So... I understand that some of the equine terminology can be confusing but please! If you have any questions at all please PM me, I'd be happy to answer all your questions. And don't worry the story wont revolve around the horses for long, its just to develop Fang and Max's relationship ;P
~Fang POV~
"Fang! Get your lazy ass up and take care of Night!" I groaned and tried to hold onto the last sliver of sleep I had left, pulling the blanket over my head.
"Ella! Language! And Fang, its almost seven, you do need to get up!" Remember that last sliver of sleep I was talking about? Yea, its gone now. I could almost feel Ella, my sister, rolling her eyes on the other side of the door at our mom's words. I tried to roll out of bed like a ninja like they do in the movies but... well, it didn't work out so well. I got tangled in my bed sheets and face planted onto my carpeted (thank god) floors and groaned in pain, still to tired to move.
"Fang, did you just fall out of bed... Again?" My sister chuckled from the other side of the door.
"I'm so glad you find my pain humorous, Ella." I hissed at her as I untangled my feet and stood, kicking the sheets far away from me. I could hear her annoying laugh fade as she ran down the hall and down the stairs towards the kitchen, most likely. That's right, I thought. You better run.
Not bothering to put any clothes on I lazily made my way down stairs, almost tripping in the process. As I made my way around the corner to the kitchen I could see my mom. She gave me the most perfect smile that only a mother can give her kids. For being 42, having me at 21 and Ella at 27, she was still beautiful. Her medium length hair was pulled back into a pony tail on the back of her neck, succeeding in keeping it out of her face.
"Good mornin' Mama." I mumbled with a small smile and kissed her cheek. Then Ella just had to grace us with her presence.
"Ew! Don't you know what clothes are?!" She all but shrieked. I raised an eyebrow and looked down, confused as to what the big deal was. I looked back to her and she had her hand covering her eyes.
"Ew! Don't you know what make up is?" I snapped back at her. In all honestly make up was the last thing Ella needed. She was gorgeous the way she is but I'm her brother, I'm allowed to make fun of her. She knows that I don't mean anything I say to her. If anyone else would have said that to her I think I would beat them to a pulp. "Ow! What was that for?!" I whined when our mom hit me upside the head with a (clean) spatula. "Don't talk to your sister that way!" I stood there with my mouth hanging open like a fish for a while just pointing at Ella. "B-b-But Sh-"
"Go put some clothes on or you don't get breakfast." She said sternly, putting her hands on her hips, meaning she meant business. "I don't see what the big deal is, I have boxers on..." I mumbled rubbing my head where I was so rudely hit. "What was that Fang?" "Nothing!" I answered quickly.
As I was leaving the kitchen I smirked when I walked past Ella with her tongue out. I booty bumped her which sent her onto the floor on her bottom. Her as widened before she scrambled to her feet. She just got booty bumped by her older brother, saying she was embarrassed was an understatement, and when girls get embarrassed they get angry. "Fang Domonique Ride!" She yelled as she chased me down the hallway and up the stairs. The second I made it in my room I slammed the door and locked it... Just in case.
I sighed as I walked towards my dresser that held my riding clothes, yes, I have two dressers, one for riding clothes and the other for casual clothing. I pulled out a pair of black riding jodhpurs (Jodhpurs are basically really tight pants meant for riding. If you look up black riding jodhpurs you can see what they look like) . Moving to the next drawer down I pulled out a light weight black short sleeved shirt. Changing into jodhpurs was always a struggle for me. Why do they have to be so damn tight? Innuendo not intended... After a few hops and jumps I finally got them on. I pulled the shirt over my head. I loved this shirt, it was so light weight it didn't even feel like I was wearing anything. Grabbing a pair of grey socks that came up to my knees I pulled them on over my jodhpurs.
Once I was done changing I marched down the stairs rather noisily. once I was on the tiled floor of the down stair area I got a good running start towards the kitchen. I made my grand entrance by sliding in on my feet and sat down across from Ella.
"Can't you act your age and grow up?" Ella asked around a spoonful of cereal. "Nope!" I said popping the 'p'. "Growing up is for losers." I said pointing my spoon at her accusingly, which earned me an eye roll. I shoveled the rest of my cereal into my mouth and thanked mama for the food she set out.
As Ella and I were about to leave the kitchen or mom called us back. "Ella? Fang? Could you sit down for a second?" We both nodded in unison and sat back down. My eyebrows furrowed thinking about what it could be. "Is something wrong? Has something happened Mama?"
