(NOTE TO READER: Feel free to skip this part, it just gives you info about the characters! :)

SARAH MYERS: Brunnett with grey-green eyes, tall and slim, athletic, owns Future, a 17hh bayThoroughbred, roommates with Raquelle Birkley

RAQUELLE BIRKLEY: Half-Mexican, owns Chestnut Dutch Warmblood named Justice, on the intermediate team, on the intermediate team, roommates with Sarah Myers

CALLUM SOYER: Light brown hair, blue eyes, dating Sarah Myers

BRIT PEIRSONS: Blond, blue eyes, on the intermediate team, on the intermediate team, owns grey Andalusian named Journey, roommates with Carlie Mitchell, no love interest, brothers with Josh Peirsons

CARLIE MITCHELL: Curly brunette, on the on the intermediate team, owns Ebony, a black Arabian, dating Noah Bailey

MIA EVANS: Straight light brown hair, brown eyes, on the intermediate team, on the intermediate team, owns white Thoroughbred stallion Pheonix, roommates with Paeyton Westfield, love interest is Josh Peirsons

PAEYTEON WESTFIELD: Blond, green-grey eyes, on the on the intermediate team, owns a tall palomino Westphalian mare named Autumn, roommates with Mia Evans, dating William Johansson

EMMA BIRK: Strawberry blond, green-blue eyes, on the intermediate team, owns Blaze, a Cleveland Bay mare, roommates with Ayla Jacobsen

HALEY TOWERS: Dark-haired, light blue eyes, roommate is Maddie Douglas, no current love interest

AYLA JACOBSEN: short, cheery red hair, freckles, and green eyes, in the drama club, no love interest, roommates with Emma Birk

JOSH PEIRSONS: Dark-haired and eyed, Brit's brother, love interest is Mia Evans

NOAH BAILEY: Curly, dark hair, on the intermediate team, love interest is Carlie Mitchell

Sarah Myers prompted her purple suitcase on the ash fault, staring at the big dorm building that loomed in front of them.

"This is Orchard," her boyfriend, Callum Soyer, peered at the paper map they'd gotten at the admin building.

Sarah grabbed the map from him. "Please." She said. "I can find my way around a campus and back."

Callum squinted at her celery-coloured eyes. "I'm not sure about that," he replied. "But lead the way, Miss Canterwood Crest Academy student."

Giggling, Sarah rolled her suitcase along the trail, leaving Orchard behind.

The trail wound past a few more dorms which Callum informed her were called Winchester, Hawthorne, and Blackwell.

"Omigosh!" Sarah dropped her duffel and suitcase. "I see the stable!"

Leaving her boyfriend with her bags, Sarah's tall, slim legs burst into a run. Back at her old school, she'd been on the track team. That's where she'd met Callum.

She slowed as she neared so she wouldn't spook any nearby horses. It looked like something out of a TV show or something. Everything was glossy. The paint wasn't peeling, the hay was stacked neatly, and the aisles were clean.

Sarah carefully entered the stable, gasping.

A few girls that looked her age stood together. One of them was grooming a pretty bay, but the other two were just talking in hushed voices. They looked up when Sarah entered. All three girls stared for a moment.

Sarah smiled, fighting the unsure feeling in her stomach.

Finally, the girls turned back around.

Sarah tried not to sigh. She wanted people to like her here, like they had at their old school.

She continued down the aisle and spotted a pretty blond brushing out a grey Andalusian.

"Hey," Sarah said gently, approaching the girl and her mare.

The blond girl turned. "Hey," she replied. "Can I help you?"

"I'm Sarah Myers," Sarah replied, smiling. "I'm new-I just arrived." She explained. "What's your name?"

"I'm Brit Peirsons," she introduced herself. "This is my mare, Journey." She added. "Are you a rider?"

She nodded. "Yep. My Thoroughbred gelding is in the trailer." Sarah explained.

"Oh, really? What's your horse's name?" she wondered.

