The Stable Boy

<p><strong>Paige</strong><br>We called him the stable boy. Dad took him out of foster care and brought him to our farm because it meant free labor. I didn't know his name. Didn't want to.<br><br>You know what else I didn't want?<br><br>I didn't want to notice him as he eventually grew out of that lanky frame and got...hot. I didn't want thoughts of him invading my brain when I was on dates with my boyfriend. I didn't want to care when he looked like he needed to say something so badly but couldn't.<br><br>Because he was mute. He couldn't speak even if his life depended on it. And after making that same life a living hell for him all these years I didn't want to face the fact that he might never forgive me.<br><br><br><strong>Oliver</strong><br>Why didn't they ever say it? Why didn't they ever say my name? I ached to hear it sometimes instead of the usual phrases like 'stable boy' and 'dumb kid'. In their eyes that was all I was. Because of what? My disability?<br><br>And her...<br><br>My tormentor. My foster father's daughter who never got off her high horse. What did I ever do to her? Why did she hate me so much?<br><br>Even when I treated her with kindness.<br>Even when I helped her out with things.<br>Even when tears gathered in my eyes and I wanted to tell her to stop because I didn't deserve to be bullied but words wouldn't come out of my mouth.<br><br>The world was my hell and she ruled it like the devil. And the worst part of it all was that...I let her.<br><br>..<br><br>(Note: The Dreamhaven duet is a loose retelling of the classics 'Oliver Twist' and 'The Count of Monte Cristo' consisting of reverse bully fiction and rich girl/poor boy trope in Book 1 followed by a vengeance plot and a debatable HEA in Book 2. Book 1 ends on a cliffhanger. Contains triggers. Read at your own risk.</p>