Kingston University for the Gifted

Chapter 5: Can I Collapse Now?

"So I'll see you in Chemistry, English Lit, and Barn Management," Opal mumbles through a mouthful of cereal. She passes my crumpled schedule back and takes another bite.

Matt sends me an amused glance. "Kyle already knows the Chemistry professor well, don't you, Kyle?"

I groan and roll my eyes. "Why'd I have to open my mouth and tell you about that?"

"You can't help it," Matt laughs. "The rule is, you tell your roommate everything."

"Which is why you told me about YOUR adventures yesterday," I say with a smile.

Matt nervously glances at Carmela, who looks up from her scone curiously. "What did he do yesterday?" she asks. Neville looks on with an amused glance. He made a nice addition to our impromptu group, actually.

Matt shakes his head at me, eyes wide. "When Kiera made us play hide and seek with our horses yesterday," I grin, "she sent our friend Matt here to the girls locker room in the swim complex." Matt glares at me. If looks could kill, I'd be face first in my plate right now.

Carmela and Opal burst into laughter. "It was empty!" Matt protests. "I promise!"

I hold hand over my mouth to keep myself from howling with laughter... again. "And you know what Kiera told him after?" I ask, shoulders shaking. "'Well, I couldn't very well put a mare in the boys' locker room!'"

Carmela snorts and covers her mouth. "I really need to meet this Kiera," she giggles. "I think we'd get along well." She picks up her plate and carries it over to the dishwasher, the rest of us trailing behind.

"I can't believe you don't eat more, Carmela," Neville says. "You'd think a gymnast would burn almost as many calories as an equestrian."

"You haven't seen her eat at night," Opal laughs. "I stopped by her room to have pizza last night and the girl ate a large and a half."

"I'm an athlete," Carmela protests. "It's good for me to get enough food."

Neville shakes his head. "I suppose pizza is listed with the good foods?" he asks pointedly. Carmela nods solemnly.

We approach the door to the cafeteria. "Who else has Chemistry with me?" I ask. "Besides Opal, I mean."

"I do," Neville says. We stroll towards the chemistry building and slip into the classroom just as the bell rings.

Dr. Rogers stands up from her place behind the desk. "Just in time," she mutters. She clears her throat. "Class, since the equestrian team was excused from Chemistry yesterday, they missed introductions. This is Neville Prescott, Opal Alguero, and the infamous Mr. Kyle Trevail."

I wince. "Infamous already? That's a bit harsh." Opal laughs softly in front of me.

"Mm, well, it's unfortunately accurate, Mr. Trevail. Please, take any empty seat." Dr. Rodgers turns to the whiteboard and begins to list off the states of matter.

---

50 minutes and four pages of notes later, Neville and I are studying a campus map.

"Why is this so hard to read?" I complain. I point to a building on the map. "Why are there two electives buildings?"

Neville shakes his head. "It's as if they want us to get lost."

A hand come from behind us and points to the electives building 2. "You're going to want that one if you're going to Barn Management."

I spin around, almost knocking the map out of Neville's hand. "Oh, hi Brandon!" I say to the RA. "Thanks!"

Neville checks his watch and sprints across the campus. I scoop up my bag and follow as fast as I can.

"Why must we always be panting when we burst into classrooms?" I ask Neville as we jog into the building.

He shrugs. "More dramatic, I guess. Oh, here it is, room 284." He pushes the door open.

I stride over to Opal and Matt. The classroom is smaller compared to the Chemistry class, but then, there are only twelve of us. Every one of the riders took this class.

Maggie and Justin are in the corner, going through the textbook. Willow, Faith, and Sarah are giggling and throwing glances at James and Marcus, who are eating it up.

The door bursts open and a tall, balding man shoos us to our seats.

"Good morning, class," he booms. "My name is Mr. Weinstein, and I'm the barn manager here at Kingston. That means I get the privilege of teaching this barn management class for a semester. I'm sure you all signed up for Equine Health next semester; that will be taught by the Biology professor. She was a former vet. Please take out your textbooks."

I rustle through my bag and pull out my textbook, which is currently in new condition, but won't be for long.

"Now, if you turn to page xi, you'll see an introduction to management..."

--------------

Sol looks exhausted. He's clean and sweat-free, thanks to the hose down I gave him after our workout, but Kiera put us through a hell of a calorie-burning drill.

I let out a huge breath and flop down next to him. The horse isn't the only one who's tired.

Three classes and two whirlwind workouts a day are near impossible. As my math professor told me, You'll get used to it. Dammit, I hope so.

An upbeat whicker sounds from the stall next to me. I can't believe Prim still has the energy to stand up, much less look for company. Then again, she's had a few hours of rest. Sol, on the other hand, is very happy to lie here for a while. He moves his head next to my hand and snorts softly.

The heat of my apparently very affectionate stallion combined with the musty smell of hay and horse sweat is enough to close my eyes.

I'm sure I've only been drifting in and out of conscienceness for a few minutes. Can't have been that long, but soon enough, I hear quiet footsteps and a soft laugh from the stall door.

"Comfortable, Kyle?"

I blink the drowsiness out of my eyes and look up at Kiera. "Um... yeah, actually. What time is it?" I ask.

She smiles and shrugs. "Only about quarter to six. You haven't missed dinner yet, though I'm pretty sure you don't have time to change."

I feel Sol stirring behind me. My hand falls off his head as he raises it to look at me. My eyes widen. "Aw, shoot, he's been lying down too long! I've got to let him get up." I heave my body upwards. Sol stretches and pulls himself up behind me. He shakes his head and steps toward the water buckets.

I look at Kiera, who's watching with an amused expression. "Why are you here so close to dinner?" I yawn.

"Checking on the horses," she replies. "I want to see how they recovered from the workout today."

I glare at her. "The workout from hell?"

She laughs. "Yes, the workout from hell. I wanted to see how far I could push you before you collapsed. Now get to dinner before you miss it."

I let myself out of the stall and jog towards the dining hall, giving Kiera a backwards wave.

I think I'm going to eat more than Michael Phelps tonight.