Carry On (Book 1)

Chapter 3:

Ariel's POV:

It had been an emotional goodbye with the twins after we had finally gotten all my bags into my dorm and Storms things set in the tack room.

" It's only a month until fall break... " I had assured them. " Storm and I will be back before you know it! So don't drive dad too crazy! "

They had giggled in unison before dad told them to go back to the truck and wait for him. Our goodbye was less emotional and more cold.

" You can't go catatonic again... " I told him. " I'm not there... "

" I won't... " He assured me.

" Promise? "

" Promise "

We shared a brief hug and then I was all alone.

The dorm was nice, much bigger than my room at home, which made sense considering it was meant for two people instead of just one.

Because of my late acceptance into the academy, I hadn't had time to be set up with a roommate, so for the time being I was on my own.

I didn't mind that...

In an hour flat I had my side of the room decorated how I like it. I covered the pale yellow walls with old posters of famous horses and riders alike, including one that had my mother and her old horse on it. The picture on the poster was my mother preforming a trick that she was most known for.

Jumping one horse tackless over another horse that was laying on the ground. I had only seen her preform the trick a few times, with two horses that she had worked with for years. It was my dream to recreate that same trick with Storm and another horse one day.

But Storm and I still had a long way to go before we could even attempt any stunt like that.

A new laptop sat charging on the desk at the foot of my bed. It had been a gift from the school since I couldn't afford my own computer and it was required for students to be able to receive emails from their teachers and submit online projects.

My bed was covered in my sheets and blankets from home, just simple black and white plaid blankets over a plain white sheet.

In case it wasn't obvious, plaid was my favourite design.

I checked the time on my phone and realized that it was almost time for the equestrian meeting in the indoor arena.

I glanced at the one box left on the ground by the closet. My dad had given me the box as a going away present, saying what was inside used to belong to my mother.

I hadn't had the courage to see what exactly was inside yet.

I kicked the box into the closet and quickly shut the door. Grabbing my room key, phone (hand-me-down from dad) and slipping back into my boots, I left my dorm hall- named Denver hall (after one of the founding members of Willow Lanes Academy's faculty, Franklin B. Denver) and made my way back to the stables.

Denver hall was the closet dorm to the stable so a lot of students that were part of the equestrian program lived there.

I admired the line of Willow trees that you seemingly couldn't escape from anywhere around campus. The school had apparently been built around the trees, hence where it received its name from.

Following the cobblestone path, I kept my gaze down, not wanting to bring anymore attention to myself than I had earlier.

Mr. Mallen has shown me and my family around the whole campus, but the stables were by far the most impressive. He had also introduced me to one of the two daughters of the headmistress, Madison Samuels. I couldn't bring myself to say more than a hi to her. The daughter of the headmistress was no doubt not impressed by me, and why would she? She was dressed up nicely in designer brand clothes while I was wearing the same clothes I had had for years now.