The Hurricane Arrives

[Avery Jacobs]

The slender girl sat like a statue, rigid and emotionless in the passenger seat of the bumpy pickup. Her face gave off not even a hint of what she was thinking as she looked blankly ahead. Her grandfather drove along, easing the car over the bumpy country roads and making sure engine stayed normal. Only silence graced the air as it had been for nearly six hours over the long duration of the flight and the drive. Avery knew exactly what would come next, not only after this day, but throughout her time at this so called prestigious academy. She had agreed to go on one condition, that her grandparents bought her a horse.

They complied quickly, wanting their granddaughter to become happier, but Avery was perfectly fine with her stern outlook on the world as it was. The horse she had never seen before would arrive a couple days later, and while there was some excitement for that, the girl wasn’t sure she wanted to keep with the bargain. Her hatred of change was certainly getting a beating with going to an actual boarding school. Still, the girl kept all these thoughts hidden from the world as they pulled into the massive parking lot. Without giving her grandfather a look, she hopped elegantly out of the car, proceeding to the main office.

She had only two years left, and the girl wasn’t going to waste her time with the deep breaths and nervousness she might’ve felt earlier. No, none of that mattered anymore. All that mattered was the fact she was all alone in a humongous school that she knew no one in. It was perfect. No attachments, no weaknesses. Avery could almost smile to herself as she entered in, giving the front desk lady her most naughty look. Hopefully that would show them that she was here to be the badass, not the good girl.

The girl sidled up to the counter as her grandfather stepped in, his jolly smile hopefully enough for the both of them. The lady gave Avery an ‘oh great’ look before doing her thing on the computer and asking if she was a new student. “Yup.” she said curtly before her grandfather stepped in with an apologetic tone “Yes, Avery Jacobs.” he said in his low voice after Avery shot him an icy look. She didn’t want him to leave so of course she was going to be mean. The man however knew his granddaughter and ignored it before grabbing the keys to her room and the map.

When they finally stepped out of the office, Avery collected her stuff out of the car and unloaded them into her room and her tack into the barn with the help of her grandfather. Finally, after about half an hour, they were done. The first emotional look grazed the girl’s face for the first time during their trip as she pretended to grudgingly give her grandfather a hug. As soon as his arms went around her however, the girl squeezed him like she wasn’t going to let go. “Bye Grandpa…” she said softly before watching in a sad little face as the man drove off. As much as she hated to admit it, she was going to miss him. Then, her sadness evaporated and the emotionless expression came back. She was going to give this school something to remember.