Rolling Hills Academy

Catch Me If You Can

Julia and I were side by side on one of the trails behind the stable. Rain was at ease as we passed under neath the willow trees lining the path. Casper had been antsy when we first walked down the trail, with his ears flicking back and forth and shivers trembling through his body. Once he saw how content Rain was, he calmed down. Now he seemed to enjoy exploring the new area.

"This trail is gorgeous!" I told Julia. The willows glistened from the late afternoon sun, and squirrels darted from tree to tree. Julia nodded,

"It's my favourite one. Not too many people take this one and it's definitely needed after that lesson." She said. She pushed a low hanging branch out of her way. "Like seriously. What got Mr. Harris' tie in a knot today?" I nodded in agreement.

"It was brutal. I thought my legs were going to fall off after posting without stirrups for the fifth lap." I said. Julia laughed.

"I would've had to carried you back to your dorm and explain to your dorm monitor why only half of you returned." She said jokingly. We laughed together and I sighed in relief at being on the trails. This was most definitely a well deserved trail ride. The show announcement must've put Mr. Harris in over drive. He had us practising like we were going to nationals or something!

Rain snorted and shook out her mane happily. Casper, feeding off of her energy, did the same thing. I smiled at my horse. Looks like he made a new friend. Julia shifted in the saddle and looked at me.

"So how are you doing with classes so far? It's only the second day and I'm exhausted." She sighed. I nodded hard.

"I can slowly feel all of my brain cells melting away. I mean, I knew when I got accepted that it would be tough, but I didn't imagine it'd be like this! A part of me is worried that I won't be able to keep up with the workload. I don't know if I'm going to be able to juggle everything at once." I heard Casper snort and realised I had yanked the reins in my rant. I loosened them and patted his neck as an apology. Julia nodded.

"I get that. When I first started last year I felt the same way. My old school had been hard, but this was a whole new level of tough. There were days where I wondered if I had made a mistake coming here." She tapped her boot against Rain's side, who had stopped to sniff at a plant. She continued.

"It took a couple weeks, but I finally managed to juggle it all. Trust me. If you were able to make it through all of the summer homework then you'll do just fine here. Just don't stop turning in assignments and fall behind, and you'll be okay. And don't be afraid to ask for help either. We were all in your shoes at some point, so no one will judge you for it." She finished.

I took a second to take in what she had said. "Thank you," I said finally. "It really means a lot. It actually made me less nervous. I had never thought of it that way before." She gave me a small smile and rubbed Rains neck. The chestnut mare stretched her neck in response to her touch.

"Of course. You're my teammate, and I hope that we can become better friends."

I smiled. "I'd like that." I replied. We reached the end of the woods and an open field stretched out across from us.

"If you'd like, when we hit the clearing, there's plenty of room to let them into a canter. We can canter until we reach the fence line and then follow it back to the stable." Julia pointed to the clearing.

"That sounds great!" I smiled. She looked at me and grinned.

"Before we go though," She said, "what's up with you and Jaxon?" I immediately felt my face heat up, and felt the blush creeping up my neck. Julia laughed. "Harperrrrrr it looks like you've got a crushhhh!" Julia sang teasingly. I shook my head.