Chapter 1- Moving In
I stared out the window of my parents' black SUV wondering if I made the right choice. I should've been happy I got into one of the most prestigious boarding schools in the country, but as I looked out the window I wasn't so sure. What if I wasn't good enough? What if I didn't fit in? I had hated being the new kid when I went to middle school in the town outside of Healdsburg. This was in an entirely different school district, not to mention state!
"You doing okay, Ophelia?" My mom asked.
"Yeah," I replied, "Just nervous."
"Hey, Kiddo. You'll be fine. You've always done well in school and I'm sure you'll make friends." My dad was trying to comfort me, but he just reminded me about the schoolwork.
The schoolwork at Canterwood was supposed to be extremely difficult. I was a straight "A" student back at home, but this was another level. The mountain of work I had to do over the summer was huge. Not to mention the six books I had to read! I wasn't sure if I was up to 7th grade Canterwood-Style.
"And besides, you'll be awesome on Beethoven and you'll rock vaulting."
Well, that helped. I got to ride my horse Beethoven! My actual horse. My horse. My beautiful dark bay Arabian who loves cross-country almost as much as I do. Almost. The only downside was that I couldn't vault on him. He totally freaks out when I try! I usually just practiced by vaulting skills on my old stables' vaulting horse.
"Omigod. Omigod!" I screeched as my dad pulled the car into the Canterwood parking lot. The campus was... beautiful. There were huge brick buildings and pathways surrounded by lush grass and pretty landscaping. The stables were off in the distance and I could see an indoor arena. My old stables only had a small outdoor arena. This place was awesome.
"Let's unload Beethoven." My mom reminded me. I had almost forgot about the trailer being pulled behind our car. Almost.
I smiled and jumped out of the car and ran to see my horse. I could see my parents start unloading the car.
"Hello, big guy." I unlatched the trailer door and led Beethoven out. He nuzzled me for a second then took off at a brisk walk toward the campus. I laughed. He must be as excited to settle in as I was.
"He really wants to get out. I'll put him by the stables and meet you in the dorm." I told my parents before letting Beethoven drag me down to his new home. It took a while to walk all the way to the area by the arenas, but the walk was totally worth it. Each stall by itself was huge! There were wooden walls and wrought iron fence situations to make everything look fancy. It totally worked.
"And you're new?" I swiveled my head toward the voice. "Uh yeah." I stupidly replied and bit my lip.
"I'm Olivia Reynolds. And you are?" The girl had short brown curls and a goofy grin. She wore dusty black leggings and a pink graphic t-shirt. How funny.
"I'm Ophelia. This is Beethoven." I smiled at her.
"Oh. I like that name. It's like my name but... Greek?"
"Sounds about right." I smiled. She seemed like a nice girl. At least I already had one ally.
"Oh look! The stall next to Sequin's stall says Beethoven in the nameplate. Could it be his?" Olivia motioned to a stall almost identical to her horse's. My horse could canter in that stall. It was bigger than any I'd ever seen.
"Thank you, but I really have to get to my dorm room. I'll see you around?"
"Sure. Good luck at tryouts, by the way." Oh no. I had forgotten about tryouts, but I thanked her anyways. I was nervous that I wouldn't make the intermediate team. It would be embarrassing to be one of the only 7th graders on the beginner team. I knew it would be hard to keep up with school and riding and vaulting, but I would make it work. I had to prove to myself that I could do this even if I didn't think I could.
When I got to my dorm I noticed that my dorm mate had a pretty blue theme already set up in her half of the room. She had white sheets, sky blue pillows, and a super fringy duvet cover that would come in handy when it snowed. She had also installed a mini fridge and had a few wall decorations. Everything would go perfectly with my yellow and white theme! It was nice to know we were both fashionistas.
My parents helped me unpack before heading back home. It was a long drive back and I couldn't blame them. We had come all the way from California. I started reading a magazine I found on my roommate's coffee table seconds before I heard the jangle of keys and the opening of a door. I saw a girl with long blonde hair standing in the doorway with an older looking redhead behind her.
"Cassidy Scott...? I questioned the blonde girl. She smiled and nodded.
"Ophelia Aimery?" I nodded in return and I asked about the redhead.
"I should have introduced myself earlier. I'm Madison and I'm the dorm monitor for the Crescent dorm building. I just came by to go over all of the rules and everything."
There were an impressive amount of rules, but the most important were lights out by ten, no boys allowed, and ask before you use the community dorm kitchen. At least those were the ones I remembered. After what felt like forever, Madison finally left. Cassidy and I sat staring at each other for a minute before we both burst into giggles at the same time.
"Do you do any sports here?" Cassidy asked me. I prepared myself for the "Equestrian isn't a sport comment", but it never came.
"I ride too! I have a Welsh pony named Milan." Now that I looked at the girl, she was pretty small. About my size and I'm only five feet tall.
"I also vault." She thought it was gutsy to do both riding and vaulting and I agreed! I had no idea how I was going to pull this off.
We talked about school and riding and our hobbies, obsessions, and other über girly things. It turns out that, unlike me, Cassidy had a younger brother. I am lucky I don't have siblings. Then we came upon the topic of boys.
"Oh no. I promised myself I wouldn't worry myself with such silly things. I've never liked anyone and I have zero interest in dating."
"Oh. Come. On." Cassidy whined. "You'll fall for somebody by the end of the year. Mark my words." I giggled, but knew there was zero chance whatsoever.