𝚜𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟷 - 𝚜𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟸
Bella loved school.
It was unusual she knew that, but she did.
Marlborough was perfect for her, the perfect mixture of sport and academia. It challenged her where she needed it for she certainly was intelligent, but it also allowed her to use up all of her endless bounds of energy.
She was in the hundred now as they called it. Or year 11 to everyone else. GCSE time, it was serious that was what everyone kept telling her. But deep down Bella knew that for her, it didn't matter as much. She certainly would not want to fail them, she was far too competitive for that. But she also knew that the sleepless nights that some of her friends were already beginning to have wouldn't trouble her. She didn't need to get anything. It was more what she wanted to get and she did want to do well.
So she had begun revising for the mocks. Perhaps not as fervently as some of her other friends, she was far too focused on her sports to dedicate the amount of time they were, but she still was revising.
Hockey season was beginning and Bella was team captain for the lower school. It was perfect really, the eventing season ended in October but she didn't really do anything past September, then hockey season started up which took up a lot of her attention. Then as that came to an end netball started which she wasn't as much a fan of but still in the team which meant she had to do some things. Then a few weeks into netball the eventing season would start back up giving her the perfect excuse to not do as much netball, especially considering how she had done last year.
Following the pony club area event last spring, Bella had qualified for the pony club championships. And, much to her surprise, she and Kaapi had come 6th. It was mad, Bella was unbelievably excited when it happened. She hadn't quite realised how good she was and it made her want to continue competing, especially when her family were encouraging it which she was also surprised about.
This year would be good though. She would get her mocks over and done with (hopefully doing well in them) then it would be onto the real thing in the summer. And once all her exams were out of the way she would be able to have a brilliant summer. A summer that consisted of parties with her friends, eventing every weekend she could and spending the rest of the time with her family.
Who could ask for anything better.
♔♕
𝙼𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚎𝚕𝚖𝚊𝚜
"What's the quadratic formula?"
"Oh, um...x equals minus b plus minus the square root of...b, uhh, minus, um, minus...oh I don't know!" Harriet exclaimed with a huge sigh, she threw her hands down on the books that were surrounding them in despair, crying out, "I hate maths!!"
"Minus 4ac all over 2a." Bella replied with a smile.
"And the first b after the square root is squared." Rose continued, giggling at the glare Harriet sent to the two of them.
"I repeat, I hate maths."
"Don't we all." Bella said in dismay as she threw the textbook she was holding onto the pile of books around the three roommates.
"You've just got to accept it, accept that even though it doesn't make sense, that it is what it is." Rose replied with confidence.
"This is maths Rosie not philosophy."
"Yeah, and even if I have accepted that the quadratic formula is unbelievably long, it doesn't help me to remember it." Harriet concluded, smiling in disbelief at Rose. Out of the three of them, Rose was the one who was the smartest, she just got stuff. Harriet and Bella were clever, but not like Rose who at times appeared to have a calculator in her head.
"I much prefer the philosophy stuff." Bella said with a yawn, "I mean I know we don't do actual philosophy but English and History, where there isn't actually a right answer."
"Unless you write that WW1 ended in 1923."
"Well yeah, obviously there is a wrong answer but unless you actually put something that is factually incorrect, you're fine." She finished with a grin, reaching over Rosie to grab another packet of crisps Bella chuckled as Harriet said whimsically,
"I love English."
"We know." The two other girls replied in unison, laughing at their friend.
"Is it bad that I'm actually excited for that paper, did I tell you George heard that the question for Macbeth is something to do with the the theme of heroism, oh, I've got so many ideas of what to do."
"Glad you do."
♔♕
The mocks passed more or less without a hitch.
Well, apart from Harriet having a meltdown in the toilets before the first maths exam and Bella having to improvise her Spanish speaking exam and Rose not writing anything in the English exam for the first half an hour. Apart from that they went perfectly.
They had her birthday weekend off as well which couldn't have come at a better time. Bella's driver picked the three of them up at exactly 12 o clock on the Friday, with the poor man having to listen to three very excited teenage girls babble on for the hour drive back to Highgrove.
"Oh it looks amazing!" Bella exclaimed as the three of them got out of the car. Quite rightly, when Bella had asked her father if she could have a party at the house for her 16th birthday, he hadn't been sure. Whilst Highgrove wasn't like Buckingham Palace or Windsor in terms of priceless artefacts, the thought of however many teenagers having a party hadn't filled him with any joy whatsoever.
