Taking The Reins - Book 1 of The Rosewoods (teen romance)

Friendship

That night, I returned from my orientation in the laundry and wanted nothing more than to fall into bed, but I had what felt like eight layers of dried sweat, bleach, detergent and other people’s grime all over me.

“Orientation” had turned into two hours of hard labor, sorting all the laundry; sheets, towels, table linens and loads of personal clothes, putting it into the massive machines and then sorting everything as it came out again. I couldn’t believe there was so much to wash already after only a couple days on campus, but one of the full-time employees told me that most of the staff and some teachers worked year round. That meant this was just a fraction of what I was to expect starting the following week. Awesome.

I really needed to switch assignments—forget about how much I wanted to join the equestrian team, if I continued in this job, it might just kill me. The only saving grace was that it would only be an hour and a half a day, although I couldn’t imagine doing a full day of school after all this physical work. I wasn’t in the best shape ever, but still, this assignment was beyond hard core.

So when I got into my room, I was desperate for a shower and then bed. Thankfully Emmie was out, since I was so tired, coherent speech wasn’t possible. Kicking off my shoes at the door, I tore off my clothes right there and headed straight into the bathroom. I stepped into the tub, turning on the shower, bathing on autopilot.

When I emerged, the room was still quiet, but it was different than it had been before dinner. It took me a moment to realize Emmie’d been up to some decorating while I’d been out; her side of the room was covered in posters. Most were for PETA (thankfully no gory ones), Fair Trade and other human service organizations. Except for the one beside her pillow that was for a tatted up punk band.

If I hadn’t been a comatose zombie, I would have found that amusing. But all I had the brain to do was set my alarm for 5:45, because I was due back at the laundry at 6:00.

FML.

~♥~

Something dragged me out of a dead sleep. One of those really deep sleeps that when you wake up, you have no idea where you are or whether it’s morning or night. Or sometimes, who you are.

I looked around, but it was still dark, so I put my head back down.

“Brooklyn?”

I groaned.

“Wake up,” Emmie whispered, which seemed counterproductive.

“What?” I moaned.

“We need to talk.”

“In the middle of the night?” I didn’t even care how whiny I sounded. She was being a very bad roommate.

“It’s not even ten o’clock!”

“In the morning?” I suddenly sprang up to seated, squinting at her as she sat on the edge of my bed. The bathroom light was on, but it was so far away, all I could see was her shadow.

“No, silly. At night. It’s like nine-forty. How long have you been back here?”

My upper body wasn’t able to hold itself up anymore; I fell back onto my pillow. “I don’t know. They let us leave the laundry at 9, but they just about killed me. What’s going on?” I felt it necessary to ask. I didn’t really care, but felt like I should.

“We need to talk,” she said again, although this time I was slightly more conscious.

I couldn’t see her face, but her tone suggested something serious. I sat up again, more slowly this time. “What’s the matter?”