Mossy Hill Academy~ The Competition

Chapter 5

On Monday Morning when my alarm goes off at six am, Weslow and I both groan. She hates waking up early, but I'm groaning because of another reason. I have to try and ovoid Weslow, Mali and James today. I jump out of bed and head to the shower first, my clothes are already laid out in there from last night. The hot water stings at my body, refreshing me, and waking me up. What's on today? Monday: it must be English, horse care, maths, Japanese, science, maths and I'm on stall mucking okay. Great, absolutely lovely, I mean, who doesn't love mucking stalls?! ME.
I don't even have a riding lesson, but at least I can go near horses now. I wouldn't have cared about the detentions, the horse suspension stang, especially since Jack would have gone to Sue. That part was the tipping level, she can give me a million detentions, just as long as Jack stays safe. I would wish the same for Snooker, but I don't even know if he'll get better.
Before school starts I go outside to see Jack, though he is a thoroughbred has never raced at all. He was actually a polo horse, A-grade. Considering his age of 19 it's pretty good, most polo horses have to retire or drop a few grades at 16, because they can't keep up with the young horses. Jack had to stop polo because his owner went off to University and had to sell him to pay for the fees, it's sad, but not entirely for me.
I whistle out, just a regular long and loud whistle, because I'm bored. Then Jack looks up and gallops over to me, then he stops to munch some grass. He's just been fed by Tijax, his food is in the trough with some water mixed in with it, because of his asthma.
"Hey Jack..." I coo, then grab some grass in my hand and hold it out to him. Obviously the grass on my side tastes better than the grass on his side, because he then leans over the fence to gobble up more grass.
"You greedy thing, if you keep this up you'll get colic." I tut.
He takes one look at me, and then eats more grass. Then I get an idea, I usually ride Dream, and because Sue was going to ride him, so he must be a okay to ride. So it's settled, tomorrow in my lesson I shall ride Jack.
I head to my locker to grab my things, and then head to my first class of the day. The long week begins now.

Horse care finally comes around and I can't wait, I'll brush Dream and Snooker, then I'll see if I can go for a ride. I've noticed rumours around, and I'm trying to not let them get to me. I saw Katrina speaking to one of the other girls in our class, and they looked at me and the other girl looked horrified. I have a bad feeling it's about Snooker, and I have a feeling it's the wrong story. I ignore it and head to Dream, I quickly give her a brush, she's not very dirty and haven't had much of a chance to ride her lately.
I walk over to the teacher supervising us, and it's mum. Great. She's on her phone talking to someone, and from what I gather it's the vet talking about Snooker.
"Mum..." I whisper so she can hear me.
"What? I'm on the phone Zelie."
"Can I go for a quick ride?" I ask
"Whatever, just don't get into any trouble." She arches her eyebrows when she says the word trouble. It's not my fault trouble sticks to me like a magnet.
I head off to say goodbye to Dream before I go, then I walk over to Jack. Someone's brought him into his stall, so I grab his won tack, and we saddle up. The trail I decide to go on is the one that reminds me of home, it's like the rail trail, and has pine trees. Jack walks along and I give him the cue to trot, life is so slow, lets speed it up.
Weslow hasn't talked to me all day, and I haven't seen James, others might be upset about that, but not me. I'm glad, it makes my task a lot easier.
I must have jinxed myself or something, because from behind me is Mali. It would have been better if it was Weslow or James, but no, it had to be Mali. I'm wary about her, my mind has been on her a lot. did she give Sue that photo? Does she like me? Is she with Sue and Katrina?
I really don't want to talk to her, so I pretend I haven't seen her, and I click my tongue, Jack goes into a smooth gallop. We veer off the trail and into the forest, then slow to a walk. People get lost in here all the time, but not me. I love this forest, there's peace of you know where to look. Today it's no vert peaceful, there's a strange thud and buzzing coming from my left. I glance at my watch, I have ten minutes until the bell, but it's taken us at least twenty to get here. I guess we'll have to see what that strange sound is later.
Quickly turning Jack around with a promise that we will come back, and we transfer to a trot, canter, then gallop, full speed! We zoom down the trail, leaving the forest behind us, and I hope we make it in time. The teachers here are good, but they're strict, and if I'm late then I'll get a detention.
Luckily Jack's speed gets us to the stables with three minutes to spare, and although he is very puffed, still manages to give me a hug.
"Thanks boy." I pat his forehead, and his white fur gets all over my uniform. I sigh, but it was worth it. Then I realise we didn't have to hurry back, it's recess. Leading Jack back to his stall I sigh, we could have gone further in the forest. Next time.
I scrape the sweat from his coat, and then I continue to give him a thorough brush. He stands there patiently, occasionally nudging me for a pat, but once he is all shiny and glossy I feed him a carrot. Before I leave I put his pretty halter on, and throw over his rug over him. So he stays warm after our tiring ride, then with one last pat I leave him with some fresh Lucerne and water.