I Dare You [ Cedar Ridge Equestrian Academy ]

Chapter 1: Welcome to the Machine

I don't know how I got here.
Well I do, but it's the stupidest reason ever. This is surreal. Some rich kid is sobbing themselves to sleep because they didn't get this spot in this Academy. I stole this spot from some kid. I am a bad person. It's like stealing candy from a baby except it's a child's education with their beloved pony.
Speaking of beloved ponies, mine is starting to get bored. Except he's not a pony - he's 16 hands high. And he's a Thoroughbred named after a degenerate child fish that swam away from his daddy.
I absent-mindedly scratch Nemo's grey neck. He swivels his head at the sudden attention being paid to him, interested at why his usually composed owner is standing in a massive gravel parking lot surrounded by heavenly crisp white horse trailers and perfectly groomed competition horses. I turn around and wince slightly at the rented trailer we hired to get my Neem to Cedar Ridge with me. We usually don't go many places, and when I do, I usually have Sasha or Elise with me so I just put my goofy idiot on with their equally goofy horses and we trundle away in a somewhat decent trailer. But funnily enough neither of them (or their parents) were up for 6 hour drive it would take me from Pennsylvania to Virginia. So we hired a pretty shady looking trailer, with the black lettering of "O'neils' Interstate Transport Hire - We move it, you choose it!" spray painted on the side. Which was literally the worst slogan for your transport hire company. Like seriously, what does that even mean? Did you even try?

"Georgie! I did not drive you and Nemo six hours to leave you camping in the bloody driveway!" My dad had watched me standing there for the past two minutes, with Neem becoming more and more interested in slobbering over my light washed jeans. I was wearing some crappy t-shirt from my never ending collection so that didn't matter so much, but dammit horse! I actually like those jeans!
"Sorry dad, do you know where the hell I go and where I put Neem?" I turned around to face him. He pointed to somewhere behind me.
"I assume it's where all the other girls and their horses are standing around."
"Thanks dad, can you maybe give me a hand and find out where I do the non-horse related things?" He sighed and approached one of the many important looking people wandering around the bustling parking lot. I clicked to Nemo and he happily pricked his ears and followed me to the crowd of horses and people, pleased to be moving again. A couple of the girls turned around to see the newcomer, and I was hit by a brick wall of... fancy. They were well dressed, with designer jeans and neat polo tops. They all wore basically the same thing, just in different colors. It was magical. I tried to smile at everyone, and was met with a scowl from a long, blonde-haired girl wearing a navy blue polo. Two of the other girls returned the smile, a girl with brown hair in a pixie cut in purple and a girl in hunter green with long brown hair. I looked at their horses, trying to match lead ropes to horses and then to people. A decent sized chestnut with holy bling was attached to Purple Pixie, while Hunter Green was holding a lead rope to a solid bay. We were like a dysfunctional rainbow, all standing here, with Nemo rocking his red halter. Wait, why is everyone looking at me?
"Ahem. Young lady with the curls. Who might you be?"