After Effects

Chapter 3 • After Effects

I groaned loudly as I was awoken by my alarm. Turning over on the bed I slammed my hand down onto the top of the square figure to stop the annoying ringing. It was exactly seven am which meant that I had one hour to get ready and then have breakfast.

Jumping up, I glanced at the schedule to see that we were going bird hunting at eight. Great! Bird hunting was one of the first things my dad taught me... I think it was because he wanted me to learn how to use a gun in case I wanted to shoot my first date. Great dad isn't he?

I quickly showered before dressing in dark, blue jeans, a white, spaghetti blouse and a brown, leather jacket. I caught my hair up in a neat, high ponytail before leaving to go wake Jake.

I stepped out into the hall and immediately I was in front of his room's door. Opening it slowly, I peeked in to see that I was indeed right, as always. Jake wasn't up yet.

Slowly, I crept inside with a huge grin on my face, only stopping when I'd arrived at the foot of his bed. "Wake up!" I screamed as I launched myself onto the free side of his bed. He screamed, shooting up from the bed in fright but his feet were tangled up in the covers causing him to fall off the bed.

I started laughing while holding my sides as he shot up immediately from the floor. His eyes were wide and his hair was messy as he tried to figure out what was going on.

"Not cool." he said flatly as soon as everything registered into his sleepy brain. I only laughed more which made him roll his eyes and then head for his bathroom.

:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:

Ten minutes later we were going downstairs for breakfast. Jake finally started speaking to me after the little stunt I'd pulled but we had both known all along that he couldn't resist my puppy eyes.

"What do you want to eat?" he asked as we neared the buffet table which was now filled with food.

"Um, I'll just take eggs, toast and some orange juice." I replied grabbing a plate. He nodded before grabbing one for himself and then started piling food onto his plate.

"Hey Jake! Over here!" Marlon yelled from a table which was now surrounded by the Krater family. There was no way I was going over there. Graham would most likely glare me to death, or Hadley and Emily would talk my ears off, so in other words, it was not a win win situation for me.

Jake looked over and shook his head with a small smile. I knew he knew that I didn't want to go over so I touched his shoulder and smirked. "Go on, you don't have to stay away just because I am. I'll be fine." I said before grabbing a fruit bowl, no longer in the mood for anything heavy.

"You sure?" he asked doubtfully. I chuckled.

"Of course I'm sure. Just go, I'll be outside." I assured him walking off with the intention of coming back by eight. There was no way I was gonna miss the hunt.

I left the castle through its front doors and  took my time to walk down the path towards the garden, eating my mixed fruits on the way. Before I knew it, I was standing before the gates of the biggest and most beautiful garden I had ever seen in my entire life.

I opened the silver gates with excitement before going in and twirling as I tried to take it all in. There were different colours all around the garden, purple flowers, orange, red, yellow... All kinds of colorful plants. The different flowers went around the garden in rings and in the center of the smallest ring was a beautiful but ancient looking  fountain with a bench right before it. It was really a spectacular sight.

I took a seat on the bench and continued admiring the garden as I finished my fruits. I had just popped the last cube of melon into my mouth when I spotted a swing nearby hanging off a strong looking branch of a tree. I hadn't seen a swing since I was fifteen, unbelievable, I know, but as I've said before, ever since my mom died a lot of things have changed.