I Dare You [ Cedar Ridge Equestrian Academy ]

Chapter 8: Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

I slumped on my bed in the dorm. 4:39pm. After exercising the horses, cooling them off and putting them back in their stalls, I was dead tired. Dinner was in 20 minutes and Tahlia was reading on her bed.
"Hey." I let out a long sigh.
"God I'm so tired." I pulled off my breeches and put my dark jeans back on. It's only been half a day and I've already dirtied three sets of clothing. I sat up.
"Are you and the others doing anything tomorrow?" Tahlia nodded, engrossed in her book.
"Yeah. We're going into town to stock up on junk food." She seemed a little out of it after the ride, and I felt a little bad because it was probably partly my fault.
"Mind if I come?"
"Sure. I don't think Shawna's coming, she wanted to lunge Willow and do some studying." Studying? Already? Sheesh, I never studied. I should, but I don't.
"Sweet. Also, dinner's in 20 minutes."
"Oh shit," she checked her watch, "I completely lost track of time." I hadn't seen Kirsten at all since lunch, not that I was complaining. She seemed like one of Holly's cronies.

I slid in next to Zoe in the dining hall. Thankfully, they were proper booths and not plastic lawn stuff. Shawna and Tahlia were seated across from us, and Casey slid in next to me. It was a comfortable size for six people, you could potentially fit eight if you squeezed in enough. Shawna's eyes flick to above my head, and her face curled into a scowl. A perfectly made up Kirsten was leaning backwards against our booth, chewing gum obnoxiously loudly. I swear if she drops that into my hair I might actually flip her over the table or something. She smiled falsely at Shawna and Tahlia.
"Heyyyy Tahlia, are you trying out for the dressage team this year? I mean what else would you do, considering you don't even jump?" Wow. I wasn't sure Kirsten could string a sentence together, yet here she was, proving me wrong, albeit poorly.
"What a stunning observation Kirsten. Perhaps you would like to grace us with some more deep intellectual talk? To answer your question, I am trying out for dressage and polo." Tahlia huffed.
"Ooof, expanding our horizons are we? You never struck me as the adventurous type. Maybe your friends will have you walking over cross rails yet!" She quipped. I turned around, despite my internal efforts to shut my mouth.
"What's suddenly got you so talkative Kirsten? I always thought you were dark and mysterious, not blue eyeshadow and obnoxious whining." Another head popped up. Holly fuckin' Jackson, of course. And another girl with strawberry blonde hair I didn't recognise but looked equally intelligent enough to fit in.
"Look Trips, you really shouldn't be talking shit. That sort of stuff could get you into trouble. Both of you, actually." She eyed Tahlia evilly. Casey and Shawna stayed quiet. Zoe was fuming in her seat next to me.
"If I were Sunburn's true friends, I'd be telling her to get rid of that nut bag mutt minature of hers, she's going to get nowhere in competition if her horse can't even trot a straight line with out absolutely losing it. Alexa's finally grown out of her pony, it's about time you did too." The three slithered back into their seats. I hissed under my breath, Shawna sat quietly looking at her hands and Tahlia just rolled her eyes. Casey quietly mumbled something about getting cutlery and slid out the booth. Zoe looked like she might actually kill someone, be it a knife through the back of the chair or something. She was just like Elise, nothing would calm her down but time.
"You guys can go get your food, me and Zoe will mind the booth." Shawna got up eagerly and queued at the food line, while Tahlia trailed behind a bit. Casey came back with cutlery and set up the table for us. Every once in a while blonde bimbo laughs would shriek out from behind me, and every time I would audibly make a noise of disgust. Shawna and Tahlia set down their plates and slide into the booth. Chicken. Grilled chicken and salad is what it looks like. Zoe jabs me in the ribs.
"Yo, I know the food's pretty bad I'm starving so get your ass out of the way." She teased. I scoot out and Casey follows us to the food line. Casey taps me on the shoulder and I turn to her.
"I'm worried about Shawna, she loves Willow so much but those girls are so mean to her. She's a little bit... I dunno, fragile?" I chewed my bottom lip. She was right. The way she scowled when she saw Kirsten's head pop up and her uncomfortable fiddling after the encounter. Tahlia didn't seem all that bothered, at least no more so than she was this afternoon.
"Yeah. I noticed that. Aren't you two roommates?" She nodded.
"I just worry. She won't ever fight back because she's well... Shawna." A round wrinkled lunch lady handed me a plate of grilled chicken. She looked like every cafeteria worker stereotype ever. Where do they find all these old creepy women to man the food lines?
"Totally. I'm gonna drop my food and grab a Coke from the vending machine, try not to let Zoe inhale my food." Casey giggled. Everything that girl did was exuberant. I dropped my plate and jogged to the vending machines. All out of Coke. Damn.
I wandered back over and sat down. Tahlia and Casey were engrossed in a conversation about different nosebands and their effects on the horse's breathing (seriously) and Shawna was quietly picking at her food. Zoe looked at me quizzically.
"No Coke? Why didn't you just get a Pepsi or something?"
"A PEPSI OR SOMETHING?!" I exclaimed. A very startled Shawna looked up at me. "How dare you suggest such an unholy beverage! It is not the same and will never be the same!" Zoe spluttered on her water.
"Dude. Look out guys, Georgie is very passionate about Coca-Cola." I smiled and started on my bland chicken. The honey mustard made it somewhat towards the nicer scale of average but really. I needed that stash of junk food.
"So guys. Going into town tomorrow? I need something that has a taste and isn't just plain sustenance." I muttered.
"Oath girl. We need to junk this place up." Zoe commented. Casey and Tahlia nodded happily.
"Hey Shawna, want me to pick anything up for you?" Shawna looked bewildered at the mention of her name.
"Uhh... If they have any tomato flavoured Lays can you grab a pack for me?"
"What, do they fuel the color of you hair and skin?" Snickering from a booth over. Zoe thumped the back of the chair with vigor.
"Real smart. Shut the fuck up." Zoe hissed I couldn't resist it anymore. If Shawna wasn't going to stand up for herself, I would. I grabbed the salad dressing and tipped half the bottle behind my chair. Shrieks and gasps ensued. Boom, headshot.
"You. BITCH." Kirsten wailed. Wrong person, but close enough. I saw a stony faced teacher stalk over to her.
"Young. Lady. Is that ANY way to talk to your peers?"
"MISS REYNOLDS SHE TIPPED SALAD DRESSING ON MY HEAD!" Kirsten whined loudly.
"Ms Riley. This is no way to go about making friends at your new school. I am sure you value your scholarship dearly and I assure another potential student will too if this behaviour becomes regular. As for you, Ms Aarons, as I am sure you are aware, swearing is a warning." Kirsten opened her mouth as to argue. "Young lady I dare say this the fastest one has obtained a warning in Cedar Ridge history. Perhaps a congratulations is in order." A moment of silence for sass queen teacher Miss Reynolds.
"Georgie, please come and see me before leaving the mess hall. I believe some cleanup is in order." And with that, my new favourite teacher spun in her heels and whisked away. A whisper through the side of the booth.
"Georgie Riley, don't think you'll ever get away with this. You will pay twice over for your mistakes." The voice of Holly Jackson once more. Shawna looked concerned.
"You shouldn't have done that for me." She frowned. "I don't want you to get in trouble." I shrugged easily. I was never a well-behaved student.
"It's just a bit of cleanup. No big deal. You guys go to bed, I'll clean up and meet you in the third floor lounge?" Casey smiled.
"Sounds good. I think there's a Scrabble board somewhere."

