Bad Days [open]

[ayla]

Kenzie had had a seriously bad day. She ate too much, rode too badly, failed a quiz, and had only just held back tears long enough to get back to her dorm. No one knew; of course no one knew. Kenzie didn't even know what she would say if anyone asked why her eyeliner was all over her cheeks and her face was red and blotchy.

She laid on her bed for a while and just cried for a while, until her previously white pillow was stained with makeup. It was best to just wait her emotions out, until she could pull herself together enough to go out in public. Kenzie couldn't stand the ridicule she knew she would receive if she started sobbing in class or on a horse or during a meal.

By the time Kenzie cried herself out, it was dark outside and her alarm clock read 10:30. She wasn't tired, though; not in the least. While she wasn't crying anymore, it wasn't because she wasn't sad. Rather, she had entered that very dangerous place where she just accepted her failings and allowed them to amplify within her own mind. Kenzie recognized this, at least, and tried to fix it the only way she knew how: by going to the barn.

She slipped on some shoes and grabbed a jacket. She made a half-hearted attempt to wipe the makeup off her face, but no one was going to see her anyways. Kenzie walked down the stairs and out of her dorm, as quietly as possible, and pulled her jacket tighter against the chilly night air.

The barn was dark, and Kenzie slipped in a door and navigated to Brian's stall by memory. The gelding's eyes shone in the low light, and he made a nervous sound before Kenzie whispered to him to shut up and go back to sleep. She opened the stall door a crack and went inside. Carefully, she gave Brian a pat before sliding down against the stall wall and starting to cry again.

[Leonardo Jacobs]

Leo sighed, holding his head in somewhat of a defeat. Math really wasn’t what he wanted to be processing right now. Sitting still in his dorm, the boy looked around the room. Luka was probably fast asleep and there really was nothing he could do. He was frustrated by all means, already annoyed with how his lesson had gone with Avi and the whole incident of her spooking off and scaring another student’s horse. It was a perfect way to gain a reputation about himself and Leo was actually, perhaps feeling a bit of negative emotion. Him and Avi just needed to reconnect some way.

Changing in BRRA, having his sister come to the school had added major stress levels into his head and the boy supposed the poor thoroughbred was getting all these depressing vibes. Leo had grown quiet for the majority of the night due to his little earlier run in with Avery. Like usual, his eyes had been hopeful in the small percentage she might offer him her little smile, but as usual, his sister simply glared and turned the opposite way. Leo sighed softly, hoping not to wake his roommate. He was sad yes, but the boy never got angry. Especially not at someone that already was staring daggers at him.

Finally deciding that at this absurd time of ten in the night, Leo figured it would best as any time to try and speak to his mare. Perhaps just a moment to vent out all his silly frustrations would help. Leo was most certainly quite patient, but even he had his faults. Avery’s hatred had been eating him and he wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself. Sneaking quietly to his closet and grabbing a jacket, the boy slipped it on and grabbed his keys. His feet slipped into the sneakers and Leo exited his house.

Leo took off at a brisk jog, the academy’s lights making a softly illuminated path for him to the barn. There he realized with surprise, the doors to the barn were quite open. The boy raised a brow, walking somewhat suspiciously inside. There was barely any light inside, yet Aviance snorted in welcome. Leo’s brows crinkled together in small fear, he edged toward the mare’s stall, holding his hand out in reassurance before he heard quiet sobs. Biting his lip, Leo snuck around to peek in another stall, before seeing a girl crumpled against wall crying her eyes out. Hesitantly, he took a step toward her, easing the gelding inside. “Are you okay?” his voice was tentative and quiet, as he could not properly see the girl and was in general quite shy. He shifted slightly, a bit unknowing of what to do.

Outfit! <3

[Rose Hoff]

Rose hadn't been having the best time herself, and this day had been worse than most. From what she'd observed, many her peers hadn't been doing much better. She just felt like she was being stretched out to do everything perfectly between Vintage, Dolly, Papillon, and Eleanor, as well as all of her classes. Only two of the horses were her's but the others required quite a bit of attention from her as well.

