MSRA ↠ Back Again

19 ↠ serious

The rest of my time at home flies by. Before I know it, I'm back at Maple Stream, unpacking my bag in my dorm.

We still had five days until classes restarted, so I didn't have much to do. Abby was busy at the barn, and Bridget wasn't here yet. I decided to lie on my bed and watch some Netflix. After two episodes of Grey's Anatomy, someone threw open my door and launched them self onto my bed.

"Bridget," I groaned. "Get off!"

"No," she complained, grunting when I pushed her off onto the ground. "What was that for?"

"You interrupted my episode," I said as I paused Netflix on my laptop.

"Let's go for a ride," she said as she sat up from the floor. "Come on, let's go."

"Alright, alright," I moaned as I lifted myself off my bed. I threw my Dublin boots on over my jeans and put my winter jacket on. I followed Bridge out to the barn and got Moose tacked up. With Abby's help, I mounted and Bridge and I headed out.

"So, I've had an exciting vacation, what about you?" I asked as Cisco and Moose playfully nipped at each other.

"Oh, not much happened," Bridge smiled. "Ethan and I got to spend a night alone at my house the day before he left."

"Ooh?" I asked suggestively.

"Yeah," she said dreamily. "That was fun."

"Noah and I get almost no alone time now," I sighed. "We finally got a night to ourselves when he slept over."

"And now he's concussed," Bridge smiled and shook her head. "What did you do to him, Kat?"

"It wasn't me, I swear," I laughed. We continued talking and riding around campus. We hopped over a few of the cross country jumps and galloped through one of the fields, but we returned back just in time for dinner.

-

The last day of vacation came around very quickly, but Noah had still not arrived.

"When do you think he'll come back?" Bridget asked as we cleaned our tack.

"I have no idea," I admitted. "He still can't text me or use his phone, but he's had his mom call me a couple of times so we can talk. He's gotten better, but it still sounds like he's struggling."

"Damn, that sucks," she frowned. "Sounds like he won't be riding for a while."

"Yeah," I nodded. "Hopefully he'll still come back even though he can't ride."

"Let's wait and see," Bridge said as she stood to put her bridle away.

-

School began the next day, and everyone was still concerned about Noah. Word about his concussion somehow got out, and many people approached me during school classes to ask how he was doing.

I was finally able to take a break for myself during cross country. I think Anne knew how much stress I was under, so she changed the lesson plan and let us run through the full course.

It was a great way to blow off steam.

It was very uneventful during dressage and showjumping, we just did some basic work to get back into the swing of things.

"How were classes?" Abby asked as we rode back up to the barn.

"Alright," I admitted, hopping off of Moose and leading him into the barn. "Kinda boring."

"Yeah, same," she said as she led Mojo into his stall. "Don't forget, midterms start next week. That's always exciting."

"Ugh," I groaned, untacking Moose in his stall. We kept chit-chatting while we took care of our horses, and ended up walking back to the dorms together. I hurried up to my room and took a much-needed shower. I changed into yoga pants and a long sleeved t-shirt, and put some fuzzy socks on. I grabbed my homework and started working on it, then got a text from Bridget to go to the main room to work on homework with her.

I picked up the remainder of my work and and wandered downstairs, where I met Bridge on the couch.

"I'm almost done," I said as I plopped down next to her.

"That's fine, I just didn't want to be alone," she said as she shuffled through her papers.

I continued with my math homework and finished in record time. I was just chilling on the couch with Bridge when someone opened up the dorm door.

"Kat?" he asked, and I turned to see who it was.

"Noah!" I exclaimed, rushing up to him and hugging him tightly. He gripped me back, holding onto me with fierce protectiveness.

"Oh, I've missed you," he said as he buried his face in my hair.

"I've missed you more," I countered. I pulled away and noticed he was still wearing sunglasses, but his colour was back and he looked happier.

I kissed him gently, then led him to the couch and had him sit.

"How are you doing?" I asked, sitting cross-legged and facing him.

"Uh," he said as he adjusted his glasses. "I've seen better days."

"No, seriously babe, how are you?" I pushed.

"My head still hurts."

"Clearly," Bridge snorted.

"And I'm still having trouble with lights and sounds."

"Mhmm," I mumbled. "Anything else?"

"I have dizzy spells sometimes," he tapped his fingers on my knee. "Oh, and I sleep. A lot."

"Are you hungry?" I asked. " I was just about to go get some dinner."

"Yeah, I'll come with you," he said as he struggled to stand again.

"Yeah right," I laughed, gently pushing him back down. "You don't need the lights and noise of the dining hall."

He groans and watches as I stand from the couch. I lean down and give him one more quick kiss before heading out. I grab my jacket and head to the dining hall, where I get dinner for me, Bridge, and Noah. I rush back to the dorms, food in hands.

"Ahh, yes," Bridge said as I walked into the dorm with three takeout containers. I handed one box to Noah and one to Bridge.

"Enjoy," I said as I plopped back down onto the couch in between Bridget and Noah.