Eden’s fingertips tapped her steering wheel rhythmically, slightly increasing in pace as she wondered if Kings had traveled all right during the 4 hour move. She glanced back at the small trailer behind her, wanting more than anything to just arrive and start getting him settled in as soon as possible. Thankfully being a sophomore made everything easier than it had been last year, where Eden was running around desperately trying to remember where everything was, where she had to go, who she had to talk to. She gives off a small shudder as she remembers the nightmare that moving in had been in her first year. Not to mention Kingsley was sure to be delighted to be back, her horse essentially had more friends than she did, Eden thought with a chuckle. Her shoulders relaxed as the familiar driveway and fenced pastures came into view, the large barn visible off in the distance. As she glanced into the fields Eden couldn’t help but smile as she looked at the horses grazing or playfully fighting. She wondered for a second whether Kings would be with his old pasture-mates or if the herds would be rotated, but the thought just as quickly left her mind as she focused on backing up the trailer at the front of the barn.

As the familiar scent of hay and wood shaving filled her nose, Eden looked upon the formidable stable with appreciation. To be fair, the university really did spare no expense. The large facilities were immaculately equipped with the latest amenities, and visually it certainly wasn’t an eyesore. Little details adorned the stall walls and corners of doors, the floors were exceptionally clean for a stable, likely just having been swept. It was quite the step-up from her childhood riding barn, and while she sometimes missed the homely-ness and warmth of it, Eden can’t help but admit that the university is pretty damn nice. She quickly set the truck and trailer into park, stepping out and around to see if Wavie was doing all right. As she opened the first trailer window her gelding welcomed her with a low nicker, before turning back to the haynet in front of him and ripping out a chunk of alfalfa, loudly munching.

“Glad to see you feel right at home”, Eden stated amusingly as she proceeded to unlatch the rest of the trailer doors, being extra careful to drop the ramp slowly to not spook Kings or any other horse. She unclipped the bar enclosing the trailer stall before going around and clipping a leadrope to her bay’s halter, backing him off the trailer with a few pats and scratches. Eden stopped to glance at the whiteboard nailed onto the inside wall of the barn doors, where every horse’s stall was labeled with their name and their owner’s name. After finding Kingsley’s stall and double checking to make sure it was the right one, she led him down the aisle, turning to the right as she reached the corner and getting about halfway down before a familiar name plate confirmed his stall’s location. Eden opened the door to the spacious stall, pleasantly finding it very clean and full of new bedding. She took off Kings’s halter and let him rub his head on her for a moment before checking to see if he had a good amount of water, which thankfully he did. As she closed and latched the stall door, the blonde took a moment to read the nameplate of the stall next to Wavie’s, though the stall was empty. Huh. Must not have arrived yet, she thought silently to herself. She couldn’t help but notice the barn name, finding it endearing: Clementine, sounds sweet. Eden gave her horse one last lookover to make sure everything was alright before heading back to her trailer, quickly unloading all of her tack, feed, grooming supplies and other belongings. With the help of the stablehands, she was able to get everything out and stored away in the tackroom in less than two hours. She unhitched her trailer in the further parking lot where the other student riders were allowed to park, before taking her truck, still filled with all of her belongings, and driving down the gravel path to the university dorms.

In all actuality the stables weren’t far from the dorms at all, and normally Eden would prefer to walk the distance, if she didn’t have a truckful of clothes and books and anything else you can think of stuffed into her truck. She wasn’t surprised to see a number of people and cars flowing in and out of the building. Moving day was always chaotic, and there was no way to avoid it. Eden parked a little ways off from the main entrance, scoring a decent parking spot under a large tree, the branches and leaves creating fluid shadows that danced on the top of her truck’s hood. Despite having lots of boxes and tubs to move, she was able to get everything moved into the shared dorm room relatively quickly. The size of the room was actually surprising, there was a decent amount of space between the two sides of the room and each one even came with a bookshelf. After a short break to evaluate how best to tackle the problem of unpacking, she set an indie playlist on her phone and got to work, dividing and conquering each box one by one.

Moving day had come to be her least favorite day of the year, and Priscilla was only a sophomore. The constant bustle no matter where you went, the impending doom of finding out who your roommate is. Would it be as bad as last year? Hopefully not. The drive from her small hometown in Georgia had been nothing short of a disaster. The fact she had to go alone, her truck breaking down on numerous occasions, the gas station incident. It made her shudder everytime she remembered. And on top of all that, the constant stops to check on Clementine and walk her around for an hour before starting up again. As soon as she pulled into the university, she felt all the weight and tension leave her shoulders momentarily.

Backing her trailer back into the unloading area was treacherous. Having to avoid hitting the careless people who walked behind the trailer, mindful not to spook any horses already being unloaded. As soon as she managed to, she threw that truck door open and hopped out, wincing as her feet hit the ground so harshly she felt the impact in her ankles. It wasn't her truck, that much was obvious. Although she liked to pretend it was. Slamming the door shut, she eagerly walked around to the back of the trailer, peering in through the slots on the door. There she was met with the particularly large rump of Clementine, who was munching on some hay.

