I turn back to Gallagher and smile back. There's a chair across from him that my mother is nodding towards. I walk towards it and sit down, still smiling and Gallagher watching my every movement. Kinda creepy, but whatever.
"Adira, welcome. You look nice today." My mother comments. I'm not surprised she would compliment her own planned outfit.
"Thank you, mother." I thank.
"You look beautiful, Adira." Gallagher compliments. Seriously? With this dress?
"Thank you." I say just as the servers come in with our food. I don't agree with people working for my parents when they deserve so much more. They hate it when I bring up this topic, but I personally like the attention. Even if the only attention they give me is arguing with me or insulting me. I don't like it when they yell at me, but that's the only attention they ever give me. They never want to spend time with me or talk to me normally. By this time, I've completely avoided a question from my father.
"Adira!" My father shouts.
"Huh?" I ask innocently.
"Do you have your schedule cleared for this morning like we asked?" He asks.
"Yes. Sorry I didn't hear you the first time." I apologize.
"No, you just didn't want to listen." My father argues.
"I wanted to, but I was just thinking about something." I say quietly.
"Oh really? And what exactly were you thinking about?" My mother asks angrily.
"Nothing. It's not important." I say quietly, avoiding their glares.
"Yes, it is!" My father exclaims slamming his fist down on the table. Everyone stares at him in shock except my mother who is glaring at me like my father. I realize Li has joined us and has sat by me. Everyone looks to me expectantly.
"Now, be a good princess and tell us!" My mother shouts at me. Princess? Not daughter? Seriously? They've never treated me like their daughter since I was younger and I'm fed up with it. My eyes narrow out of instinct as I get up from my seat angrily.
"What did I ever do to you to make me deserve this?! To make you think I was a disappointment?! To make you think I deserve to only be yelled at by my own parents?!" I shout at them, anger and sadness taking over as my eyes water.
"Don't you dare use that tone with us! We've given you everything-" I cut my mother off as she stands up.
"Except the love a parent gives their child!" I shout back.
"Do not interrupt us! You are a disappointment to this family and this kingdom! You've never been the princess this kingdom deserves and you'll never be the daughter we deserve! Now go to your room!" My father shouts, standing from his seat. I stare at my father with tears flowing down my cheeks and my mouth open, hesitant to say anything else. The glare and scowl never leave his face as I try to search for any sign of love for me. I don't find anything, by the way. I look to my mother as I close my mouth. She looks the same as my father. Their faces never soften and they don't show any signs of love for me. My tears don't stop as I rush out of the room. I finally get to my room and slam the door behind me. I slide down the door, holding it closed as if they would come after me. They won't. I already know that. I bring my knees up to my chest and hold them close as I sob quietly. They don't care about me. I'm a disappointment. To them and the kingdom. Not just one Adira, it had to be both. I put my hand over my mouth to cover up my sobs. They don't love me. Not anymore. They didn't even answer any of my questions. My sobs get a little louder, but I quiet them down instantly. Still sobbing quietly, I get up and lock the door. I sit on my bed while taking out the dumb bun. What? It was killing me. When my sobs start to get louder, I hear a gentle knock on my door.
"What?!" I shout at the door, trying to hide my sobs.
"Adira? It's Gallagher. Can I come in?" He asks. Might as well. I get up from my bed and slowly walk to the door. I unlock it an open it to see Gallagher's small smile fade and turn into a concerned frown.
"Adira. Are you okay?" He asks as I let him in. I sigh and close the door behind him.
"Yeah... No..." I hesitate. I sit back down on my bed and pat the spot next to me; allowing him to sit down. He sits down next to me and puts his hand on my hand.
"I'm sorry you had to see that." I apologize quietly. He takes my hand in his and squeezes it. Then, he uses his other hand to lift my chin up gently to look at him. A gesture that send chills down my spine. Wait, what? Bad kind of chills, right? Right, I love Leo. I think...