"Future," Sarah said, smiling at the thought of her gelding.

"Oh, cool! So, are you trying out for the intermediate team . . . ?" Brit side-eyed her a bit.

"Yep!" Sarah nodded. "Okay, well, I should go. My boyfriend's probably lost-I totally left him alone!" she joked.

Brit laughed. "Okay," she agreed. "Nice meeting you, Sarah."

Sarah waved and left the stable, staring in awe at the roomy box stalls as she left. Callum had gotten caught up talking to an athletic-looking Senior guy.

"Hey," Sarah said, walking over to them.

"Hey-there you went," Callum grinned. He waved to the guy. "Nice meeting you."

The guy waved and left them.

She grabbed Callum's arm. "Omigod! The stable is gorgeous!" she told him.

Callum laughed. "Is there anything that involves horses that you don't love?" he pointed out.

"True," she agreed. "Okay. Dorms?"

He nodded. "Let's go. You're in Hawthorne. We passed it on the way."

Callum and her started across the pristine, gorgeous campus.

When they unlocked her dorm room, Sarah had a burst of energy in her heart. "Omigod,"

Sun poured in through the two big windows at the end of the beds. There was a bathroom as you entered, two closets, beds, and desks. One TV was positioned directly across on the other side of the room.

"Well, it's not like your mansion of a room back home, but it'll do," Callum flopped back onto the first bed.

"Callum!" she chastised. "I haven't even picked my bed yet! What if that ends up being Raquelle's bed?"

Callum shrugged. "I showered just this morning."

Sarah rolled her eyes, feeling a longing in her heart for him not to leave. "Thank you for coming when my parents couldn't." She told him for the millionth time.

Sarah's parents had both been busy with their jobs, so Callum had tagged along with Sarah's trainer, Jessie Hawk, and her to drop Sarah off.

Jessie had told them to take their time with the tour because she had some phone calls to make before they headed back, anyway.

"Of course," Callum said, smiling.

Once again, Sarah felt appreciation that Callum and her had been able to stay together, even with her going off to boarding school. They'd considered breaking up, but now that she was here, Sarah was glad with her entire heart that they'd decided to do long-distance.

Callum hugged her, planting a kiss on her forehead.

"I'm gonna miss you," she said, wrapping her hands around him.

Callum grinned. "Nah, you won't." He protested. "You'll be around all these stuffy horse people, where you belong."

She swatted him. "Shut up."

Just then, her phone rang. She grabbed it off the duvet. "It's Jessie," she sat up, answering it. "Jessie, hey." She said into the phone.

"Hey. You guys almost done the tour? I'm bringing Future to the stable." Jessie said.

"Okay, we're coming," Sarah bolted up, pulling on her paddock boots as she headed for the door. "C'mon." She called to Callum, hanging up the phone. "Jessie's bringing Future to the stable. I wanna be there."

Callum and her left the dorm room and quickly hurried back down to the stable. They found Jessie outside.

At the sight of her gelding, Sarah's heart leapt. She hugged him quickly. "Hi, boy."

He seemed to relax in the presence of her.

"He's pretty excited," Jessie warned.

Future's ears were pointed forwards and alert. His gate was prancy and his head was high.

"Easy, boy," Sarah said, running a hand over his neck. "You're okay."

A man approached them. Sarah immediately recognized Mr. Conner from all the photos she'd seen of him on Canterwood's website.

She felt like she was meeting a celebrity or something. Oh my God, Sarah thought. I'm meeting Mr. Conner!

He nodded at them. "Hi, I'm Mr. Conner," he extended his hand and shook Jessie's, then Sarah's, then Callum's.

"Hi," Sarah said quietly, then shook it off. She cleared her throat. "I'm Sarah Myers and this is my gelding, Future."

"Nice to meet you. And you both are-?" he looked at Jessie and Callum.

