On Tuesday, Lauren brought all of her horsey things to the barn. She set up her tack box so it was perfectly organized and would have everything she could possible dream of needing. Lauren got a little carried away at the tack store. She wasn't a big spender, normally, and never bought the more expensive brands at stores so she could save money, but Lauren knew she had a problem when she started buying neon blue polo wraps and bell boots (Well, she almost bought bell boots. She stopped herself before she could.), along with two different saddle pads (One was for shows, she reasoned with herself). She had almost felt guilty, spending her parents' money so carelessly, but when her mom saw the bill she demanded Lauren paid for some. Lauren was okay with that though, since she didn't have to feel guilty anymore, but she sure didn't feel happy about it either. And now all of her things were all set up in the tack room. The only things she didn't have were a saddle and bridle, and his halter plus a lead rope but those would be coming with her horse. Actually, she had bought another halter and lead rope earlier, so she had those set up at his stall too.

On Wednesday, at about 2 O'clock, Lauren's mom drove her to Pine Hollow. The trailer would be arriving soon, and she would Not be missing it. They pulled into the parking lot that had just two other cars in it, and Lauren led her mom to Bear's stall. She knew it was just a regular old stall, but she couldn't help feeling proud and excited about it. It was her horses stall. Lauren talked to her mom for a moment as she led her there about Pine Hollow; some of the traditions Max had told her about, and of the one or two horses she had 'met'. Lauren saw the stable hand, Red, who she had gotten to know yesterday, a little ways away mucking out another horse's stall. He had seemed really nice, and he definitely knew his way around horses.

"Do you know where Max is?" She asked him.

He took one of his headphones out, "Last I saw of him he was in his office." He said.

"Thanks!" Lauren dragged her mother to the front of the barn, trying not to look to ridiculously excited. She could see through the dusty window that he was in there. Lauren nocked on the door an when she heard a 'Come in', entered with her mom.

"Is the trailer here?" He asked, looking out the window that showed a nice view to the front. He almost sounded more excited than Lauren, saying it the way you might ask 'Is the baby coming?' to an expecting mother.

"No, not yet… Max, this is my mom." She said, doing the regular introductions.

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Heres." He said, and leaned over his desk to shake her hand before slumping back somewhat lazily in his chair. He opened his mouth to say something else but at that moment a noise started growing louder outside. They all looked out of the window to see the trailer pulling up the front drive way.

"He's here!" Lauren exclaimed, and slid out the door to meet the man who was getting out of his truck.

"Is this your pony?" He asked her.

"Mhhm" She confirmed, watching anxiously as the man undid the lock on the back. She could see Bear's black tail swishing lazily inside.

"He's been quite the little gentleman," Lauren smiled. "Didn't cause the least bit of trouble anywhere." He said.

The man swung the back doors open and Lauren slowly climbed in. "Good boy Bear." She said, half in praise, half to let him know she was there. She undid his lead rope and started backing him out. She looked up and saw her mom and Max watching. As Bear finally stepped off of the trailer, she could see a look of bewilderment on Max's face. Bear raised his head and whinnied to announce his arrival. He seemed ridiculously calm for just having driven for hours.

"When I first saw you here," Max started in disbelief, "I could easily picture you on a sixteen hand thoroughbred. But this… He's tiny!" He said, at a loss for better words. Lauren gave him an offended look and quickly reached to cover Bear's ears. He raised his head in surprise a bit when she jumped at him.

"Don't say that! He might hear you! He's very self-conscious about his height." She said, loud enough for them to hear. She took her hands off his head. "Besides, he's a very solid thirteen two!" She paused for a second. "Plus he's got very sturdy legs and a big barrel so my legs actually fit him pretty well. We don't look that bad together!" She tried defending herself. She was tall, he was short, but it really didn't look too bad when she rode him.

"If you say so." He chuckled. Max was a horse person. He could easily see that her legs wouldn't be dangling feet below his stomach like they might on an equally short horse of a more Arabian like breed.

Lauren led her pony to her mother. "Mom, meet Bear." She said. Mrs. Heres had never actually seen the little black pony. The only reason she knew about him was because of how Lauren never seemed to be able to stop talking about him. Unlike her daughter and Max, Mrs. Heres did not know much about horses and she was a bit worried. Bear was very small; would Lauren's weight be a bit much for him? She was nowhere near fat, much the opposite in fact, but he was small. Wouldn't it hurt him?