"Don't apologize, Adira. I think it was amazing that you stood up for yourself downstairs. It took real courage to shout at them like that. I'm sorry they called you a disappointment. You're definitely not a disappointment to me." He comforts as he puts a strand of hair behind my ear. My eyes widen a little at the gesture and I quickly look back down at my lap. More tears fall into my lap as I start to cry again. Gallagher notices and wraps his arms around me. I turn towards him and cry quietly into his shoulder for a few minutes while he whispers comforting words in my ear, sending chills down my spine. What is wrong with me? After a few minutes, I pull away from him.
"Thanks Gallagher. I really needed a shoulder to cry on." I thank.
"No problem, Adira. I'll always be here for you." He says as I stand up. I give him a small smile and look down at my dress. I scoff at it and look back up at a chuckling Gallagher.
"Sorry to say, but that dress is a disaster." He says pointing at the dress.
"Yeah, I know. My mother picked it out for today." I say with hatred in my voice.
"I'm gonna change real quick." I say as I grab some normal clothes and walk into my bathroom, closing the door behind me. I quickly change into the plain black shirt and jean shorts and throw the dress in the trash can while putting my hair up in a ponytail. I walk back out to see Gallagher looking at some of my drawings. They're mostly of dragons, but some of them are of places I went. I quickly put my riding boots on and walk over to Gallagher. He's staring at a dragon I drew.
"You like my drawings?" I ask over his shoulder. He jumps from the scare and I laugh. Seriously, his face was a mixture of frightened and shocked. It was hilarious! After a few minutes of laughing my ass off, I look back up at him and see his face of anger. I raise an eyebrow at him and smirk. He can't seem to keep the smile off of his face and my smile returns as well.
"You drew these?" He asks, referring to the pictures hanging on the wall.
"Yep. Every single one. You want me to draw you one?" I ask him. His eyes widen and he nods, his smile widening.
"Can you draw me a dragon like this one?" He asks, pointing to the dragon he was staring at when I scared him. I nod and take the drawing off of the wall.
"Here. You can have this one! I have tons already." I say, giving him the drawing.
"Oh! Ok! Thanks Adira!" He says as he stares at the picture.
"No problem. It's the least I can do since you helped me." I say as I check the clock. 9:00am. 3 more hours if I end up hanging out with Gallagher for that long.
"Have you bonded with a dragon?" He asks, finally looking up from the drawing.
"Yeah, his name is Storm. He's a Water Dragon." I say.
"Talking about me again?" Storm says just as I hear wings flapping on my balcony. I turn around to face my balcony and see Storm sitting there, staring at us.
"And there he is now!" I say as I start walking towards the balcony, Gallagher following me. I open the doors to my balcony and quickly hug Storm.
"I sensed your sadness. Did he have anything to do with this?" Storm asks protectively.
"No, he was comforting me. He's actually a good friend." I say to him, calming him down.
"Ok, just don't tell Leo. He'll kill Gallagher if he touched you." Storm says.
"I'll need to tell you about that later. For now, just be good." I say looking back at Gallagher.
"Have you bonded with a dragon?" I ask.
"Yeah, she's at the stables. I can call her if you'd like to meet her. She's also a Water Dragon." He explains.
"I'd love to meet her! Oh, this is Storm, my very protective dragon." I introduce as I pat Storm's neck.
"Nice to meet you, Storm. I'm sure you and my dragon, Rain, would get along well." He says before calling his dragon. I saw a teal dragon flying towards us. Storm watched as she landed beside him on the balcony. He stared wide-eyed at her as she nuzzled Gallagher. I smirked as they turned towards each other and stared at each other. I turned back to Gallagher to see him smirking at Rain as well.
"Well, this is Rain, my love-struck dragon." Gallagher introduces as he looks back at me. We both laugh as they glare at us.
"Rain totally likes you Storm!" I taunt.
"Oh, shut it." Storm scoffs and I laugh.
"Wanna fly?" Gallagher asks.
"Sure. I could go for a flight!" I say as I hop on Storm.
"Great! Where do you wanna go?" He asks.
"Hmm... I have no clue." I answer as he gets on Rain.
"Then follow me." He says.

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Hey guys! Very long chapter tonight! Hopefully you guys enjoyed if! Happy New Year! 🎉🎈🎁🎊