Chapter 2: Chapter Two: The Academy
The day that I left for the academy couldn't have come any sooner. I had packed all my stuff 2 weeks ago, anticipating the "move." Today was finally the day that I went to the academy, and figured out if this was really my kind of thing. " Coming mom!" I yelled out the open door as mom started to shout my name for the fourth time. I grabbed the handle of my humongous, lime green, suitcase and yelled into the room next door, " Alex! Can you please go into my room and grab my other suitcase? I'll get the duffel bag." I had to yell because she was wearing her purple headphones, blasting who knows what kind of crappy kids music. Alex ( Alexa ) was 9, and I was 14. Big difference in the kind of music we listen to.
" Of course," she said, slipping inside my room. I lugged my suitcase down the stairs, out the front door, and into the already opened trunk. Inside already were 2 of my suitcases, and, surprisingly, my black duffel bag with lime green zippers and lining. Mom appeared out of nowhere just as I was about to call for her and ask about the duffel bag. " Christian brought it down the back stairs while you were talking to Alex," she answered before I could even ask the question.
"Wait, Christian's here?!" I hadn't seen my big brother since he left for the Marines 6 months ago. She nodded her head and pointed towards the backyard. " He's waiting for you." as soon as the words left her mouth, I bolted around the back of the house towards where the horses were kept, in the pasture and barn. Christian was sitting on the fence, facing away from me. "Christian!" I shouted startling him so bad he fell of the fence.
" Hey li'l sis, " he said, getting back on his feet to give me a hug, " I'll get you back for this, mark my words." I raised my eyebrows.
" Oh? I wouldn't be so sure about that. You know, I don't scare as easily as you do. Maybe it's because I'm not a big baby, like you, " as soon as the words left my mouth, I bolted around the edge of the pasture, Christian hot on my heels. He quickly caught up to me and tackled me.
" What did you just call me?" he asked, the warning obvious in his tone.
" I called you a big baby, " I replied, a mischievous grin spreading across my face, " but now I'm thinking that I should've called you deaf." Christian started tickling me.
" Take it back! " he shouted over the sound of my laughter.
" N-n-no! " I shouted back, in between laughs.
" Fine, " he said mischievously, scooping me into his arms " I'll just throw you in the pond. "
" No! "
" Yes! "
" Fine! I take it back! " He set me back onto the ground.
" You do? "
" Yes," I responded sadly.
He raised his arm in triumph, " Yes! I win!"
" You may have won the battle, but you didn't win the war! " I shouted at his retreating figure. He just laughed. I sighed and jogged back to the house. Boys are so annoying, I thought to myself.
When I arrived back at where the car was, the trunk was closed and all my stuff was loaded up.
" We're all going to see you off, " Dad announced. I smiled at all of them and whispered, "Thank you." Tears started to fill my eyes, so Dad pulled me into a hug. Alexa joined in, and then Mom. Christian hesitated a moment, and he joined in as well. I broke away from the group hug and smiled at them all. I had the best family that a girl could ever wish for.
***
I woke up to Alex shaking me awake. " Get up Skyler! We're here!!! " She was right. When I opened my eyes and looked out the window, what I saw made me gasp. We were surrounded by barns, pastures, arenas, and buildings that held who knew what inside their walls. I knew some of them had to be dorms, some had to be school buildings, and one had to be a place to eat. had no idea what else they could be for.
" We need to go to the office to get your dorm key, schedule, and, I think, your horse that you will be using until next year, " Mom said, looking at the letter that I had read at least 100 times.
" May I help you? " a lady sitting behind the office desk asked us kindly.
" Yes, " mom started, " We're here to get my daughters schedule, dorm # and key, and the horse that she's going to be using this year." The lady nodded and asked
" What's your daughters name?"
"Skyler Dawson"
" Alright. Dorm 397, here's your key, a map of the campus, your schedule, and your going to be riding... Winter Storm, who lives in Barn C. Is there anything else I can help you with?
"Actually, yes. What stall is Winter storm in, where is his tack kept, do we need a key to get to it, and are all the dorm rooms in the same building?"
"Oh! Lots of great questions. Winter storm is in stall #7, his tack is in the tack room, on rack #7, and no, you don't need a key to get to it. It's all on or underneath rack #7. And yes all the dorms are in the same building. each floor is certain dorms. Floor one is rooms 1-99, floor 2 is rooms 100-199, floor 3 is 200-299, etc. Also, just FYI, barn C is only rented out horses that belong to us. Anything else?"
"No, I think that's it. Oh! Wait, how many girls in a dorm? And are boys and girls put together?"
"Just 2. Each dorm has 2 beds, a living room, 1 bathroom, and a small kitchen for when students don't feel like eating in the cafeteria. And no, boys and girls are never, I repeat NEVER put in the same room. Is that all?"
"Yes, that should be it."
"All right. see you around."
"Yeah. Thanks."
"Your welcome"
"Bye."
"Bye."
I already love this place, and I've only been here 15 minutes. This really is a dream come true.
