White Lies and Music Notes

Chapter Fourteen

"So they were trying to guess your bra size?" Melanie asked as we were tacking up the horses, getting ready for our first riding lesson. Melanie was riding a horse called Mogly. He was quite small, but unbelievably strong.

"Yeah, it was sick." I had explained to her what had happened at lunch.

"And what about your date? Did he ask again?"

"No. I don't even know if he still wants it."

"Hm, knowing Matt, he'll want it. Look. Let's just concentrate on the riding just now, okay?"

"What about your finger?" I pointed to her hand that had been bandaged together.

"Mrs Morris said I can ride, just no jumping or high-speed galloping. But they don't do that on the first day, anyway." I nodded. Today I had to show Mrs Sanders what I was made of. This was my chance to show her what I could do. As I had my own horse, I had expectations to fill. I came here on a scholarship, and if I was a terrible rider, they would take it away. Why would they want to give a riding scholarship to someone who couldn't ride?

I mounted Harris and we walked into the arena. I was glad to see we were not the last ones to arrive.

"Okay, everyone." Mrs Sanders said as she inspected everyones gear, making sure it was clean and intact, "we are going to keep it very simple today. I would like you to walk around in a circle one, behind the other. As a general horse-riding rule, always leave enough space for two horses between you and the horse in front. Okay. Off you go."

After walking around in circles for a few minutes, Mrs Sanders told us to stop. "Leah!" she motioned for me to come forward. "okay everyone. For those of you who don't know, this is Leah. Now Leah. Just stand her next to me." she motioned with her hands and I parked Harris next to her. I patted his neck, rewarding him for doing well. "Amy, stand here please." she pointed to a chubby girl and motioned for her to stand about a meter away next to me.

"Okay, Amy. Could you please try and mirror every single thing Leah is doing. For instance, copy where she holds her hands, are the reins slack, or loose?"

After a few moments, Amy announced she was finished adjusting.

"Okay then. Could I get all the rest of you to line up parallel to Amy and Leah, please." Everybody moved, and only when everyone was in place, she continued. "now I want Catherine to copy Amy. Do what Amy is doing, not what you think she should be doing. When you are done, say so, so that Hannah can begin copying you, and so on."

It took merely a few minutes before everyone had copied the previous person. Melanie was right at the end and Mrs Sanders stopped her before he started adjusting.

"Melanie, please dismount. Kirsty," she said to the girl at the end of the queue, can you please go over to Leah, without changing anything about your stance."

When we were aligned, Mrs Sanders asked Melanie to show everyone else what was different about each of our figures, "Kirsty has the reins much slacker and her heels much higher. Her feet are too far in the stirrups and her arms are to far away from her body..."

When Melanie was done explaining Mrs Sanders said:

"Leah, here, has the perfect stance, I want your aim to be, to sit like hir in the saddle at all times. If you ever feel unsure of how to sit, think of here and now..." she nodded at me. My heart filled with pride, as she complimented me, and I was struggling not to look too pleased with myself.

The rest of the lesson she just explained basic riding etiquette and what to do in different situations with your horse. I'll be honest, it wasn't a very exciting lesson - although, Harris thought it was - as we did nothing more than walk.

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After riding, we had all gone back to our room to shower and get changed. It was a really hot day, so I decided to wear my turquoise shorts and a baggy T-Shirt that fell over my shoulder. I wasn't exactly comfortable wearing it, but Melanie had assured me, it was the best thing to wear on a date. Sitting me down on a comfy chair, she started her lecture on every little thing that I had to do during the date.

"Okay, so take that finger - no, the other one - yeah, that one and wrap your hair around it and twiddle it like this - no, like - yeah, you've got it." She smiled, "And, as soon as you see him, compliment him, give him a big ego, even though he already has one. Okay, and at some point flick your hair so he gets a whiff of this!" She picked up a perfume bottle and sprayed my face, leaving me chocking and spluttering. "Okay, these earrings are quite small, but they're glittery, so make sure he can see them!" She pressed them into my hand and then put on a sparkly necklace. "Okay, let me do your make-up now. I'm going for the..." That was about the time when I stopped listening. As much as I loved Melanie, she was really exhausting me, and I couldn't be bothered to concentrate all the time.

"Taylor?" She screamed into the bathroom. "Do me a favour and straighten Leah's hair, for me?" She came scurrying in,

"Yes, ma'am." She said with a salute. She picked up the straighteners, and immediately started working on my hair, while Melanie continued dabbing multiple face lotions and concealers on my face.

"Close your eyes." She demanded, as I shut them tight. "No! Not like that! Don't scrunch them! Like this." She showed me, and I copied. "Great, now don't move." I felt a soft brush on both my eyelids before she sprang up and demanded for me to come to the mirror that she had previously covered with a towel to stop me peeking. She swept it away and I just stared at the girl in the mirror. That girl didn't look like me. That girl...she was pretty. I wasn't pretty. That girls hair was longer than mine, and her nose looked so much thinner. I took a step closer to the mirror and leaned forward. Woah! The girl in the mirror had cheekbones! She had perfect skin, she had big eyes.

I was so enjoying being like this.