Timber Creek Academy

~2~

picture of Leo above:)

We reached my dorm-Preston Hall- and pulled on the heavy glass door. It was cool inside, and we were immediately greeted by the dorm monitor.

"Hi guys! Please sign in here," she said cheerily, and pointed to a clipboard on her desk.  I neatly printed my name and my parents did their curly cursive signatures, and then the monitor continued to talk.

"My name's Jessie, and you all must be the Williams," she said, and dug through a box on her chair. She produced a shiny, metal key, and handed it to me.  "You are room 209, and your roommate is Hailey Acre.  I know she already moved in, but I know she said she had to run to get a few things.  Anyway, before you go, let's go over a few of the main rules," she said, and as she rambled on about rules, my eyes drifted down the hall.  The polished concrete floor was white, and the light brown halls made the dorm feel somewhat homey.  Excitement and nervousness bubbled inside of me.  I was anxious to meet Hailey in person.  Even though she isn't here, I was still nervous.  I hope she likes me.

"Do any of you have any questions?" Jessie finally asked, and I shook my head.

"I think we're good," Dad said.

"Great! The stairs are at the end of the hallway, and so is the common room. Let me know if you need anything," she chirped, then began to greet another family that arrived.

"Let's go!" Mom said, and we walked down the hall and up the stairs to room 209.

I clutched the silver key as we stepped up the brown carpeted stairs. We walked down the hall, and on the left we found room 209. I took a breath, then stuck the key in the lock, and twisted it open.

We stepped into the room, and I was relieved when there was no one else in it, just in case Hailey was already back. I wanted to unpack before I met her.

"Oh, this room is charming!" Mom gasped, and she immediately began to list off all of the good qualities it had.  I set my bags down on the bed with no sheets or blankets on it. It was parallel to Hailey's bed, snug next to the window. I glanced at Hailey's bed-her light pink comforter looked cozy with her cream colored sheets. I turned my focus back to my side of the room, where an empty desk and closet awaited.

For the next hour, we all worked to put things away and set things up.  My desk looked similar to the one I had at home.  My laptop sat in the corner, charging on top of my printer. My mini chandelier light stuck under the shelf that held pictures of my family, friends, cats, and Leo, along with my favorite Breyer model horse, a tall bay thoroughbred that looked similar to Leo. The top of the desk had a white board calendar propped up against it, and a cup of multi-colored pens and pencils with stickers all over. I sat my gray and black backpack next to the desk, where it sat fully packed and ready for the first day of school on Monday.

My closet was also filled with my clothes, organized in a specific way.  I divided it into three, one section for my casual clothes, another for my dresses and nicer clothes, and the final section devoted to my riding apparel.  Cotton tees and sweatshirts were on one side, summer dresses and cardigans on the other side, and in the middle hung my show clothes, polos, and icefil shirts for riding. The drawers were full of leggings, jeans, shorts and skirts, and at the bottom were my breeches. I smiled once everything was in place, and there weren't any stray polos mixed with my tank tops.

The last thing to do was set up my bed. Mom neatly tucked in the green paisley printed sheets, and I laid my chocolate brown quilt on top. At the foot of my bed was a fuzzy blanket, my bumblebee PillowPet, and a squishy dolphin pillow-thing that was super cozy to snuggle with. My side of the room looked identical to my room back at home, and it brought me more comfort than I had realized it would.

Once I tucked my last pair of shoes neatly on the floor of my closet, I realized that there was nothing else to unpack, and that meant that it was time for Mom and Dad to go home. I frowned, then turned to them.

"Well, I guess we better make our way home," Dad said, and I walked up and hugged him. "Don't worry kiddo, we'll see you in 3 weeks for a long weekend," he said, trying to cheer me up. I nodded, and smiled. Mom gave me a big hug, and once I had finished saying goodbye, they left the room, and I was all alone.

I peered out the window as I watched their car with the trailer connected drive out of the parking lot, and disappear out of the gates. I was really all alone, and I didn't know what to do.

I checked my phone. It was 3 o' clock. It was too late for lunch, but too early for dinner. I sat on my bed, and thought about what to do. I could go and visit Leo, but I didn't want to run into that girl that I met in the tack room. I was too nervous to go and look around, but I didn't just want to sit in the room. I decided I'd go check on Leo, and maybe take him for a walk around the stable.

I pulled on my boots, grabbed my key, then headed down the stairs of the dorm and out into the fresh air. I looked at the picture I took of the school map on my phone, then made my way to the barn.

I walked to the quiet aisle where I found Leo munching away on his hay. He nickered at me when I reached his stall door, and I unlatched the door and swung it open. I closed it halfway, then wrapped my arms around Leo's neck.

"Hey boy, it's only been an hour and a half but I already miss you!" I said jokingly, but I really did. He's all I got right now. I kissed his cheek, then snapped his colorful lead rope onto his halter, and took him out of his stall.

We walked outside into the warm air, and we walked around the backside of the stable. Horses poked their heads out of their windows, all curious about the new horse. Leo lifted his head high, and neighed to the horses. A cute dappled gray horse whinnied back, and Leo pricked his ears towards the horse. "Aw, did you make a friend, boy?" I said with a smile. I led him over to the friendly horse, and they touched noses.

"Get away from my horse!" a girl's voice yelled from inside the stall, spooking Leo. Leo shuffled backwards, and rose high into the air, and the lead slipped from my hands. I gasped, and at the last second I gripped the rope hard, and I held on. Leo returned all four hooves to the ground, and I gathered the lead line. "Easy boy, easy," I said quietly to him, and he flared his nostrils and snorted. "Easy," I said again, and he lowered his head and calmed down.

"What was that?" I said back to the girl, and when I realized who it was, I wanted to scream. It was the bratty girl from the tack room!

"Um, what were you doing leading your horse up to mine? How do I know your horse doesn't have a disease, or isn't caught up on his vaccines? You could've made Luna sick!" she spat at me.

"Leo's not sick! Besides, to bring your horse here they have to be up to date on vaccines, you should know that," I replied, still fuming at the girl.

"Whatever, just stay away from Luna.  She was very expensive, and we have a show next week," she said, then disappeared from sight.

I shuddered, then looked over Leo to make sure he was okay from his scare.  He was fine, back to his normal self.  I, however, was not. I was still seeing red. I took a breath, then continued on me and Leo's walk.

The rest of the walk was uneventful, and soon, Leo was back in his stall eating his dinner. It was already 5:13 by the time I left the barn. Time to go back and meet Hailey!

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A/N: second chapter!! im thinking about maybe updating every other day, so it gives me time to write more chapters:) please comment and vote!!

thanks guys -kate-