Ridgestone Riding Academy

Chapter 1

"Camille! Let's go!"

I heaved a sigh and got up from my king sized bed. I grabbed my purse that was hanging on my mirror and took a quick look in it. Beautiful ombré brown and blonde hair was pulled into a neck length messy bun with some tendrils framing my face. I was wearing a waist length white lace top and some ripped black skinny jeans.

I heard the horn honk from outside. I giggled and opened my door and rushed down the stairs. I gave my mom a hug in the kitchen before stepping out the front door and skipping down the steps of our three story mansion.

I opened the passengers door to my best friends convertible before buckling up.

"Took you long enough," She grumbled.

I grinned and smacked her arm. She feigned hurt. I shook my head. That was Evelyn.  Classic actor.

She put the car into drive and slowly went around the round about in front of the house before taking the drive down to our barn. I stretched my arm out, taking in the mid Summer air. We passed by the barn to see it bustling inside with some lesson students and grooms performing their everyday task.

My parents are Lisa and Matt Remington. My mom is an Olympic gold medalist eventer. My dad was also in the Olympics and won a bronze medal in Volleyball. He fell in love with my mom at the Olympic village and learned a lot about horses. Now, he and my mom have the third best barn in all of America.

I turned to look towards Evelyn and picked up a strand of her sand coloured blonde hair. She looked stunning as well in jean shorts and a white tube tops with a light black cardigan on.

"I'm nervous," She admitted, her hands white on the wheel. I had forgotten about the reason for our little trip.

"Me too, but whatever the outcome, we'll have each other," I told her reassuringly. She grinned.

"Thanks Cammy," She replied.

Today we were going to our local towns post office to receive our letters to see whether or not we made it into the school of our dreams. We had applied in late March to Ridgestone Riding Academy, a school with a great reputation that specializes in the art of horse riding. We were applying for our grade ten year.

Evelyn and I continued to laugh and talk for the rest of the twenty five minute ride. We talked about all the things we would have to prepare before September first and all the rides we would have to do together.

Finally, we made it to the town. She parked the car next to the post office and we exited it.

"Camille, I don't think I can do this. My letter was weak. I'm gonna le-"

"Calm down alright," I told her, "I promise you, it'll be alright. We had our letters checked by two university professors. This is going to be a moment you remember forever. We'll do it together."

She took a deep breath and nodded. She pulled open the door to the building and we walked over to our boxes. Separately, we unlocked them and took out the mail that was inside. There was quite a bit in my family's box, most of which I put into a paper shredder that was nearby. Finally, I pulled out the letter. It was thick with a wax seal on the back.

I turned to look at Ev, who was looking back at me with the same letter.

"On three," She said.

"Three," I said, closing my eyes.

"Two."

"One."

The sound of our letters tearing open filled the empty room. Once I had it open I pulled out the papers that were inside.

We stood next to each other and swapped papers with each other. I quickly scanned Evelyn's paper, seeing the words she was waiting to hear.

"Oh my god you got in!" I shrieked.

She jumped up and down. "Oh my god! We're going to Ridgestone together. I grabbed my papers back and hugged them to me.

Evelyn and I grabbed each other in for a hug, laughing and crying.

"I can't believe it. I never would've thought I got in," Evelyn said, shaking her head.

I grinned. "Come on girl, you have to have some faith in yourself. Look at how it turned out."

She grinned even wider. "True."

We laughed and linked arms and left the post office.

"Hey, wanna get some ice cream? My treat," I asked her.

"You're so sweet. Let's do it."

We walked down to the ice cream shop on Main Street. Once there, I opened the door and received a blast of colder air. I grinned and we walked over to the counter.

"Hello," The girl at the counter said, " what can I get for you two today?"

"Hi, could I please get a vanilla cone with sprinkles please?"

The lady nodded and looked over to Evelyn.

"Could I get a-"

But she was cut off from a boisterous group of boys laughing as they entered the shop. We turned around.

I rolled my eyes when I saw who was here. Prep boys from the private school that's here. Even though they're benchwarmers on the football team they still think they're the best.

One wolf whistled. "We'll look what we have here. Two pretty little girls."

I smirked. That was Jason, the 'leader' of their little club.

He walked over to me, his hand reaching out to touch me. Somewhere, I don't know.  I grabbed his arm and spun it around his back before jabbing it down with my elbow. I leaned down and whispered in his ear.

"Don't forget about what you did at the party a couple weeks ago," I told him.

I heard him scoff. I released him on the ground and turned back around to the lady at the counter who was looking shocked.

"She would like a cookies and cream waffle cone with sprinkles too please," I told her, handing her a twenty dollar bill, "Keep the change."

I saw her grin before she went to finish the order. The boys still stood in the back of the room, grumbling as their leader was probably crying in the mens washroom.

She handed us our cones and we thanked her before leaving the shop, giving angry glances to the boys who looked most threatening.

Twenty feet away from the shop we burst out into laughter.

"I-I can't believe you did that," Evelyn told me, laughing so hard that it was hard for her to say anything.

"I'm surprised myself," I replied.

We continued to window shop, bursting out into laughter every minute. After an hour went past and we had a couple bags of small items, we decided that we should get home. It was already 1 in the afternoon and we still had a riding lesson to go to and I had one to teach.

Once we got home, we grabbed a quick bite to eat before we changed into breeches and light shirts. I laced up my tall black boots while Evelyn zipped hers up.

"My parents are going to flip when I tell them about Ridgestone ," I told her.

"Same. It wouldn't have happened without you though Camille. You were the one who pushed me to ride horses," She told me.

"And you made me a better rider because of it," I replied.

We hugged each other and together left the house towards the barn