Silverstone: Perfection is Not Enough

Chapter 7

We get downstairs before most of the others, so we explore the living room for a while. 

"They have the entire works of Shakespeare," I note, stroking a hand over the leather book spines of the huge bookshelf. 

Rose lets out a snort, and Bertie says, "I'm sure they'll be read very often."

"Romeo and Juliet isn't too bad," Tabitha comments. Rose raises her eyebrows.

"You've read Romeo and Juliet?"

Tabitha blushes. "I was on holiday somewhere with my family, and the only books the had in the bookstore that were in English were the classics and Shakespeare. Wuthering Heights is pretty good too."

"Well," I say. "I know who I'll be asking for help with English homework!"

"Who will you be asking for help with your English homework?" Comes an unfamiliar voice. I turn to see a boy with brown hair and tanned skin resting against a sofa arm, with a few other boys. His dark-but-warm brown eyes are focused on me.

"Probably not you," I reply, rolling my eyes.

He pouts. "You never know, I could be the next Dickens."

"I prefer the Brontë sisters, to be honest," I shoot back. Tabitha nods in approval before finding a suitable book and pulling it from the shelf.

"Who?" He asks with a confused look on his face. Rose overhears from her own conversation with this boy's friend, who has blonde hair and blue eyes, and laughs. 

"Even I know who the Brontë sisters are," she says, before returning to her own conversation.

"Seriously?" I ask. "Charlotte? Emily? That one who no one remembers who wrote The Tenant of Wildfell Hall?"

He shakes his head. "Nope, sorry. I dont know."

"Jeez," I mutter. "You must be the only person alive to not know who they are."

He laughs slightly, showing straight, white teeth. "You're the scholarship person, right?"

I sigh through gritted teeth. "Yep. Yes, I am. You are?"

"I'm Liam Reid. That routine was pretty good."

I narrow my eyes. "What would you have done?"

But before he can answer, a louder voice clears their throat, silencing us all. I notice that everyone else has trickled downstairs while I was talking to Liam. It's Lucy, standing by the window and grinning. 

"So, is everyone happy with the rooming?"

I exchange glances with a smiling Bertie, look at Tabitha still trying to steal glances from the heavy book she's found, and watch Rose argue in whispers about something with the blonde-haired boy. Yep, I've been very lucky with the rooming.

"Let me check, them. In corridor one, room one, Lisa, Mia, Olivia and Naomi?"

A few girls who are huddled together on one sofa nod in unison.

Lucy nods too, and smiles. "Great. Corridor one, room two, Mason, Steve, Nial and Luke?"

She gets more nods.

"Same corridor, room three, Reena, Evie, Victoria and Noel?"

Cue nodding.

"Last room of corridor one, room four, Dan, Jake and Leon?"

Next corridor.

"Room one, Cierra, Alexis, Luna and Amy?"

"Room two, Nathaniel, Liam, Adam and Harvy?"

Oh. Great. Guess who's my new neighbour for this year? Yep, a certain 'Mr a Dickens'. Well, it certainly won't be boring.

"Room three, Beatrice- is there a shortened version you prefer?" Lucy cuts off and asks Bertie.

"Bertie, please," she replies.

Lucy nods. "Cool. So, as I was saying, Bertie, Rose, Tabitha and Jessica."

We all exchange grins. 

"So, room four, Peter, John and Thomas."

Everyone looks around at each other, and Lucy seems satisfied. 

"Great. Now, we don't hang around here at Silverstone, so you'll be meeting your horses today, if you're using school horses. If not, you can ride your own horses and get them used to the Year Eight indoor school."

Wow. There's separate indoor schools for each year? That's a lot of indoor schools. Suddenly, I'm curious to know how much a yearly school's fees are now. I know the entire upkeep and running of the school depends on them.

"So you all have ten minutes to get into the everyday uniform in your wardrobes, the polo top and beige jodpurs, short boots and riding helmet, and be outside the house. Go!"

We all rush upstairs, clambering to get ready. I sprint down the corridor, Rose in front of me, Bertoe next to me and Tabitha a little way behind. Quickly, I follow Rose through the door, and slam it after Tabitha gets in. Yanking open the wardrobe, I grab the royal blue polo top, beige jods, and pick up the helmet and short boots with my free hand. 

I swiftly get dressed by Bertie's bunk, and pull my messy hair into a ponytail, slip on the boots, and we all jog down the stairs. When we're half way down, Rose realises she's forgotten her helmet, so we have to go and fetch it.

Once we finally get outside, we exit the door to find everyone waiting for us, and I give Lucy a sheepish smile. She checks her watch.

"You really left it down to the last second, girls, but never mind. Come on, follow me. To the stables!"

We form a line as we walk, at the back of Valegro. "I know you bought your own horse, Bertie," I start. "But what about you, Rose? And Tabitha?"

Tabitha answers first. "I bought my dressage mare, Leona. I couldn't live without her."

We all look at her, until she holds both hands up and exclaims, "What?"

Bertoe raises an eyebrow. "Dressage?"

Tabitha shrugs. "I'm a dressage freak. But show jumping is my passion. We bought Leona as a dressage horse, but I figured pretty quickly that she was also built for the jumping ring." Tabitha blushes slightly. "I'm making it sound like she's got super high-class breeding or something. She really hasn't."

"Well, I didn't bring my own," Rose shakes her head ruefully. "I figured it would be fun to start with a fresh horse. My old pony, Dottie, was getting too small for me, so she went to my little cousin Matilda. But I don't really mind, Matilda and my aunt and uncle only live about half an hour away."

I nod. "Great! I'm not entirely alone!"

Everyone laughs at my excited outburst, and I find myself fantasising about which horse - or pony - I'll be paired with.

a/n: So yeah, it's here. Readers, I know you exist! The number of views proves it! So let me know who you are; just drop a comment by! It doesn't have to be very long. Thanks for reading, anyway!

JfMaddie xox 

|| I edited it ever so slightly, so yes, sorry if you were one of the first five readers of this chapter. ||