Classic. "Hiya, girl. Could you turn around me look at me for a second?" Priscilla chuckled softly, reaching one slender hand through the slot in the door to touch the mare. Clementine paused her munching, and slowly and dramatically turned her head around to see who dared to touch her. Upon seeing the familiar face of her owner, she gave an annoyed snort and turned her head back around. Priscilla moved to unlatch the door, which was something she was greatly struggling with. Who decided to make it so hard to unlatch those damn doors? It's not like the horses could open it from the outside if they were inside. Once she had it open, she stepped inside, moving to grab the ramp. Now, this was the really hard part.

It was too heavy for her to even lift, let alone bring down. With an expaserated sigh, Priscilla bent herself down and grabbed the ramp, using as much of her strength as she could to lift it. Once she did manage to, she was extremely frustrated and pissed off now. She set it down as gently as she could but it wasn't exactly gentle. Priscilla finally lifted her head up to see that Clementine was staring back at her with great interest. Her ears pricked forwards, her eyes holding a look of curiosity. "Yeah. You remember this place?" she smiled, carefully walking up the ramp and into the trailer. She reached a hand out to gently rub the mare's nose, earning a gentle snort of appreciation.

Priscilla untied her from the trailer and began to lead her out, speaking slow and gentle words of encouragement the entire time. Once out, Clementine seemed to be all eager and giddy. She was throwing her head, snorting and stomping around. Why did she have to choose such a hot horse? It was something she couldn't even answer herself. It's not that she didn't have the experience, it's just that Clementine proved to be such a hassle. Despite the way the mare stomped and pranced about, Priscilla managed to calm her enough to lead her to that small whiteboard of names and stalls. She gave a quick once over, finding her name easily. At this point, Clementine was calling out to those familiar to her with eager whinnies.

Priscilla led her down the walkway, quickly finding the stall with that little golden nameplate that read Clementine. Next to it was some huge horse, beautiful, although a little intimidating despite being only a little bigger than Clementine. She was quick to get the mare settled into her stall, making sure she had plenty of hay and water and there was no possible way she could hurt herself. Clementine, spotting a familiar friend across from her stall, was eagerly stepping from side to side and calling out to them. "You'll never change," Priscilla muttered to herself as she stepped out of the stall, making sure it was firmly latched and there was no possible way the mare could escape. She had that incident last year, and it was not pretty. Clementine wreaked havoc on the entire barn.

Now came time for her to unload her tack. Being in a predominantly English university, she was one of the few western riders. She did appreciate the fact that they had seperate tack rooms. Often times, she wished she hadn't chose western. The tack was big and heavy, and proved to be a struggle for her to carry. Its not like she had much of a choice. Growing up in the south, western was just simply the obvious choice. In fact, English wasn't really much of a choice. "Be good, you brat," she murmured as she placed a hand to the nose of the mare, feeling the warmth and the small prickle of her whiskers. Priscilla glanced around at the horses as she made her way back to the truck, admiring them all. Some ponies, some massive beasts. Clementine wasn't a small horse herself, but some of those horses put her mare to shame. It wasn't long before she was struggling to carry one of those big western saddles down the walkway, stirrups and girths rested atop the saddle so they weren't dragging. Why the hell did everything have to be so big?

Priscilla gritted her teeth, inhaling the scent of leather, horses, and hay heavily. Once her heavy saddles were out of the way, then came saddle pads and blankets. Then bridles. Then blankets. And any other things, such as grooming supplies, treats, and everything in between. Horses were way too much work. She said one final goodbye to Clementine before she started out to the truck again, preparing herself both mentally and physically to bring all of her luggage to the dorms. It seemed like she was just about ready to give up and just sleep in the bed of the truck for the entire year. For a moment, she was half-tempted. With a heavy breath, she gathered all of her belongings, determined to take it all in one trip. And that she did!

At least she hadn't parked too far away. The sun was warm, and she could hear the melodic rusting of the wind in the leaves. It was peaceful, the small breeze hitting her cheek. Despite her long drive, she was still somewhat put together. A cute white blouse and some blue jeans, as well as her usual black boots. When in the dorm, she would most definitely be changing immediately. Her makeup was done, her usual dark eyeliner and her mascara. It was preferred because it accentuated her pretty blue eyes, and because she felt almost self conscious without it. After managing to bring all her heavy things to the dorm, she dropped some of the heavy things on the floor and reached into her jean pocket, fishing out a small lanyard with a variety of keys and trinkets.

Priscilla paused. From within, she could hear music playing. It wasn't bad. At least her roommate had decent music? She stuck her key into the keyhole, fiddling with it for a moment before unlocking it. She picked her things back up, the strain obvious in her shoulders and her hands. But as soon as she caught a glimpse of who was in that room, laying in her bed, her entire mood dropped just like that. It was Eden Foster, that damn girl who she had something of a rivalry with. Their history wasn't the best, and neither was their relationship. Just when she thought this year was going to be good, her whole world came crashing down.

(i liked it! hehe especially the foreshadowing of who was about to walk through the door)