Red Oak Academy Book One: Mount Up

~Chapter Twenty Four~

I sat up quickly, trying to figure out where I was. I slowly sank back down under my soft covers as I remembered. That's right, I'm home. I was back in Romney, West Virginia for Christmas break. I had taken the eight hour trip home the day before.

I slowly drug myself away from my warm burrow and slid my feet into a pair of super fuzzy slippers my sister had given me as an early Christmas gift. I unplugged my phone from the charger and saw I had five new texts. I opened up the first from Tori.

Tori: plz txt me, we need 2 talk

I closed it without bothering to reply. The next was from Liz.

Liz: hey, just wondering how ur doing, call me later?

Rilee: prtty good, u? yep! :)

I smiled at the thought of my friend. She too had gone home for break but she got to take Sadie with her where as I had to leave Dandy at ROA.

I had two messages from James and I quickly opened them.

James: hey sunshine, u up yet?
James: so i'm gonna assume not, boring here w/out u, i luv u, txt me
Rilee: hey sorry babe, i just woke up, thinking of u, i luv u ♡♡

James had decided to stay on campus during the break because he had a lot of major projects to finish before they were due at the end of break. He knew he would be too distracted at home to finish them so he opted to stay at ROA.

I realized I still had another message and I opened it, wondering who it was from. I squealed with excitement as I realized it was my old best friend from before I went  to ROA.

Rachel: hey girly, heard u were home and thought i'd come visit, is that ok? I thought we could ride and maybe do mani/pedis and a movie marathon?

I hurried to reply.

Rilee: sure!! we need to catch up and i am sooo bored!!

I hit send and tossed my phone onto my bed. Ruffling through my closet, I decided on a pair of sea green breeches with black accents and a black polo. I went to the bathroom that adjoined my bedroom and did my hair and make-up. I gave my slicked back ponytail a once over and satisfied, I went back to my room and grabbed my phone.

Rachel had already replied and I opened her message quickly.

Rachel: gr8! b there in 15!

I typed a quick reply and sent it.

Rilee: kay! ♡

I hurried downstairs and grabbed a glazed donut from the counter, and poured myself a glass of milk. I sat down at the table and scrolled through my Instagram feed while I waited for Rachel to show up.

15 minutes later exactly, I heard a car pull up and a horn honk. I dropped my empty milk glass in the sink and grabbed my purse from where it was laying on the table.

I slipped my riding boots on and ran out the door. Rachel stepped out from the back seat of her mother's blue Ford Escape and ran towards me.

"Ri!" She squealed, running up and wrapping me in a hug.

"Rach!" I hugged her back. "I missed you so much!"

She held me at arms length and looked me over. "You look awesome! Boarding school looks good on you!"

"Thanks! You look great too!" And she did. Her platinum blonde hair was straightened and fell almost to her butt. Her blue eyes stood out thanks to the minimal amount of makeup. Her teeth that had been covered in metal brakets when I had left were now perfectly straight and lined up.

She brushed her black breeches off and my eyes were drawn to her small waist. "Rach! You lost more weight!"

When we met in elementary school, Rachel had been over 175 pounds. She had been picked on horribly and it got to the point where she didn't even want to go to school so she would fake that she was sick.

When we reached the summer before middle school, she had made up her mind to loose weight. Since Romney is such a small town, the elementary school is joined with three other schools from nearby towns to create one large Middle School.

Rachel joined a gym and started exercising. She also changed her diet and started eating healthier. I had supported her the whole time, even waking up and running with her at 5:30 in the morning before everyone woke up.

All her hard work paid off and the first day of high school she was at 120 pounds. She looked great and people didn't even recognize her. She tried out for cheerleading and made it, and now she was the head cheerleader.

Rachel blushed and looked at the ground, "Yeah, I feel great too. I... have something to tell you when we get to the barn."

I looked at her closely. "Are you okay Rach?"

"Yeah," she blushed, "it's a good thing, I promise."

I nodded and we climbed into the back seat of the car. Rachel's mom turned around and smiled at me, "We've missed having you at our house," she said.

I smiled, "I've missed being at your house." Rachel and I would have weekend long sleepovers at both our houses.

She smiled and we headed to the barn which is only twenty minutes from my house. On a normal day, I would ride my bike to the barn but today I was glad to be hanging out with my best friend.

××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××
Hey guys!! Love you all for being patient with the slow updates but school is super busy right now!!

This was not the best chapter, but it was mainly filling you in on Rachal's background.

In the media is the actual town of Romney, West Virginia. It is beautiful!

Love you all and thanks for your support!

Kisses,
Abbi ♥♥