Fated Fairy Tales - Beauty Sleep

Beauty Sleep - Chapter 6

Ora’s POV

“Wake up,” I said in a panic, trying to shake awake the unconscious man on the ground. I’m so dead. Aunt Jo is going to kill me. Maybe I need help. I tell myself when he doesn’t move. But then Principal Barbour will call my aunts, they will find out what I’ve done. Panic sets in and I hyperventilate. “Focus Ora,” I say out loud as I try to calm my breathing. “I can splash some water on his face,” I mumble as I get to my feet. Rushing over to the muddy puddle of rainwater, I realized I couldn’t carry that much in my hands.

So I grab the man by his waterproof jacket and dragged his body along the ground to the puddle. Four scoops of water and he stirs. Thank God.

When he opens his eyes, he stares at me. I couldn’t help but stare at him. He has the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. They remind me of the blue sky on a clear day. “Hey,” he says as he stares at me.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to.” I touched my temple. “I thought you were one of them.” I tried to explain. I went to touch his head, but he stopped me.

“I was trying to help. You were outnumbered. You caught me by surprise, that’s all.” He responds, touching his head and wincing.

“Sorry.” I apologized again. Feeling guilty, he was only checking up on me.

“I know not to let my guard down around you.” He laughs. It makes me smile because he’s not angry at me. If anything, he seems impressed.

I stood up and held out a hand to help him to his feet. Once he takes my hand, I immediately feel a warm and tingly sensation creep up my arm. Like when you have mild electric shock.

When he stands, I can’t help but notice his size. He’s at least a foot taller than me and he’s solid. How the heck did I kick his head?

Looking at the ground, I considered the possibility I was on uneven ground. Or he was leaning. As he takes a breath, he stumbles. I rushed to support him. “I got you,” I rushed, putting his arm around my shoulder to support him. I began feeling guilty again. It’s my fault he’s like this.

“Where are you staying? I’ll help you home.” I offered. He stares at me. “Er. My dad and I didn’t agree on anything, so I left. I didn’t have anywhere to go. So I stayed in the forest last night.” He says in his American accent. I wonder where he’s from?

“Running away in winter or spring is a bad idea in this country. It’s cold, wet and miserable.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” He says with a smirk and rubbing the back of his neck. “I thought the rain would stop, eventually.”

I looked him in the eyes and scowled. “It never bloody stops.” That caused him to laugh. He holds his hand out, “Benson.”

“Ora,” I said, taking his hand. There are those tingles again.

“Come on, Benson. Let’s get you cleaned up.” I said, looking at him. He has mud all over him. Which is all my fault.

I took him to the visitor’s center and lied through my teeth to Principal Barbour while Benson was in the toilet. I told him I had found Benson in the forest wandering around and that he appeared to have a head injury.

Principal Barbour considered taking Benson to the hospital in case of a concussion. Benson refused when he returned. Then Principal Barbour wanted to call the police, in case his dad had filed a missing person report. But Benson talked his way out of that one as he hadn’t been gone for more than 24 hours.

At that point, Principal Barbour bought us some lunch. The way Benson ate, I think he hadn’t eaten in a while. I gave him half of my sandwich, guessing he would benefit from it more than me. “Miss. Kingsley, can I ask the name of your aunt’s trainer? She is in excellent physical shape and I could do with a bit of help to lose a few pounds.” Principal Barbour says while patting his bloated stomach.

His comment makes me smile. “No trainer principal. Just the pair of us. She trains like her life depends on it. The woman simply isn’t human.” Benson chokes on the water he is drinking. Oh god, he is going to die today. At least this time it won’t be my fault. I pat his back, trying to dislodge anything else he put in his mouth.

“I think that’s everything for today, Miss Kingsley. You can go.”

“Yes sir,” I said as I took one last look at Benson.

Benson looks up at me with puppy dog eyes. “Is your aunt collecting you?” Principal Barbour inquires.

I shook my head. “No, she had an errand to run. I’m on my own,” I said, smiling. It is a rarity that I get this much freedom. 20 miles to run or walk as I please. I’m so excited. “If you’d like to wait a few hours, I will drive you home,” Principal Barbour offers. But I declined, as I wanted to enjoy the scenery.

“I’ll walk you home,” Benson offers.

“It’s a long way, Benson,” I told him, hoping it would deter him. He takes hold of my hand and the tingles start again. I look at him and he smiles at me. “Fine, whatever. But my aunts won’t like it if they see us together.” He looks at me questioningly. “They’re kind of over-protective of me.”

“I can understand,” he says as we walk to my home. The sound of his waterproofs rubbing together gets annoying after a while, and he takes them off, eventually.

As we walk, we talk. He’s a fun person to be around. He tells me he is going to some military academy after his trip with his dad. He is looking forward to it. But he’s worried about his sister. He speaks about her with so much love. As an adopted child myself, I love hearing how much he cares for her as his sister.

Before I knew it, we were at the edge of my farm. I noticed it was starting to get dark. “I have to go. I’m not allowed out after dark.”

“It was nice just being able to talk to someone. Without them having a hidden agenda,” Benson says. His comment makes me curious.

“Don’t you have any friends back home you can talk to? A girlfriend,” I inquired. Surely a man like Benson would have to beat girls away with a stick.

“Yes. But sometimes I think they are only my friends because my dad is in charge.” He looks so sad.

“How about? You don’t leave just yet. I am allowed to hang around in the barn. If you don’t mind a few smelly animals?” I suggest. It’s often a change of scenery from the house.

Benson looks like a kid in a toy shop at Christmas. When he nods his head frantically,

The train station is miles away, so I know Aunt Jo won’t be home yet. Aunt Josie’s the only one we got to steer clear of, and she’s usually in the kitchen preparing our food.

I took Benson to the barn, telling him to go up into the upper section of the barn. I call it a loft. I needed to tell Aunt Josie I was home, otherwise she would go mad at me.

As I walk into the kitchen, I casually grab a glass and fill it with water. Aunt Josie makes small talk as she prepares our food. I love watching her chop vegetables. She is so skilled with a knife.

“I found a hurt kitten on my way home. I put it in the barn, knowing Aunt Jo would go mad if it was in the house.” I said, explaining why I was going to stay in the barn.

“A kitten? She would go mad. Filthy creatures, always licking themselves and rubbing their bodies all over people and furniture. They stink.” She says, scrunching up her nose.

Aunt Jayne’s cat disappeared when I was young. To this day, Aunt Jayne still accuses Aunt Jo of making it disappear. Now Aunt Jayne has a rat.

“Yeah, a kitten. I am going to give it some love and will take it to the shelter tomorrow. If that’s okay.”

She looks at me. “You have such a big heart. I will call you when the food is ready.”

I grab a bowl and some milk from the fridge. Now I need to get something that’s as stinky as cat urine to keep up the charade. If I’m going to lie, I have to do everything to avoid getting caught.

Luck must have been on my side on our way home. I remember seeing a for-sale sign on a fence. Kittens for sale. Surely they will have some used kitty litter they will part with. I left the kitchen and hid the milk and bowl. I then sprinted to the farm, which wasn’t too far away.

They gave me a full bag. Aunt Josie was right. As soon as I entered the house, a cat rubbed itself against me. Aunt Josie’s words popped into my mind. I bet it was licking its butt minutes ago. But if it covers my lie. I don’t care.

I then rushed back home. It was dark by the time I got back. I scattered the kitty litter around the bottom of the ladder and went up to see Benson. I’m so dead if I get caught. I hope he’s worth it.