White Lies and Music Notes

Chapter Nine

Ever since my first day at Wichita Mountain Boarding School, I think I was famous for my coffee-incident. I found out that the Professor was called Professor Ironside and he was my Biology teacher. So much for trying to make good impressions....

One good thing that came out of the coffee-incident was that I was no longer 'Leah, the new girl,' but 'Leah, the coffee girl.' I guess it's a start.

As I walked out of Physics, Melanie introduced me to Taylor. She was quite a gothy type of girl, with died black hair, tied back into a ponytail and a thick fringe, a silver nose stud and black leather trousers. I thought it would be a little awkward, but talking to Taylor was like talking to my long-lost best friend, despite the fact that she wasn't a horsey person.

My next class was English and luckily Taylor was in the same class as me. I sat next to her and we wrote a poem together. We were laughing so much I was actually hurting by the end of the class and Mrs Brice was actually quite irritated at me.

After Lunch, I had met my other roommate, Roxanne. Although we didn't really have much to talk about, and we disagreed on a lot of things, I still think she could be a great friend. We were in IT together which was my next subject and she was very patient with me when I didn't understand what to do.

At lunch, I also met a girl called Lucy. She was very small and seemed quite shy, but once I had her talking she was the loudest thing in the Universe! No joke! Lucy was amazing fun to be around, but we didn't have much time to chat as she and Melanie had 'history' with each other. Apparently they used to be be friends, but after Lucy kissed Matt while Melanie was going out with him, she was known as a traitor throughout the whole school. That's when Matt became known for his 'player' attitude.

After IT, Roxanne and I both had a free period, and so we went to our room to tidy up the mess. After Melanie and I left in a rush this morning for breakfast and then coming back to get me changed because of the coffee incident, the room was a complete tip. Roxanne packed away all of her things into her drawers and I tried sorting as much of mine as I could.

When Melanie and Taylor came back from their class they started tiding up as well, and when we were done, I don't think the room had ever looked so tidy. Not a single thing was on the floor, everything was neatly folded away and all the shoes were lined up against the white wall. All the suitcases had gone under beds, and all the makeup and nail polish had been put on the dresser. The en-suite bathroom now had shampoo and conditioner bottles lining the sides of the shower and a row of toothbrushes and toothpastes along the sink. The room smelled strongly of a sweet perfume Melanie had sprayed and as I looked around the room I realised it was too perfect. It looked almost not lived-it. It was kind of depressing.

"Guys... Can I ask you something?" I said. A ripple of yeah's and go ahead's went around the room. "Why did we even do this?"

Taylor looked at me and said "She has a point. It's not how I like it. It's too tidy." She pulled a face.

"Taylor's right." Melanie said. "We need something that livens it up a bit. That shows we're still here."

"Hmm...." Roxanne said. "I've got an idea." And with that, she skipped out of the room, closely followed by Taylor.

"Hey, Leah, have you been down to check on Harris today, yet?"

Ahh! I forgot all about him! How could I? My face fell.

"Leah? Leah, what's wrong? You've gone all pale!" She looked at me. "You haven't seen him yet, have you?" I shook my head. "Oh well, it's not like he starved. That's why we have the stable hands, you see. They let the horses out, they muck out, they feed them. You can go and see him now, okay? I'll come with you." She gave me a comforting smile.

Knowing that Harris was still cared for, even if I was away, relaxed me slightly, but I couldn't forgive myself that I had forgotten all about him. As we reached the stable I saw Alexandra standing with a huge piebald horse, struggling to open the hatch on a stable door.

"Ah, Melanie, Leah. Give me a hand with this, please?" Melanie rushed forward and opened the stable door, and I took the big horse's lead rope off of her, so that she could put down the bucket with horse mix down.

"Hello Boris." Melanie mumbled and patted his neck as I walked past her and into his stable. I let him go and quickly turned to Alex:

"Hey, have you taken Harris in yet?" I asked shyly. She smiled,

"Yes, just a second ago. He's in his stable. He hasn't had any of his grains yet, but you could go and do that, if you want?" I nodded and rushed off to the feed room.

When I returned to the stables, nobody was in the corridor, and all I could hear was the quiet munching coming from the horses and the low hum of some cockroaches. I slipped into Harris's stables and was greeted by a low, soft whinny.

"Hey boy." I whispered. "Sorry I wasn't here today." I gave him his food-bowl and he happily started chewing on the grains. I quickly got a little hay and put it in a net and hung it up for him. He seemed very content, despite all the changes. I sat down on the ground, next to his food bowl.

"So much has happened today, Harris." I told him. I might be crazy, you never know. But I think it is important to talk to a horse, even if it doesn't understand what you are saying. I think the horse feels comforted by a voice if it is soft and low, and sometimes, if I just need to get something off my chest, I just tell him. I know he doesn't understand me, but when I look into his eyes, I can make myself believe that he does.

"When I woke up, my roommate, Melanie had already arrived, and we spent so much time unpacking, that we missed breakfast! After French, the Professor spilled coffee all over me and we ended up almost missing Physics. At lunch I met Lucy, and Taylor and Roxanne. They're all very nice, but I'm not sure I'm quite clicking with Roxanne, she seems too sensible..." I trailed off.

"Yesterday, I met this great guy, Ashley, I'm sure you've seen him around, I think he's a stable hand. Anyway, I thought he would become a great friend, but he went cold on me for no reason, what-so-ever. Well, I think it was because I was looking at this guy called Matt. But, come on, what kind of excuse is that? I don't know what to do, it feels as if I've lost my best friend, even though I only met him yesterday." I looked up at Harris, who decided to shove his grain covered muzzle into my hair and blow a raspberry, right next to my ear, making me squeal with laughter.

"Leah?" I looked up. It was Ashley. My face fell. How long had he been there? Did he hear me talking about him? "Sorry if I'm interrupting, but -"

"Ashley," I said, trying to keep my voice calm, "How long have you been standing there?"

He looked me in the eye, and I knew immediately he had heard me, just judging by the look in his eyes. I nodded, got up, and walked out of Harris's stable, giving him a quick pat as a 'goodbye', before leaving Ashley behind.

"Leah, wait. Leah." I ran away from him. I know, it was such a childish thing to do, but I just had to. Because I was afraid. I was afraid I would cry. All it took was me to look him in the eye.