Something to Prove

Chapter 2: Home Sweet Home, Right?

I lead Fallon towards the stable and tried to calm my racing pulse. Fallon pricked her golden ears forward and pranced along beside me, curious about her new surroundings. Inside the stable, I almost stopped walking. It was so gorgeous! Large box stalls made with glossy dark wood lined the wide aisle, and beautiful horses hung their heads over the half-doors of their stalls as we went by.

"Here's yours, Aspen," dad said from further down the aisle. He was stopped at a stall that had "marking the beginning of the new; aka Fallon" written on a gold nameplate on the door. Beneath Fallon's name was: "Aspen white", and I couldn't help notice the lack of the words: "owned by". I mean, sure, I only lease Fallon for now, but I had an agreement with my old coach back home that said if I could get Fallon back into shape, she would be mine. It bothered me that this apparently wasn't recognized by anybody else.

I shook the negative thoughts off while I finished getting Fallon settled and all my tack put away in the huge tack room. The tack room itself was immaculate; each rider had their own space for their tack trunk with a rack and hook above it for a saddle and bridle. I grinned as I stood back and admired my gleaming tack, glad the hours of polishing it made it look so professional.

Walking out of the barn, I felt the nerves returning. Now all that was left to do was get my bags up to my dorm, then I'd have to say good-bye to my parents. I faked a smile as I walked towards where they were standing with my things.

"Ready to head to your new dorm?" mom asked. I nodded, not trusting my voice. The three of us started off towards Orchard Hall, where I would be living for the next ten months. The thought filled me with a nameless dread. Oh, stop being so silly, I thought. You're fifteen, for goodness-sakes. Time to pull up your socks and get it done. We reached the three-story building in no time, and I sighed with relief when I saw that we had beaten the rush of everyone moving in. For once, mom was right to make us come so early.

Once inside, we were greeted enthusiastically by a pretty girl with curling brown hair. She introduced herself as Stephanie, the dorm advisor. Stephanie showed us to my new room, all the while going over the various rules of Orchard. My parents listened intently, while I tried not to hyperventilate. When we got to room 205, Stephanie paused. "This will be your room, which you'll share with Carly Hart," she said. I nodded slowly, just wanting to get this over with. Needless to say, meeting the girl who I would be living with all year was giving me some major stress. Stephanie smiled. "I'll give you some time to unpack and settle in, but don't hesitate to come to me if you have any questions." I said that yes, of course I would, and turned to face the door. The shiny dark wood showed my reflection a little, and I could see how worried I looked. Get a grip, this isn't that big of a deal! I scolded myself. With what was probably my thousandth deep breathe today, I turned the doorknob, opened the door and stepped inside.

My first feeling was relief; Carly wasn't here. But she was here, since there was a pile of luggage on one of the beds. I took in the room as I turned in a slow circle. It was cute, with warm cream coloured walls. We had a small kitchen area off in the corner by the door, and a good-sized bathroom. The mahogany wood floors made the space feel warm. There were two twin beds across from each other, each had a window two steps away. I opened the closet door nearest my and saw that they were larger than I thought they'd be. Bonus.

I dumped my bags on the empty bed and turned to my parents. They both smiled sadly.

"I guess this is where we leave you," dad said sadly. Without speaking, I went over and hugged them both. "I'll miss you guys so much," I said, struggling to keep back tears. We stay like that for another moment.

"Okay, I guess we'd better be going" mom said. She kissed my forehead, then, after I promised to email and text and call whenever possible, they left. Just like that, I was alone.