𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟𝐟. (pin hawthorne) *ON HOLD*

t w o

*choosing*

"don't you tell me that it wasn't meant to be, call it quits, call it destiny"
-Easily, Bruno Major

***

Ivy woke up to the soft pattering of rain on her window. Bright sunlight filled her vision as she opened her green eyes. She looked over at the time on her phone and realised that she had about ten minutes to get to the first stables that she was checking out for the day. Before she moved to England she called up a couple of the stables on the island and talked to them about what she wanted to do, only two of the many she found had accepted her request and were willing to meet with her to chat about what she would do and both were quite happy to hire her straight up, but she had decided to check out both of them.

The girl jumped out of her warm bed and ran to the adjoining bathroom to freshen up quickly, washing her face and brushing her teeth in the shower. Once she got out she quickly sprayed sea salt spray into her wet hair and applied her everyday makeup, mascara and brow gel. She ran out of her bathroom and into her closet to grab her black ripped jeans and her vans, stubbing one of the toes on her right foot as she tried to slip on her left shoe while exiting the closet, she grabbed Pins sweater and threw it over her head before slipping on her denim jacket. Ivy almost slammed into the wall next to her bedroom door as she ran to the kitchen to grab an apple, her keys and her backpack and ran out the door with her helmet in hand. "I'll be back later Hunter, wish me luck." She practically yelled at her horse as she checked that he had enough food before clipping her motorbike helmet in and speeding out of her driveway towards the first stables. Almost halfway down her long driveway she saw Ted working in one of his fields and gave him a quick wave before continuing onto the main road.

***

When Ivy arrived at the first stables she was slightly speechless at the size of the main building and the land it was on. After she had gotten over her surprise she turned her bike off and pulled her helmet off, letting her wet hair flop out. She got off her bike and placed her helmet on one of the handles as she ruffled her hair a bit before turning around and realised that she had unknowingly gathered a small crowd. A girl and two boys stood just outside the building. "Hi," she said as she approached them, "I'm Ivy Willow, I'm here to talk to Gaby?" The shorter girl in front of her showed off her pearly white teeth as she grinned at Ivy. "That's me," She outstretched her hand, "it's wonderful to finally meet you after all the phone calls." Ivy grinned back at her a she took the girls hand and gave it a firm shake. "Yeah agreed." The almost eighteen year old turned to the two boys behind Gabby and stretched one of her hands out to them, leaving her other hand in her back pocket. "Ivy." She told them. The tall blonde in front of her smirked, "Callum." He shook her hand arrogantly as she decided that she didn't like him at all so she forced a fake smile. Turning to the other boy who already had his hand stretched out, she grasped his hand in hers and was surprised at his firm shake, "I'm Alex," he smiled kindly at her, "it's a pleasure to meet you." Ivy's grin grew at his kindness, "You too."
The teenage girl turned back to Gaby and smiled. "Alright then, let's give you a tour and then we'll go over what you'll actually be doing here. And just to let you know I don't own the place obviously, I'm only a rider here but the owners have asked me to show you the ropes and these two behind me are the best riders here, other than me of course." The short brunette joked as she lead the boys and Ivy inside the building.

The next hour or two was spent walking around the Holloway grounds as Gaby explained just about everything to her. As the tour came to an end Ivy thanked the boys as they left to train, forcing another smile at Callum and granting Alex with a friendly hug and a sharing of numbers, Gaby staying behind to escort her out. The two girls reached Ivy's motorbike and they slowed to a stop, "Thanks for having me Gaby, and thanks for showing me around." The two smiled at each other. "Yeah of course," Gaby said, "hopefully you'll be back tomorrow to start working. But just in case you choose the other stables, no hard feelings it's fine I get it, can I give you my number and we can chat." Gaby's beautiful smile was on full show as she talked to the taller brunette. "Oh yeah of course, if I'm being honest with you this place is great but it's not really my kind of place, it's just too big and daunting." Ivy laughed. The two girls exchanged their phones as they fell into silence. "Yeah I get it. That's how I felt when I got here. Even if you don't choose Holloway you can always come and hang. It's been really nice meeting you but I've got to run to training. And cool bike by the way." Gaby rushes out as she softly hugged Ivy and gave her phone back before stepping back. "Yeah you too," Ivy said, "I'll text you later, maybe we can meet for a snack in the afternoon or something." The two girls smiled at each other as they waved goodbye, Gaby running off to training and Ivy hopping on her bike to make her way to the second and last stables of the day.