Today she'd used Eleanor in one of her lessons for the first time, and it had been quite horrible. The mare's nerves had been running especially high and she'd spooked several times, and even balked at a jump. Rose had tried to calm her down before leaving her for the night, and then made her way over to the White Oak Barn after pulling a pair of sweatpants and Wellies.

It was especially quiet inside, and the sounds of the rustling horses were very comforting. She made her way down to Vintage's stall, entering quietly and whispering to the mare. That's when she heard the sobbing from rather close by, followed by another voice. She couldn't make out what was said, and felt like she was intruding on something deeply personal. Her brow furrowed, she peeked out of the stall in time to see a boy from her art class stepping into a stall. She didn't know whether to make them aware of her presence, or keep quiet. Which would be worse? She didn't know, so she just made a bit more noise than she normally would have while walking to the tack room to get Vintage a treat. She certainly didn't want them to think she was eavesdropping, as Rose generally wasn't a nosy person, but she was there to help if anyone needed it.

[ayla]

Kenzie didn't think she would have to be quiet about crying; the only things in the barn were horses, and they didn't care if she was happy or even if she looked okay. All they wanted was love and some treats once in a while, and they were perfectly happy. Kenzie didn't subscribe to the whole "horses can think like humans" school of thought, but she definitely doubted it when Brian moseyed over to her corner and nuzzled her, as if he was comforting her.

Kenzie wasn't alone with her horse for long, though. Even when it was a quarter to eleven, there were still apparently people in the barn. There was a ripple of soft sound through the barn as the horses noticed a new person. Kenzie made a failed attempt to quiet herself, but clearly the other person had heard her already. Footsteps approached her stall, and Brian shifted away from his owner to see the other person - male from his silhouette, but Kenzie couldn't tell if she knew him or not.

"Are you okay?"

[/i] he asked. Kenzie scoffed between heavy, uncontrolled breaths. "Does it -" hiccup - "look like I'm okay?" she whispered back with a scathing tone. She didn't trust her wobbly voice enough to make a real attempt at talking. Kenzie gave another heaving sob before biting her lip, hard enough to draw blood, and sobering herself.

"Just leave me alone. I'll be fine," she said aloud, and although she wasn't whispering anymore, her voice was still scratchy and harsh from silent screams. And if the boy wasn't enough already, Kenzie heard someone else crashing around in the tack room. "Are you freaking kidding me," she said through clenched teeth. She didn't want anyone to see this moment of weakness.[/color][/blockquote][/font]

[William//Adrianna Gibbson]

William tossed the flashlight from hand to hand in an effort to warm up his slowly numbing fingers. The beam wobbled as he made his way through the rounds. As he walked past the White Oak barn, he saw the door standing slightly ajar. Frowning, he walked towards it, knowing that the barn should have been locked up nearly an hour earlier. As he approached the door, he heard voices, unnaturally loud in the quiet of the barn. He shone the light into the aisle, careful not to shine it into any of the horse's eyes. It was more than his job's worth to harm one of these horses, even if it was for the safety of the students. As he stood in the door, he called, "Whoever is in here, come out. I know you're there." He kept the flashlight in one hand as he pulled out a pad of paper and a pencil, waiting to see who would show their faces. If it was a student, which he didn't doubt, he would write down their names. If it was an adult, he would have to figure out what in the world they were doing here at this time of night.

[Leonardo Jacobs]

Leo wasn’t quite experienced with making other feel better, let alone sad girls crying in stalls. Sure, he’d had nights that he wanted to do the same but he had certainly not expected someone to be in the barn when he’d snuck down there. Biting his lower lip in more a thoughtful display rather a nervous one, Leo watched the girl’s actions carefully. Her face was hidden to him, but she was certainly small compared to his large frame. Afraid he would scare her a bit, the boy stayed where he did, not want to come any closer. After seeing his sister’s breakdowns, he knew how girls could be when in bad moods.

