Rey Kanata is a senior in high school, a girl from the city who just moved into the country life surrounding Mishawaka, IN. When she takes a class in Agricultural Science as the only elective needed in order to graduate, her life changes irrevocably...
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When Ben handed the book to Rey, one of the first things she had noticed about BlackBeauty was how worn its cover looked. The creases were greater along the front cover's spine as if it had been read periodically, rather than read once and stored away on a shelf to collect dust. The corners were curled and appeared to have been dropped more than once by accident. And the pages were easy to turn, unlike most newish novels.
Aside from the book's outerwear and tear, what amused Rey the most was that it was a Young Readers' addition. The print was larger than the average text in adult literature. The chapters were shorter and had black and white graphite-drawn photographs strategically placed throughout its pages. Rey wondered if it was a keepsake from Mr. Solo's childhood, possibly given to him by a family member or if it was something that he picked up later on. Either way, seeing a man of his size read a children's book was enough to give her a clear indication of the kind of person that Mr. Solo was.
His reaction in regards to how the novel pertained to him, as a reader, made her realize that he seemed to be a more sensitive sort, bearing a soul as equally soft as his hair and lips. The thought made her smile, eliciting a warm feeling inside her chest that made her want to know more about the man that she was drawn to.
She meant to begin reading later that night after finishing her homework for Language Arts, History and Trigonometry. Unfortunately, by the time she finished number crunching ten formulas that took up half a page (each) in length, plus reading through a surmount of text to answer questions for the other two classes, Rey was more than ready to catch some much-needed sleep.
Luckily, hump day's school hours were slightly shorter, thanks to block scheduling. Classes began at 9:00 A.M. rather than the usual 8:00, meaning classes were shortened by 10 minutes and passing periods lessened by a minute.
Not that Rey was bummed for having omitted minutes in every class: just Agricultural Science. Ironically, not more than 36 hours earlier, Agriculture had been the class she looked forward to attending the least. However, Rey was excited for her daily talk with Mr. Solo today and hoped to strike up some sort of conversation with him about the book, wanting to begin the day on common ground rather than the usual awkwardness. But Rey needed to actually read the book in order to do just that.
Foregoing the need to catch some extra sleep, like any other student was probably doing with the extra hour, Rey went about her usual morning routine and arrived at the school just before 8:00. Unlike days with the normal class hours, she caught sight of a hand full of students that were occupying the empty hallways. Some appeared to be making use of their time wisely, catching up on homework that was put off from the night before.
And then there was the couple whom of which she begrudgingly witnessed trying to devour the other's face, thinking that no one would see them dry humping against the lockers in the dimly lit corridors. Rey pretended not to have seen, though her eyes had suffered the consequences.
