𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 [ Adopted by Elizabeth Olsen ]

Chapter 52: "Competition prep"

⚠️TW:⚠️ none, maybe a slight mention of panic attacks

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We spent the evening  watching a  movie, cuddled up to each other. Every time Nova would nuzzle  further  into me, my body erupted into butterflies.

She  was  completely relaxed in my embrace, focused on the movie. I couldn't   focus on the movie, I was taking in this beautiful moment with my new   daughter.

-Time skip to Friday-

Nova's pov:

It was finally Friday. Ally and I were currently in the process of  packing  the horsebox (trailer, van, whatever you call it). It was  organized  chaos as both of us tried to pack everything we would need  for the  weekend. Tack, brushes, hay, shavings, feed, competition  clothes, food,  sleeping stuff, the list goes on.

The  past  week had been weird, to say the least. I had gotten up at my  normal  time every day and gone to the barn. When I got back, both Lizzie  and  Robbie had usually left for work. I did my schoolwork and Lizzie  helped  me if necessary.

We  would eat dinner together and do  something in the evening. Usually  board games or a movie. I also went  to the gym a couple of times. Lizzie  still hadn't had the time to come  with me which I didn't really mind.

I  hadn't had any more  urges, just a couple of nightmares and panic  attacks here and there,  nothing new. Robbie had been really nice to me,  and I think I was  slowly warming up to him. I still wasn't comfortable  being alone with  him, but when Lizzie was there, I was fine.

Ally  and I had  finally gotten everything onto the horsebox. We quickly  brushed the  horses before loading them up as well. Ally's parents were  driving us,  as Lizzie was coming tomorrow. She had asked if she should  come with us  today, but I had said that she didn't need to, she'd come  with her  family and friends tomorrow to watch.

Yeah,  both the twins  and Scarlett freaking Johansson were coming. I got a bit  anxious  thinking about it, but I figured everything would be fine. The  drive to  Northampton wasn't very long, so we arrived pretty quickly.

We   checked in before being allowed to put the horses in their new stables   for the weekend. They got a bit of time to graze first, before we put   them into their stables.

"What  do you want to do now?" Ally  asked. "I don't know. Maybe we should walk  the cross-county course?" I  suggested with a shrug. "Sure, this seems  like a pretty good time to  do it."

So  yeah, we ended up walking the course. (Little authors  note, walking the  course is literally what it sounds like. You walk the  course and check  out the striding (how long it is in between each  fence) and how you want  to ride it. Also so that you remember where  you're supposed to go).

Ally  and I weren't competing in the  same classes, but the cross-country  courses were pretty similar. She  was riding the 100cm and I was doing  the 120cm. I had checked out my  competitors, and they were all almost  twice my age.

Anyway,   the course seemed manageable, so I wasn't too worried. We ate a little   something before doing a quick ride. I walked Luna around the arena and   around the grounds to get her used to the environment.

She   tends to get stressed if she hasn't been in the arena before the round   starts. Luna was really good, only showing a bit of sass which was   normal. The horses got their dinner before we called it a night, having   to get up quite early the next morning.

I texted Lizzie goodnight before going to bed.

We   were really lucky to be able to use one of the barn's horseboxes as it   had some living in it, so we didn't have to rent a hotel room or   anything like that. I slept pretty well, and we got up early to feed the   horses.

The  course walk for the showjumping was at 8 am,  so we did that before we  had to start getting ready. Ally had dressage  before me, so I helped her  get ready. She was a nervous wreck after  warming up like always.

"It's  gonna be fine Als, just go out  there, be in the zone, if it goes shit,  it goes shit, live with it", I  gave her my incredible words of wisdom  and a pat on her leg as I  couldn't reach her back given she was sitting  on Crystal.

"Thanks   for those inspiring words", Ally replied sarcastically before going to   do her test. She ended up doing pretty well, just some minor mistakes   here and there. Overall, we were both happy with how she did, and she   was a lot more relaxed afterward.

It  was suddenly a pretty tight time  crunch for me to get ready, but with  some team effort from Ally's  parents, we made it just in time. Lizzie  had texted me saying they were  here and waiting by the dressage arena.

We  would be meeting up  after my test as they couldn't get "backstage" to  where the horses were  without me. I warmed Luna up quickly, and I could  feel the nerves  coming.

I was wearing my dressage outfit. Black  showjacket,  white showshirt, white breeches (pants), black, polished  boots, white  gloves and my hair was up in a bun in my hairnet under the  black  helmet. Ally gave me some words of assurance, before I made my way  to  the arena.

I  didn't want to look around for Lizzie as I  didn't want to get  distracted. As I heard the bell, my nerves flared up  more than usual.  First of all SCARLETT JOHANSSON was watching me. Even  though I doubted  she knew much about horses, MK did and would probably  judge me if I did  something wrong.

I  heard a little girl  squeal and a woman calm her down when I entered the  arena. That was  probably Rose. The center line ended up being a bit  wonky due to my  nerves, but as soon as I got started, my nerves faded  and I got in the  zone.

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Hi! How are we feeling today? Thank you so much for all of your stories last week, I enjoyed reading them all :)

Make sure you take care of yourself, love you <3

Love, Frida xx