They could certainly be quite scary, but something about this girl didn’t seem as if she would spring a surprise on him. Still, he appeared cautious, for her sake at least. The boy waited quietly for her answer, nearly jumping at her rather scathing tone. Quirking his lips as he attempted to find a reply to that, he wasn’t prepared to hear the crashing around somewhere else. Leo jumped again, and then relaxed figuring it wasn’t a campus official or something scary like that. Still, with that racket, he was scared someone would come.

The boy turned his gaze back to the girl, now unsurprised by her dislike of someone else in the barn. He was left momentarily silenced as she asked him to leave her alone, now completely unsure what to do. He honestly didn’t want to leave her all by herself in a barn where she could get hurt and have to wait till morning for someone to come. Then again, he didn’t want to add fuel to the fire she had going on. Finally he sighed “Um… Well… I don’t think I can just –“ Leo began before jumping in surprise for the third time that night as a thunderous voice called into the barn.

His eyes widened, realizing they’d all been caught. Poking his head out a bit, he caught a glance of yet another girl that seemed to be sneaking out like him and this girl. He didn’t remember the punishment for disobeying curfew, but he knew this isn’t what he was known for. Avery was the one that got into situations like this! Rubbing the side of his face with his hand, he gave the girl lying down a sad look, unsure what to do exactly at this moment. Finally, deciding he would be a good person, the boy lowered his hand to pull her up if she needed it. “I um… think we just got into trouble… But hey, you won’t be by yourself in this. If it makes you feel better, I didn't have such a good day either.” he said shyly, figuring they probably had a few seconds before whatever official out there would come inside. Yeah, his day was just getting worse.

Outfit! <3

[Rose Hoff]

Rose was standing beside Vintage in her stall while the mare munched on a carrot when she heard heavier footsteps walking in. At first she wasn't very much worried, and went back to untangling the mare's mane with her fingers. It was when she heard the demand of a man to come out when she realized what was going on. Honestly, Rose hadn't thought a lot about the time, which was rather ridiculous considering how late it was, but she'd had an incredibly busy day and all she'd wanted to do was just visit Vintage before going to sleep.

Now, with her heart beating in her throat, she realized how stupid she'd been and silently cursed herself. There was no excuse for this, and she'd just have to come out like the man had demanded and turn herself in. There was no reason in trying to hide or get away. Giving a Vintage one last scratch between her ears, Rose sighed and stepped out of the stall, closing it behind her. She looked down at her feet, twisting the end of her braid between her fingers. This simply wasn't like her, breaking rules and getting in trouble. She'd probably be more angry with herself than her father would be. When she spotted the adult with his flashlight, she looked up, eyes wide. "I'm sorry, sir." Her eyes then turned back to her feet, twisting her bony knuckles together.

The day had certainly been worse than most. She'd been rather foggy for most of the day, and had forced herself to pay attention in her classes, even though she was usually very attentive. And while she was riding Eleanor, she'd begun to see those telltale white spots before her eyes, but had blinked them away, trying to make them leave. Perhaps it had been the lack of a good sleep, or the stress, or not enough nutrients, but after a couple months, Blue Ridge was taking a tole on her. She'd have to figure something out before something really bad happened, and more attention was called to her.

[ayla]

Kenzie frowned and rubbed at her face with both hands. Uniformly red was better than blotchy; she could blame that on the cold if the boy ended up turning the lights on. Why couldn't she just have stayed in her dorm? Coming down here would only bring trouble.

Trouble indeed; the boy didn't even finish telling her he couldn't leave before a adult male voice boomed out in the relative silence of the barn. "Whoever is in here, come out. I know you're there." Kenzie groaned, although it mutated into another sob. None of this would have happened if she had just stayed home, or stayed in her dorm, or even closed the door behind her. So stupid.

Kenzie gave a pained laugh. "No Unicorn Poop, Sherlock, of course we're in trouble," she whispered hoarsely. "What happened, your girlfriend break up with you?" She curled further into herself, refusing the outstretched hand. "You'll be fine tomorrow. I won't."

She pressed herself against the stall wall. There was no doubt she would be found, but Kenzie would not leave the stall until she could control her emotions. And at that moment, she wasn't sure she trusted her legs enough to support her. It didn't matter how carefully she watched her protein intake, Kenzie always nearly fainted upon standing up. That meant she was doing well, but it was also a major inconvenience and a big tell.

