Lyneham Academy

~Chapter 1~

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Evie Cooke stared at the letter in her hand, shocked. She had been awarded a scholarship to THE most prestigious equestrian school in the UK, Lyneham Academy – where over 80% of the student body rode. The school had produced many of Evie's eventing idols, so she was extremely excited to be able to go to Lyneham.

"Muuumm, I got in! I'm going to Lyneham." Evie shouted through the house to her mum who was in the kitchen. Footsteps approached as her mum enveloped her in a bear hug.

"Well done sweetie, I'm so proud of you. How about we have a celebratory meal? What would you like?"

"Hmmm..." Evie thought for a moment before answering, "PIZZA!" At the sound, the family dog Cinder ran through and crashed into Evie's legs. "Hey boy, I'm gonna miss you." Evie gave the large collie a hug before standing up, letter in-hand, heading to the kitchen to pin the letter onto the fridge.

"What sort of pizza would you like so I can ring up the takeaway?" Her mum questioned from the hall, "I'm getting the pizza from Giuseppe's!"

"Beef and pepper please mum, my favourite." Evie went up the stairs to her room, collapsing on the bed, worn out from the excitement. She grabbed her laptop and started making a list of all the things she would need to take to Lyneham, Bastille playing through the speakers.

After what felt like forever, Evie's mum shouted up the stairs to tell her the pizza had arrived. Evie discarded her laptop and ran excitedly downstairs.

The only sounds in the kitchen were her and her mum chewing the pizza, with the occasional bark from Cinder and purring from the two cats, Zippy and Biscuit.

Once finished, Evie grabbed her wellies before heading out to the old stables at the back of the house to see her horse, Ellie – a dark brown 16.1hh Swedish Warmblood – who was in the field. At the sound of Evie approaching, Ellie trotted to the fence to see her.

"Hey girl, we're going to Lyneham!" Evie spoke as she pulled a carrot out of her pocket which Ellie happily nibbled, "somehow we got a scholarship! I bet everyone will be really rich, but we've just got to show them that money isn't everything when it comes to riding haven't we. I hope I get a nice roommate who loves horses just as much as I do. It's gonna be fun, I'm really looking forward to it." Ellie just sniffed at Evie's pocket searching for another carrot. Evie laughed and pulled out a packet of polos instead, holding them in front of Ellie so she could take one. The sky started to darken so Evie led Ellie to the stable next to the chickens and gave her a bowl of food and a haynet before heading back to the house.

Evie walked in, pulled her wellies off, and headed upstairs to go to bed. She dreamt of her new school and what sort of friends she would make there.