She covered up her worried look quickly. "Nice to meet you Bear." She played along, stroking his large neck. After a moment Lauren gently pulled on his lead and led him towards his stall. There were only a few horses in their stalls, and as their new stable mate walked up the isle they threw their heads over the door to meet him. Bear started straying a bit over to the closest one. Lauren let him say 'Hi' only for a moment before pulling his head away. She knew how horses were- one second they're best friends, meeting for the first time, the next, one decides the other's ear looks like a Twix bar and tried to take a bite or something. On the first day, she wasn't up to letting that happen.

She led him into the stall and took off his halter. He immediately went to check out what was in the feed bucket. Her mom looked into the stall, watching Bear, and Max came to her as Lauren came out and closed the door.

"So I remember you saying you would be willing to help out here this next month for lessons or something." Max stated.

"Yeah, I mean," Lauren said, "If everyone is still in school for a while and I've got nothing much to do… I'd love to!" She smiled.

"Great," Max replied.

Laurens mom came closer to the conversation, fumbling for something in her purse. "I need to get back home. Do you want to stay here?" She asked, and Lauren gave her somewhat of a little incredulous look. "Of course. Why'd I even asked?" She asked herself. She turned to Max. "Do you mind?"

"Of course not, you can start work now." He said cheerily.

"I'll see you later then," Lauren's mom said before leaving. "You have your phone, right?"

"Yeah, I'll call you when I'm ready." She said. Once her mom was a good distance away she turned to Max. "So what's this gonna' be like? I muck stalls all day and get a free lesson once a week or… What?"

"Well why don't we discuss that as we muck?" He asked. They each got a pitchfork and put a wheelbarrow in front of an empty stall and got to work. After a few stalls of talking, about her work and just the horses there too, it had been decided that Lauren would come every day if she could (But that was really just willingly, not because she had a job) starting tomorrow, she would clean stalls with Red, or while he did more 'manly' jobs, or other chores in the barn, maybe exercise a horse or two, and in return she would get 2 free lessons a week. Of course, she wouldn't have to work all day. She would have time to ride Bear and have lunch and stuff. She thought it was a great deal.

At about three thirty, Max announced he had a lesson he had to get ready for. Lauren took the opportunity to go get Bear from his stall.

"How are you doing?" She asked. He came over to the door. "My, aren't you friendly today." He stomped his hoof. "Or do you just want to move around a bit?" She asked. "Come on, let's go do something." Lauren threw on his halter and brought him out of his stall. She brought him out into the back, where Max was adjusting a few jumps' heights. She brought him into the indoor arena for the first stop on their little tour. She could see Max glance up once or twice to watch them.

Lauren led him around the arena, not knowing if he would have ever been inside a building like that and freak out or something. She was at the far end of the arena when she broke into a jog. "Come on Bear!" She encouraged, clucking to him. After a few slow steps, he started trotting with her. Lauren veered into the path of a cross rail that was left at the height from a previous day. She had never seen Bear jump before, but as they neared it his ears pricked up and his stride got a little prancier. She took the last few steps faster than before, letting his lead rope get longer and hoped over, looking back to see Bear pick up his feet at just the right time and hop over. She took another few steps and slowed, Bear following her example and stopping. "Good boy!" She praised, and rubbed his forelock.

After another moment, she led him into the ring where Max was and Asked, "Is there a pasture I can turn him out in? I mean, he's been in a trailer the last few days and-"

Max cut her off. "Sure, no problem. The forest." She looked at him blankly. "You know that one?" He pointed past the indoor arena to an empty pasture, a few horses in the ones on either side. "Try it out."

"Thanks Max." She said, and brought him to the gate of the large open space and brought him in. The second she took his halter off, she stepped back, expecting him to start running away to burn off his energy, but instead, he dropped his head and started eating the lush green grass. "You suck." She told him, giving him a tap on his flank with the lead rope. There wasn't any force behind it, she really just let it drop on him, but Bear jumped away. Lauren jumped back from him in surprise and Bear started trotting towards the adjacent fence. He raised his head high to smell the horses on the other side. Lauren slipped out and watched peacefully for a few minutes before walking back to the barn to muck more stalls…

Well. Certainly took long enough to get up huh? I have the next one half way written (Woo hoo, just like last time…) So a month maybe?

Hate to do it, but I'm threatening. 2 reviews needed until I put the next chapter. If they come quickly, I swear I'll post the next chapter this week… Please tell me what to improve on! Flames welcome… Thanks for making it this far in the story, and to all my readers, you rock!