Rolling Hills Academy

First Day

Hey y'all! I hope everyone's having a fantastic week. As you can tell the last two chapters have been pretty long (between 3000-4000) words. In your guys opinion would you rather have longer chapters come out with more time between them or would you prefer shorter chapters with less time between them? Feel free to let me know. I want to make sure that you guys enjoy reading it and aren't bored by the length. This chapter is a bit shorter than usual to help y'all decide what you like best. That being said, I hope you enjoy this chapter! xoxo

The rest of Sunday went by pretty quickly. Violet and I spent the rest of our day watching a Twilight marathon and arguing over who was better. Violet had tried to convince me that Jacob was better than Edward.

"Edward is kind and actually cares for Bella. There were so many times he should've left her but he didn't because he cared for her. Jacob just wanted to get with her the whole time." I had told her. After our marathon was over, we prepared all of our stuff for the first day of school. We swapped schedules and compared classes.

"Hey we both have English and Biology in the morning together!" Violet exclaimed.

"That's awesome!" I replied. I continued looking over her schedule and frowned when I noticed something. "Uh, Violet?" I asked. "Did the guidance counsellor make a mistake on your time table?"

Violet leaned over and peered at where I was pointing. She laughed and shook her head. "No silly. That's supposed to be there."

I gaped at her. "You mean to tell me that you purposely took German III?" I said in shock. "That's basically fluent!"

She laughed. "It's not even close to fluent you goose. I just really enjoy the class and I happen to be decent at it. I wanted to challenge myself this year so I decided to take the advanced course." She grabbed her schedule and folded it neatly, placing it on her desk.

"My roommates a German genius. You should teach me a few words sometime. I wonder if Casper would listen to me." I grinned.

The rest of the night carried on. Violet and I had become comfortable with each other, and as we prepped for the next day we laughed and talked as if we had known each other forever. I was so glad that I had someone as awesome as Violet as a roommate and friend. She definitely has helped my transition go smoother. All too soon, 10:30 rolled around and we climbed into bed. I grabbed a book off my bookshelf and wiggled under the covers.

"Do you mind if I read for a bit? It usually helps me fall asleep." I asked sheepishly. Violet smiled.

"Of course. I usually watch TikTok for a bit anyways." She said, waving her phone in the air. I smiled and opened to the first page. I was reading about Sophie and Agatha and their adventure at The School for Good and Evil when I felt my eyelids drooping. I turned out my light and rolled over in bed.

"Good night, Vi." I whispered.

"Night Harps." She whispered back. I drifted off into a deep sleep while imagining how my first day of classes would go.

~~~

Beep Beep! Beep Beep! I groaned as I reached over to turn off my alarm. I heard Violet shift in her bed and sigh as she shut hers off as well. I was about to go back to sleep when I realised what day it was.

"OMG! My first day of school at Rolling Hills!" I squealed. Violet sat up and I tried not to laugh at her staticy hair. She groaned.

"Ugh, don't remind me. By lunch time you'll regret ever saying that." She muttered, getting out of bed and heading towards the washroom. I stretched and smiled. My first day of grade nine and I was so ready for it. I climbed out of bed and headed towards our closet, picking out the perfect outfit that screamed 'Rolling Hills Academy Student'. I flipped through a couple different pieces when I finally settled on a navy long sleeve tee and dark wash skinny jeans. I grabbed an oatmeal coloured knit cardigan and slipped it on. I headed over to my desk and pulled out my makeup case.

I wasn't crazy about makeup, but it was definitely something that I enjoyed doing as part of my routine. I dabbed concealer under my eyes and blended it in. I filled in my eyebrows faintly and added highlighter to my brow bone. I grabbed a grey eyeliner pencil and carefully drew a thin line on my upper lash line. An application of my Cover-girl mascara and a light dusting of blush and my makeup was complete.

I unravelled the cord of my hair straightener and began to heat it up. While I waited for it to warm up I applied heat protectant to my hair. I always applied it now after one summer back home, My BFF Sarah burnt her hair off after refusing to use it. I smiled at the memory.

I heard the bathroom door open and Violet stepped out. She had tied her hair into a french braid and had also done her makeup. Her winged eyeliner made her dark eyes pop. I turned back to my mirror while she picked out her outfit. I started by wrapping a chunk of hair around the straightener and pulling. The hair came out in a bouncy curl. For some reason my hair never curled with a curling iron. The only way I can get it to stay curled is with a straightener.

I continued the process with the rest of my hair. Once I was finished, I ran my fingers through my hair until it was in loose waves. I unplugged the straightener and headed over to the closet where I grabbed a pair of camel coloured booties. Violet had chose a pair of white Converse's, which completed her outfit of a maroon cropped hoodie and light jeans. Together, we grabbed our bags and headed for the cafeteria. We entered the spacious caf and waited in line to fill our plated with bacon and eggs. I grabbed an iced coffee and Violet grabbed some orange juice. We chose a quiet table at the edge of the caf and ate our food. While we ate, I told Violet about the encounter I had had with the boy from the stable. She laughed when I told her about how I had run him off the sidewalk.

"Very cool Harper. Already scaring off potential boyfriend material." She shook her head in pretend disappointment. I smiled and continued to eat my bacon. I was looking around the caf when I noticed Julia walk through the main doors. She saw me and waved.

"Whose that?" Violet asked.

"That's Julia. I met her at the stable before my testing." Julia grabbed her tray and headed for our table. Violet, who had shoved a mouthful of eggs in her mouth, motioned her to sit. Julia smiled and the three of us began to talk about our classes and our run in with Hazel.

I checked the time on my phone. 8:45am. "I guess we better head to English." I turned to Violet. Julia had math first period, but we'd be seeing her in second for Biology. We emptied our tray's and split up to our separate classes. Violet and I headed towards the English building, which was a short walk from the caf. We opened the door to the building and stepped inside. The building was gorgeous, with dark brick and railings leading up the stairs. We opened the classroom door and found the room had been laid out with tables spread all throughout the room. Violet and I weren't the first ones to arrive, so we laid our stuff on the table closest to the back of the room. The door opened again and Hazel and her posse strutted in. They sat at the table dead centre of the room. Shocker.

The last of the class funnelled through the doors before a middle young man walked in and closed the door behind him. He walked up to the chalkboard and began to write.

"Good morning class. My name is Mr. Hamill, and I'll be your grade nine English teacher." He finished writing his name on the board. I side-eyed Violet and we both grinned. I didn't know that the teachers at Rolling Hills would be so hot. Mr. Hamill continued to write on the board.

"For those of you new to the school welcome. I hope that you've come prepared to work hard. Most of this class is discussion based. However, that does not mean you can get away with slacking off with work. I am a pretty generous teacher when it comes to work, but if you do not do assignments and start to fall behind, then you will be asked to remove yourself from the class. I have high expectations for you all this year and I hope you are able to prove yourself to me." I gulped.

"Please grab a paper and pen and we'll begin to discuss the syllabus." For the next hour, we went over the syllabus. I glanced at my ink filled paper and a knot began to form in my stomach. This was only the first class and I was already looking at an hours worth of homework tonight! I took a deep breath. I knew what I was getting into when I had first been accepted. I'd just have to prove to my teachers that my acceptance wasn't a mistake. I needed to get good grades if I wanted to succeed in riding as well. I continued to write notes during the rest of class, never losing focus for a second.