I hauled myself up the stairs out of breath after my particularly uninteresting cleanup. Just a dash of balsamic vinegar, really. It was quarter past six and I already exhausted. I turned to the left to the kitchen and lounge area. A couple of the girls were watching reruns of How I Met Your Mother on the TV. Casey was pulling a few of the sofas closer to the coffee table to surround the game. I was so bad at Scrabble. I sat on the edge of the sofa next to Zoe. Tahlia had already set up the board and letter stands.
"Where's Shawna?"
"Right here!" She sat next to Zoe on the couch with a mug of tea in hand. I leant into the squishy sofa.
"Okay then, shall we start?"

Casey absolute wrecked shop with 'vestige' and a total score of 167 points. Bloody smart girl. Me and Tahlia went back to our dorm before taking turns to shower and get into our pyjamas. Thankfully Balsamic Vinegar wasn't in the dorm yet. I assume she showered in Holly's room or something before calling her daddy to talk about the massive bitch who was new to the school. I yawned widely and checked my phone. Nearly 8:30. Ah crap. I forgot to call dad. I shot him a quick text assuring him I was alright and that I'd call in the morning, before scrolling through Instagram and falling asleep, phone on my face, not even under covers.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
MORE FILLER STUFF I'm so sorry D: next chapter is going to be another filler, but hopefully stuff will start happening soon and more horses will be involved //facepalm