****
We walked into my dorm room and I looked around, astonished. It was BEAUTIFUL!! The room was split in 2. Each half had a queen sized bed, a dresser, a closet, a desk, and a window. Separating the two sides, right across from the door was a bathroom, equipped with a shower+bathtub, a toilet, a linen closet, a double sink, a blow dryer, a hair straightener, a curling iron, and a vanity. Off to the side there was a half sized kitchen, with a mini fridge, a microwave, a small oven, a few cabinets, some drawers and a sink. To the other side, there was a living room with a couch, a side table, a TV, and a movie shelf. This room was obviously meant for girls. At that moment, I heard the door open as my new roomie made her way inside. My parents already left, so it was just me and this newcomer. "Hi," she said quietly, with a shy smile on her face, "my name is Ramzie, but you can call me Ramzie." I laughed at her joke and asked which side of the room she wanted. When she said she didn't care, I picked the left side. I threw all my stuff near the side of my bed and collapsed onto the queen sized mattress. " Oh, by the way, my name is Skyler, But you can call me Skye."
"Cool."
"Ughhhh! Do we have to unpack now? Or can I just wait until tomorrow?" I whined at Ramzie. She rolled her eyes, " If you want to unpack now go ahead, but I'm just getting my bed made and grabbing PJ's and a change of clothes for tomorrow." I nodded in agreement and grabbed all of the stuff for my bed which included sheets, blankets, pillows+pillow cases, and a few stuffed animals. "Perfect!" I said happily, examining my handy work.
"Great!" Ramzie exclaimed, "now do you want to meet my horse? She is the most beautiful creature! Well, that walks on four legs. I'm obviously the most beautiful on two." After she said this she did the stereotypical sassy hair flip, and I rolled my eyes.
When we got to the barn, I examined all the horses in their stalls. They were so gorgeous! I was so busy looking at all the horses I bumped into Ramzie as she stopped in front of her horses stall. She giggled at me. As soon as I backed up a step, I looked into the horse's stall and my jaw literally dropped. "Wow," was all I could say as my eyes found the most beautiful horse I had ever seen.
"Her registered name is 24 carrot gold, but her barn name is Candy."
"She really is a beautiful horse. What do you use her for?"
"Reining. How about you?"
"Well I'm borrowing one of the school horses right now, but I do barrel racing."
"Cool. Who are you using?"
"I'm using Winter Storm, but he is in barn C, so we have to walk a little bit. You good with that?"
"Yeah. Do you want to maybe go on a trail ride and explore the area? Scarlet, our barn leader, said that we could go riding anytime we want, as long as it doesn't interfere with any school activities."
"Sure. But in that case, you should stay here and get Candy ready, while I go to barn C and get Storm ready."
"Sounds good. Meet me here in like, 30 minutes?"
"Yep. See you soon"
"Yeah."
I walked out of the barn with a huge smile on my face. I was going to meet my horse who I was going to be riding for at least the next year, and then I was going on a trail ride with my new roommate and best friend. So far, so good. Now all I had to do was avoid making any enemies, with both people and horses.
I was so lost in thought that I walked right into someone, and fell smack on my butt. I looked up and my soft brown eyes met a pair of piercing blue ones. "Hi, my name is Jasper. Are you OK...?"
"Oh, I'm Skyler, but you can call me Skye, and yes, I'm fine. Thanks for asking though." I suddenly realized I was still on the ground, so I struggled to get up. When I fell back on my butt, Jasper extended his hand towards me, and I grabbed it as he heaved me to my feet.
"Thanks for the help Jasper, but I need to go get Storm ready. I'm going on a trail ride with my roommate Ramzie." I started to walk away when Jasper called after me, "Mind if I join you?" I felt the heat creep up my cheeks as I smiled shyly, "Sure. I didn't bring my horse, so I have to go to barn C. We're meeting Ramzie outside barn A in 20 minutes. So, see you soon."
"Kay."
A/N Image above of Jasper
I finished tacking up Storm and led him out of the barn. Once we were in the mounting zone, I slipped my left foot into the stirrup and swung my right over his back. When I was comfortable, I kicked him into a trot towards barn A. When I got there, Jasper and Ramzie were standing there, waiting for me. "Hey guys. ready to hit the trail?" They both jumped at the sound of my voice. I laughed, "Wow, I really am good at scaring people." They both looked at me funny. I figured it was because they weren't there when I made Christian fall off the fence. Oh well.
We walked on the trail for a few hours before we decided to head back. "What was that?!" Jasper suddenly exclaimed.
"Jasper I don't-," I started to say, but suddenly a fast movement behind the trees caught my eye, "Whoa! What was that?" We all strained our necks, trying find the source of the quick movements. But then, Ramzie saw it. "It's a horse! Should we try to catch it or-?" Jasper and I answered together, "We should catch it!" Ramzie nodded, "Fallow me. I know what I'm doing." I wanted to argue, but I knew that if I did we might lose it and have no chance of finding it. So I just nodded and asked Storm for a slow, creeping walk. Ramzie grabbed the rope attached to her saddle and got it ready to rope the mystery horse. As soon as we were close enough Jasper and I crept off to block his/her escape routes to the sides. When she was ready she nodded to us and swung the rope. As soon as the mare/gelding/stallion sensed her presence he/she bolted. Ramzie was hot on her tail, with us by her sides. When she tried to run to the right, I blocked her path. When she tried to run to the left, Jasper blocked her way. She soon realized there was nowhere to go but straight. Ramzie began swinging her rope again. When she was ready, she threw it. It looped smoothly over the mares neck(we had figured out it was a mare when she took off because she lifted her tail)and as she tried to pull away, the rope tightened. We had caught the mystery mare. "Hey guys, I have an idea for a name for this pretty girl." I said, examining every single hair on her body.
"What?" everyone called.
"Mystery," I replied. They all nodded.
"Mystery." The perfect name for the perfect horse.
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