House of Hawthorne

C1: the arrivals

"Her eyes were green

his were brown

they made a forest

but many get lost in trees"

House of Hawthorne: by flashinglights

"Maggie get up you're gonna be late!"

"Hailey?"

"Yes. Now let's go. LeRosey is here."

Margaret ran along the halls with Hailey. Their black heeled shoes made clicking noises and their newly tight ponytails were loose.
The marble corridor seemed never-ending. Hailey suddenly stopped and her eyes darted to Margaret's.

"Do you hear that?" Margaret's listened and heard the sound of hooves on cobblestones and her face broke into a smile.

"Yes! The horses. Let's go!" Margaret started running again and Hailey followed her.
"Don't you know what this means?" Hailey asked Margaret.

"New friends? New horses? New dancers?" She sighed in thought.

"No! This means more horses in the stables. That's a bad thing. Right Maggie?"

"No! It's not Hailey. Remember, Ms Hawthorne said we have to welcome all students."

"What if I don't want to." Margaret rolled her eyes and dismissed it.

Finally they reached the big metal door at the end of the hall. Breathing heavy Margaret opened it and stepped outside. Bitter wind greeted her and blew all her flyaways from her face. She looked out at the expansive grounds, the rolling hills, the tall trees and smiled.

When she finally came to her senses she exited the building. The concrete path lead to a wooden bridge that connected two parts of the big school. Hailey grabbed her shoulder and pushed her forward. They walked to the bridge and rolled up the sleeves of their white blouses as they started climbing one of the larger hills.

As they crossed the threshold that would normally determine if you were going out-of-bounds the two girls expressions turned to complete astonishment.

What seemed like twenty black SUVs with tinted windows were driving up to the gates. Inside the gates they saw dozens of horses lined up tossing their heads in annoyance because of there foreign riders.
Margaret and Hailey looked at each other and raced down the hill. Their feet were going faster than their bodies and soon they were going full speed down the hill in there Mary Jane's.

Most of the students in front of the steps behind the gate were lined up with their hands behind their backs next to a horse and a rider.

"I told you we should have worn our blazers!" Hailey shouted as they were running.

"It's fine we have skirts on!" Margaret huffed.

They finally reached the bottom of the hill and slowly started gathering themselves.

"Do I look okay?" Hailey said out loud

"Yes. Why?"

"Because it's not just all girls. There are boys too." Margret nodded

"Yeah I know."

"Yeah." Hailey raised her eyebrows. Margaret smoothed her hair.

"Ok. I'm ready."

Margaret and Hailey straightened their postures and put their hands at there sides. They walked next to each other all the way to their headmistress who was standing in front, conversing with a girl with long blonde hair on a sleek black stallion.
With a shock, she saw it was her own horse, Alden. Margaret realized that all those riding horses were heads of houses.
She looked back at Hailey who had slowed down to line up with the other students. Hailey gave her a small smile and turned away. Margaret took a deep breath and walked up to Headmistress Hawthorne.
The headmistress was a regal looking woman. She had raven black hair that she wore slicked back. She was very pretty but in a slightly scary way. Next to her was second in command, Mr Scott. He was a tall, thin, brown haired man with wire glasses. He was in his forties and was a highly respected history professor. He had more of a lighter presence compared to Headmistress Hawthorne. Headmistress Hawthorne glared at Margaret.
"Your late Ms. LaClaire" Margaret expected this. She nodded.