Trustfall || Sanders Sides Equestrian AU

Chapter 25 - To Wish You Luck

If you asked Virgil how in the world he managed to fall asleep two hours after everyone else did and still wake up an hour before them, his answer would most likely be "crippling anxiety." It was an odd feeling, to wake up on the cold sheets of an unfamiliar bed. The room they'd been given was small enough to make him claustrophobic but not quite enough to make him feel safe. And maybe this was the only occasion where his anxiety did him a favour, because waking up before everyone else meant he got some time to breathe and organize the mess he had no choice but to call his brain.

His riding uniform stared at him from where it sat folded, and he immediately drove his eyes the other way. He'd only tried it on once, and didn't like it one bit. There was something way too formal about it; if only he could compete in his old hoodie, maybe he'd feel slightly more at home.

His friends took an hour to wake up as well; first was Logan, who sat up in his bed like a robot and immediately stood onto the floor as if he'd been up all along; then Patton, who was still clutching onto his teddy bear; and finally Roman, making a dramatic entrance by complaining about having to wake up at six in the morning, and about how it was so cold, and so hungry, and Santa won't come this year.

So Virgil already had a headache.

Laura didn't help by kicking the door open and barking at them to "get those lazy asses moving, I've seen 30-year-old Belgian horses with more enthusiasm than you".

In all honesty, Virgil almost expected to find a dead horse when they entered the stable. His skittish mare was a serial panic escaper even in her regular familiar stall – did she have any reason to stay calm in here? Last night when they turned the horses in their temporary stalls, they made sure to have her next to Trigger – but Virgil wasn't sure if he trusted that alone to keep her sane.

Now that everyone was getting ready, it was impossible not to drown in the crowd of riders. People carried expensive-looking saddles around, led expensive-looking horses from one place to the other, and talked in their expensive-sounding voices about the show. Virgil had never seen so many riders at once. All wearing that formal uniform, all looking so much... better than him. He thought he knew his good old friend 'doubt' well enough back at their home yard; but here, it grew to a whole new level.

At least Everest looked alive. Mostly. She let out a high-pitched neigh when the team approached, as if scolding them for putting her in this prison and leaving for ten years.

Virgil entered her stall and stroked her face. "Hey, girl. I see you've survived the night."

Her nostrils were flared with nervousness, and her round brown eyes quivered.

"It's okay. We'll take this slow. Let's get you tacked up, okay? Then we can go warm up before our round. We're going up at eight."

He glanced over at the stalls on either side of hers; Roman had already tied Trigger up to the bar of the stall and began to groom him, and Puzzle and Patton were sharing a morning carrot, their tack placed on the window of the stall. He'd barely swapped ten words with them since they woke up. He never knew why he went into that defensive mode when he was nervous about something, but he could barely bring himself to hold a conversation.

Virgil hardly managed to mute out the noise buzzing through the rider-packed stable to hear his phone chirp with the signature sound he'd given his mother's contact. He unlocked the phone and tapped into their chat, to be greeted with a blurry video.

"Emma, how do I focus this..."

"You tap here."

"Oh! Wait, it's not working..."

Their blurry faces curled a smile up Virgil's lips. He leaned back against the wall and watched as the camera focused to reveal their faces; his mum, squinting at the screen like a tech-challenged grandma, and his sister trying to fix her hair in the reflection. Virgil did it better than their mother.