She dismissed my questions with a wave of her hand and shook her head. "No, no, no sweetie, nothings happened. As you know we own a fairly large barn with quite a few boarders (Boarders are people who basically pay rent to an owner of a barn to keep their horses their and for the barn hands to take care of them. Thats how their family earns money.) ?" I nodded and she continued. "I have some old friends that need a place to stay for a while while they look for a new house. They have a daughter and she has a horse. I offered for them to stay here until the can find a house, and of course their daughter's horse will stay in one of the stalls."
"Their staying for free?" Ella asked. "I offered for them to stay for free but they turned it down. Their daughter agreed to give lessons to some of our riders instead of paying." I scoffed at the idea of someone else besides Dan, our best trainer at the barn, giving lessons. "Good luck with that." I scoffed.
"For your information Fang, she is very skilled in eventing, like you. She surpassed her father when she was ten." Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. "Then he must have be pretty lousy at riding." My mom struggled to find the words to say to me so she looked like a fish struggling for air. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to got ride Night." I pushed my chair out and stormed to the front door where I kept my leather Ariat field boots. (Again if you are curious as to what they look like just search Ariat field boots and you'll find them :p) Shoving my feet in and pulling he zipper up and snapping the button at the top I opened and slammed the door behind me. I could faintly hear my mom yell after me saying something about them arriving soon.
~Third POV~
Ella sighed and shook her head after her brother stormed out just a few moments before. "You know why your brother gets like that every time someone new comes to the barn right?" Their mother asked. "No, but he doesn't have to be so rude to us about it." Ella exclaimed annoyed.
Her mom just looked at her disapprovingly. "Fine... Why does he get like that" She asked, genuinely curious. Of course, her brother always got over after a while but there was never a real reason why he got mad, at least none that she could see. The next words that came out of her mothers mouth hit her like a semi.
"He gets scared..." She almost whispered. Ella had never seen her brother 'scared', only angry. As if reading her daughters thoughts she continued. "He makes you think he's angry because he doesn't want anyone to see him genuinely scared. He is scared that someone will come along and take his place. You may not see it but your brother doesn't like to be challenged. He's scared that there is someone better then him."
Ella's eye widened. "But who cares if there is someone better then him?! He gave it his all and that is all that should matter!" Ella exclaimed, standing up out of her chair and putting her palms on the table.
Her mom's facial features softened. "It matters to him, Ella... Horses were the only things he could trust when he was younger, they never left him. Even today they have never turned their backs on him when others have. He may as well have lived in a barn all his life. He feels that he owes it to the horses that he has been with to be on top. He feels that its the only way to show how much he's learned from each one of them and how much the horses mean to him. It may seem ridiculous to us but to Fang, those horses are the only reason he lives today."
Ella's mouth fell open and she looked towards the door that Fang had exited a few minutes ago. She had no idea...
~Back to Fangy-boy's POV~
I jogged through the barn isle, making my way towards Night's stall. Night is more commonly know as Only After Midnight on the show circuit. Night is a pure black Hanoverian. She is 16.2 which is very close to five and a half foot. Night's breed, Hanoverian, is a warmblooded horse breed originating in Germany, which is often seen in the Olympic Games and other competitive English riding styles, and have won gold medals in all three equestrian Olympic competitions (Dressage, Show Jumping, and Cross Country).
I wasted no time in pulling her out of her stall and grooming her. When I was done grooming her I put her tack on and walked her outside the barn into one of the many outdoor areas we have. This particular area was close to the road that wound through the barn and lead up to our house. I began warming Night up at a canter since, even though a canter is faster then a trot, is less work for a horse then a trot. Once we cantered around the area a few times each way we went down to a trot. Night had one of the best trots I've ever ridden. You could feel the energy she put into if but it was still very smooth.
Once she was all warmed up I started to take her over the Grand Prix jumps that were set up in the area.(Grand Prix jumps are around five to six feet tall) When Night and I were both painting heavily I stopped her in the middle and hopped off of her, petting her under her belly, right where she liked it. I loosed her girth, letting her know that our workout was over.I was so concentrated on jumping that I didn't realize until after I got off that there was someone sitting on the fence of the arena watching us. I stopped walking, not out of surprise but because of how gorgeous she was. It took me second to compose myself and I slammed my emotionless mask back on. I cautiously walked towards her.
"Can I help you?" I asked as she completely ignored me and walked to Night, who I was leading, and began to rub her ears. It seemed only just the that she realized I was there too. She turned towards me and stuck out her hand.
"My name is Max and I'll be staying with you for a while." I took her hand and shook it. I swear that man eater smile she gave me made my breath hitch. This girl would be the death of me.