[/font]

[William//Adrianna Gibbson]

William, drawing on his police training, but softening the loud, angry voice just a touch, in respect to the horses, stepped into the barn, heaving the barn door further open. He didn't want any stories about anything uncouth going around, and the open door let in a bit more light. As one of the people, a girl, stepped out of one of the stalls, Will gestured with the flashlight beam against the opposite row of stalls, "Go stand over there." While he had heard the apology, he didn't let on, rolling with the strength and loud aura that he was forcing himself to exude. He tucked the paper and pen back into his belt before approaching the stall in which he still heard voices. He saw a boy, standing with his back to the door. Will shone the flashlight into the stall, revealing another girl, "Both of you, out, now!" He stepped back from the stall door, but kept his flashlight trained on the two students, putting on his set-in-stone face, showing no emotion, but still managing to convey anger and strength. For a moment, he wondered what to do with them, then decided on a course of action. He shone the flashlight at the area where he had told the other girl to stand, "Go stand over there, both of you."

[Leonardo Jacobs]

Leo hadn’t imagined himself to be in such a predicament so soon to his arrival to the school. Of course, he had gotten in trouble before, but it was mainly little things such as being late to a class or something of the sort. Still, he had only been at BRRA for the matter of perhaps two months and he was already probably going to find himself sitting in detention or worse… Biting his lip in the tiniest show of mild nervousness, he took it easily, calming himself down as he usually did and set his deep eyes back onto the girl sitting ever so sadly against the stall wall.

Seeing people so sad eventually made him a bit sad as well, and as gentleman, Leo felt it was now his responsibility to see this girl got back to her dorm safely. Despite her obvious hatred for having others manage to catch her crying, Leo could easily see that this wasn’t a situation the girl was in that often. She reminded him a bit of his younger sister… Sighing softly at her criticizing tone, it struck him a bit funny. Trying not to smile, Leo was thankful for the darkness when her next words met his ears. He blushed slightly, shaking his head, having no reply for either of these things.

Slowly dropping his hand as she showed she wasn’t going to need it, the boy glimpsed at her curiously. He tilted his head slightly at her statement “Why won’t you be fine tomorrow?” His voice was hushed and quiet, but he couldn’t resist despite the very angry police officer voice coming from the front. Cringing slightly at the man’s footsteps and again his voice, Leo realized he better go before he got himself into even more trouble. Stuck between deciding between leaving the girl and going to where the man wanted him, Leo back up a bit.

He gave the girl a small glance, realizing the man was a police officer and could help her if she had something truly terrible going on. Motioning for her to follow him if he wanted to, he walked out of the stall, his face quite hopeful as he moved to where the other girl was standing. Offering her a bit of a worried look, he felt somewhat sickly happy that someone he actually sort of knew in his art class was here as well. Leo lowered his gaze from the police officer, biting his lip slightly and pressed his back against the stall wall. Maybe he wouldn’t get in so much trouble as to interfere badly with his grades.

Outfit! <3

[Rose Hoff]

Rose nodded quickly and obeyed, walking over to the wall he'd gestured to and pressing her back against it. She was so stupid to have done this, thinking that it would somehow made her feel better. It didn't matter what her intentions were, or if she'd only been wanting to see Vintage before going back to her room and sleeping. It was late for Rose anyways, and though she'd finished her homework earlier, she was feeling the weight of the night pressing down on her.

Staring at her feet, she let her vision blur for a moment before focusing again, her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Her stomach was unhappy too, and she pressed her nerves down, brow furrowed. Her head rose only a degree to see a boy from her art class join her against the wall, but she couldn't even force out her usual soft smile in greeting. At least it wasn't just her. The thought was selfish, she knew, but it was comforting to know that there would be someone else beside her. The bones of her spine were pressing into the wall and rather than leaning her weight forward a bit, she kept leaning. The discomfort was almost welcomed, keeping her in this reality rather than letting herself slip into her mind like she'd have liked to do in that moment.