"Rewards hard earned are never easily kept"
Savannah Bell has earned a coveted position at Silver Hawk Ridge, a prestigious equestrian academy. Upon arrival, she discovers it is not the end of her trials. It's hard enough being a teenage girl...
As always, the sweetness of summer was all too soon replaced with the grind of school. I awoke to my alarm at 5 AM and heard Izzy stumbling around in the bathroom. She was likely trying to get going for practice. While I would like to be in her shoes, or going right alongside her, I also appreciate the extra time in the morning. I had a small, slightly heavy pillow I had quickly dubbed "The Avery Pillow" for wake up purposes (or to get her to move her head out of the pillow so that she'd STOP SNORING) that I blindly chucked toward her bed in the dark, knowing it would hit its target (I'd perfected the art after a couple days).
"Watch you chuck that pillow and knock over a lamp one day, I DARE you" she muttered. I flicked on my lamp and rubbed my hands over my face in a halfhearted attempt to wake up. Swinging my legs over to meet the floor was a cold, rude awakening. While Avery flung open the doors to her closet to get clothes laid out, I shuffled to the bathroom to freshen up. I found Bianca furiously brushing her teeth and Izzy nowhere to be found, likely headed for the barn. I joined Bianca by the sink, washing my face and (not quite as violently) brushing my teeth. I swapped places with Avery to get my clothes together. After careful deliberation, I decided on dark ripped jeans, flowy white shirt, denim jacket, and brown ankle boots. I went ahead and tied a rust colored flannel around my waist, because why the heck not?
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I grabbed my grandmother's ring and paired it with a silver horseshoe necklace. One brush through my waves and a dab of light makeup later, I was ready to go. Shoving my laptop and charger into my grey north face backpack, I hoisted the load over my shoulder.
"Avery, you coming?"
"Yeah. Just — ow— a second. Alright, let's go". She had donned an army green cropped t-shirt, black leggings, and white vans, just letting her brunette waves run wild. She had her mint backpack loaded onto her shoulders as well. "To the food!"
In the mess hall, we found our crew looking bleary eyed at the table. Bianca and Madeline were at least up and talking, but Charlie was concentrated on picking through a muffin. Not long after, Izzy jogged to the table, fresh from her lesson, backpack bouncing. She'd showered and changed, hair slicked back in a bun wearing skinny light-wash jeans paired with a white black sailor-striped shirt with three-quarter sleeves, all tied with tan Sperry's™️.
"Well! That was certainly an interesting lesson." She huffed. "That Ms. Flint is something fierce. And she's got two others to back her up, so you're under scrutiny at all times." I let out a quiet chuckle at her unusual state of harried thinking. After we all scarfed down our breakfasts, we headed off on our separate ways. I had AP Calculus first thing in the morning, so being awake was a must. Strolling in, the room was completely empty save for one person: Drew Willard. Ooooh crap. Talk about an unlucky draw.
I slid into a seat front and center, avoiding any and all confrontation. Looking up at the board, I could see the teacher had asked us to pick up some papers from the front. Sounds like good old syllabus day to me. As I laid my hand down to pick up the last paper, a warmth source brushed mine. I steeled my nerves and turned again to face him.
