𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 [ Adopted by Elizabeth Olsen ]

Chapter 4: "The lesson"

⚠️TW:⚠️ Talk abt social anxiety

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After doing that, Nova asked me if I was okay with getting on Billy, so which I was a little hesitant but I said yes nonetheless. Nova went and grabbed the mounting block so that I could mount Billy.

She held him while I got on so that he wouldn't go anywhere while I had one foot in the stirrup. "And you're on! Step one: complete", Nova joked which earned a little giggle from me. "Do your stirrups feel alright or do you want them longer or shorter?" She then asked me.

They felt alright to me, so she then got to showing me how to hold the reins. "So your thumb goes on top and then your pinky finger goes like that, I know it feels weird but trust me, it's easier to steer if you hold them like that."

"Great, are you ready to try and walk now?" She asked me. I think she saw the terror in my eyes because she quickly reassured me. "If you feel unsafe, please let me know, Billy is super chill, I promise he's not going to do anything and I'm right here if something happens", she smiled.

"Okay, let's go then I guess", I said. I squeezed my legs together as she told me, and Billy started walking. "Okay, so if you try to stop, to do that, sit up straight, lean back slightly and gently pull the reins, we don't want to be yanking at his mouth", she instructed me.

I did as she said while trying to be as gentle as possible, and Billy came to a halt. "I did it!" I exclaimed excitedly. "You did, good job!" Nova laughed at my excitement.

We then practised starting and stopping for a while until I got the hang of it, and Nova then put out some cones for me to try and weave through. "So now we'll practice steering and I want you to try and weave through those cones", she said and I nodded.

"So if you want to go right, gently pull the right rein while looking in the direction you want to go, and also kind of turning your whole upper body. Think of it like this: imagine you have a flashlight attached to your chest, and you want to light up the way you're going to go, so you have to turn your body before you actually steer that way", she explained. (That's actually how my old instructor explained it to me lol)

I then practised weaving through the cones until I was able to do it without missing any and also not touching any of them. Mr. Miller eventually came back, and he took over my lesson. He stood at the centre of the arena telling me what to do and giving me little pointers here and there while Nova walked beside me for safety and so that she could explain something if I didn't understand it.

At the end of the lesson, I had pretty much full control over Billy in walk. I could start, stop and steer him wherever I wanted. We had made the decision not to try and trot today because I didn't want to push my luck, and honestly, I was a bit scared to do things at a faster pace, so we just kept it nice and calm today.

I stopped Billy near the arena entrance, and Nova showed me how to get off. I thanked Mr. Miller for the lesson and led Billy back into the barn and to the crossties. Nova then showed me how to untack Billy and how to put on his turnout rug.

She was very patient with me when I struggled, she had been all day, a normal 16-year old would probably give up on me and just do it themselves, but Nova took the time to show me how to do it and give directions when needed, she seemed very mature and patient.

When Billy was all ready to be turned back out again, Nova handed me a treat which I gave to Billy. She grabbed her horse Luna while I grabbed Billy, and we led them outside. She helped me put Billy back into his field before doing the same with Luna.

"Alright, that's pretty much everything for today, thank you so much for the help!" Nova exclaimed sweetly. "I should be the one saying that, you're the one who helped me with everything, I would probably have looked like an idiot if it weren't for you", I said.

"Honestly, you did look like an idiot", MK teased me and Nova let out an adorable giggle. That was the first time I heard her laugh, and it just did something to me, it made me all warm inside. "Don't listen to her, you're a fast learner and you picked up on everything faster than a lot of people", she reassured me.

"I'll be going now, I have some work to do, but it was a pleasure meeting you Miss Elizabeth, I hope we'll see you again here with us", she smiled. "Once again, Lizzie is just fine, and it was a pleasure meeting you, I certainly hope I'll see you again, you seem like a really sweet girl", I answered.

"Thank you so much, have a great day", Nova waved as MK and I walked back to our car. As soon as we were out of earshot, MK started teasing me. "She's cute, you should adopt her", she nudged me and I blushed.

"I want to, she's so sweet but I can't help but feel like it's too soon, I mean, I just met her and I can feel that she doesn't trust me like she trusts the people she knows, I kind of want to form some sort of bond first", I explained.

"Yeah, that makes sense, you should probably book another lesson and ask if Nova could help you then too, and then you can try and gain her trust", MK suggested. "Maybe tell her something about yourself and then ask her a few questions, but don't push her, her past is probably a sensitive topic for her", MK explained.

"Yeah I'll do that, let's go and find Mr. Miller, I think he said he was going to the main barn or something", I suggested. MK and I then went to try and find Mr. Miller, and after a bit of asking around, we eventually found him.

"Miss Olsen, did you want anything else?" He asked. "Yes, actually I did, I was wondering if it would be possible to book another lesson for next week, and whether or not Nova could help me again", I asked him.

"Yes of course! Is the same time as today okay? Saturday at 12?" He asked and I nodded. "Great! And I'll make sure to get Nova to help you, she seems to like you, I've never seen her that relaxed and laid back around someone new", he smiled.

"Really? To me she seems really good with people, she was so sweet", I said. "She is really sweet, but she's normally a lot quieter, you see, she has social anxiety so meeting new people is usually difficult for her, that's why I normally don't make her help the new lesson people. She usually has the people who have been here for longer and she, therefore, knows a bit better", he explained.

"Today, I quite literally didn't have anyone else, and I felt kind of bad for putting her on the spot with no time to mentally prepare, but she seemed a lot more chilled out, so thank you I guess Miss Olsen, for making Nova feel safe", he smiled at me.

"Of course, I'm also not great with new people, she made me feel welcome and she very sweetly took the time to explain everything to me", I said. "I'm happy to hear that, Nova is a very sweet girl and I'm lucky to have her here", Mr. Miller said.

We said our goodbyes and walked back to our car. On the way home, we stopped at McDonald's because MK was complaining about being hungry, so I got her a burger to shut her up. She really is like a toddler sometimes.

But Nova having social anxiety? I hadn't seen that coming. Since I have it, I thought I'd be able to notice it on other people, but clearly not. I mean now that I think about it, I did notice some things she did but I just assumed they were nervous habits. The playing with her fingers, the foot-tapping, the playing with her jewellery, the not making eye contact, the zoning out, the playing with her hair... (These are things I do when I'm anxious or uncomfortable)

All of which were anxious habits of mine. I should have noticed. Oh well, it's too late now. We got home eventually, and I watched a couple of episodes of "The Witcher" while I waited for MK to come back from out in town, she was running a couple of errands.

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Hi everyone! 👋 Look at me go! Actually posting when I'm supposed to! We'll have to see how long that lasts...
So, Lizzie Is having some thoughts already and has booked a lesson for next week, how will that go?

How are y'all doing? It's finally the weekend (at least for me), what did you get up to this week?
This is your reminder to take care of yourself, take some time to rest if you need it, destress. Remember to stay hydrated and eat enough, you deserve it <3

Love, Frida (the author) xx