"This is my coach, Jessie Hawk, and this is . . ." Sarah wasn't sure if she wanted to introduce Callum to Mr. Conner as her boyfriend. It seemed inappropriate. "This is Callum Soyer."

Mr. Conner nodded. "Come with me, I'll lead you to Future's stall."

They followed Mr. Conner down the glossy aisles. He finally stopped at a roomy stall and unlatched the door. Sarah glanced at the gleaming nameplate and saw Future's name.

She tore my eyes away from the nameplate and checked out the stall. "Omigod. This is-"

"Huge," Callum finished. "Damn. You're gonna be really living it up, Future." He patted Future's rump who pulled Sarah toward the stall.

Sarah led him into the stall and unclipped his lead. "This is your new home, boy. What'd you think?"

He snuffed and went straight for the hay.

Sarah smiled at her gelding, relieved that he was comfortable. "Good, boy." She patted him and left the stall, latching it behind her.

"It looks like he's all settled in," Jessie squeezed Sarah's shoulder.

She nodded.

"Alright, we'll be in touch. If you have any questions, I'm usually in my office or you can email me." Mr. Conner told Sarah.

"Okay," she said. "Sounds good."

He nodded at them and headed off.

"Should we walk you back to Hawthorne?" Jessie asked.

With one last look at her gelding, who was peacefully eating, Sarah nodded and the three of them left the stall.

As they stopped on the stone steps of Hawthorne, Jessie smiled weakly, trying to avoid the obvious. Sarah was, too. "We should probably head out, Cal."

Sarah looked at them with longing. Finally, she nodded. "Okay." She sighed.

"You gonna be alright?" Jessie asked, squeezing her shoulder again.

Sarah nodded. "Yeah, I think I will be."

"You're gonna call me, right? Every week." Jessie gave her a stern look.

Sarah laughed weakly. "Every week," she agreed.

Jessie nodded. "Good. C'mere, kid," she hugged Sarah tightly, like she didn't want to let go. Like she wanted to protect her from the real world.

Sarah felt hot tears welling in her eyes as she squeezed back her coach. Jessie had been her instructor for as long as Sarah could remember.

"Show everyone how Sarah Myers does it, huh? Show them who you are."

Sarah grinned. "Thanks, Jess," she said. "Really. For everything."

"You're gonna thrive here, kid," Jessie told her, not a hint of unsure in her voice.

Sarah tried to believe it in herself.

"I'll be in the truck, Callum," she nodded at them and with one last look at Sarah, headed away.

Sarah pressed her lips together, tears in her eyes. Callum pulled her into a tight hug, not saying anything. "Callum, I . . ." she trailed off.

He was quiet for a long second as he squeezed her. "We're doing the right thing, Sar. This is where you're meant to be."

Her tears dripped onto his sweater. Nearby, a group of girls walked into Hawthorne and disappeared.

"I'm gonna miss you so much," she said, not knowing how she was going to get through this semester, let alone the school year.

He held her tightly. "Thanksgiving break is only a couple weeks away." He told her.

That felt good to think about.

"Then you'll be home for the long weekend, and we can do whatever you want together. Okay?" he promised.

She smiled, appreciating his effort to make her feel better when he was just as sad about them separating.

"I love you," she said, squeezing him one last time. She breathed in deeply, wanting to remember his smell.

"I love you so much," he replied, leaning in and kissing her. When they pulled apart, we wiped the tear off her cheek, smiling through his own. He nudged her chin with his thumb. "Go show them who you are, just like Jessie said," his eyes sparkled, and he let go of her, stepping back. "Good luck."

"Thank you," she replied.

He offered her a goodbye salute, grinned, and turned. She watched him walk down the steps. When he got to the treeline, he turned. They stared at each other. He gave her one last reassuring smile before disappearing around the corner.

Sarah closed her eyes for a split second, the feeling of being here alone sinking in. "I can do this," she whispered to herself, turning around. She walked past the rooms till she got to her own. She held her breath and unlocked it.