Instead he had compromised; a marquee outside that would be fitted with heaters to try to fight the cold November weather and a small number of her friends. She had happily accepted.
"Happy birthday darling." Charles said with a big smile on his face as he enveloped his daughter in a hug. "Lovely to see you two again as well." He continued, smiling at the two other girls. "Now," he said as they began to walk into the house, "how many have you got coming tonight because I've already had a call from Aunt Anne telling me that Zara might as well stay the night and the Alderidges' have also been on the phone asking what time they need to pick Imogen up..."
♔♕
It was a small party really.
Her brothers were there at the start but they didn't stay long when they realised that they were they only guys there. Zara was there as well and from school there was Harriet and Rose obviously. And Alice, Imogen, Maddie, Grace, Sophie and Olivia. And then Millie who she had met through riding and become close with, and Beth who she had known since she was a baby.
It was lovely. Small enough that she could trust them all but also enough people so that it did feel like a party.
Around 10 some of the girls who she wasn't really close with to started to leave. By midnight the party had winded down, leaving Bella, Zara, Rose and Harriet huddled around one of the heaters, each sat on camping chairs, wrapped up in blankets.
They stayed like that for another hour or so, talking about everything and nothing with the warm glow of drink keeping them warm. Finally, the four of them went back inside. Tipsily wandering back up to Bella's room where they were, rather ironically, all going to sleep.
♔♕
Christmas came around quickly like it always does. With Bella celebrating it with her usual copious amounts of excitement and energy. Apart from summer and Balmoral, it was her favourite time of the year.
They spent it at Sandringham like usual and then Charles took Bella and her brothers skiing again in the new year which she also loved.
♔♕
𝙻𝚎𝚗𝚝
The Lent term started with more tests much to everyone's annoyance. Poor Rose's birthday was spent being surrounded by science textbooks, although the roommates did try to make it special by having all of her favourite snacks for their revision sessions.
Bella had brought Kaapi back with her so that in any of her spare time that she didn't spend revising, she could spend with him, prepping for the upcoming season.
Her father had tried to tell her that she couldn't do any events until her GCSE'S were over, to which her grandfather had replied with "nonsense!" therefore putting to bed any suggestion of that idea.
Part of her did agree though. Although she had done okay in the mocks, she wanted to do better and they made her realise that she might actually have to do more revision than she thought for some subjects. So, she had a few events planned for the very beginning of the season in late March and April, but then nothing for May and June so that she could fully focus on her exams.
♔♕
"Where have you been?" Rose asked with a yawn as she pulled a jumper over her head.
"Riding." Bella replied, scrambling over to the bathroom with her uniform in hand, she pulled a very surprised Harriet who was in the middle of brushing her teeth out and ran inside.
"It's half 7!" Rose exclaimed, giggling at Harriet who was now stood in the middle of their room with her toothbrush still in her mouth.
"I know." Bella responded from within the bathroom, "but it's the only time I've got, I needed to practice the shoulder-ins on the left rein for Tweseldown tomorrow but I've got homework for English for Monday and then I need to do some more revision for the PE test as well."
"Do you ever wish you'd taken your father's advice?"
Bell opened the door and popped her head out of the gap with a grin, "no."
♔♕
𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛
The exams were fast approaching.
Everyone was slowly becoming more and more stressed.
Bella felt like she physically couldn't do anymore revision. But she did.
Their walls were covered in mind maps and timelines. A pack of flash cards were permanently glued to their hands. Every spare minute was spent asking questions, planning essays, doing past exam papers.
The only conversations the girls had concerned their subjects, 'when was the Locarno Pact?' 'how many bones are there in the human body?' 'describe how stars are formed.' It was all they thought about.
When the exams finally did come around, they lived from one exam to the next, only concerned with what was coming next.
On the morning of the final exam, despite having done four weeks of exams, Bella couldn't really remember what she had done in each. Apart from one maths paper where she knew that she had made a big mistake that preyed on her mind constantly.
"Time is up, please place your pens down and close your exam paper."
The whole room breathed out a sigh of relief. She glanced around, sharing grins with people and chuckling under her breath when Rose caught her eye from a few rows away.
They were done.
♔♕
"Shhh..." Bella whispered not so quietly under her breath, "shut up, they'll hear you." She continued before dissolving into a fit of giggles when Rose tripped up one of the stairs.
The girls had been out at one of their school friends parties to celebrate finishing their exams and school, and were now, once again, making their not so quite way up to Bella's bedroom at Highgrove.
"Is anyone actually here?" Harriet slurred as she pulled Rose back up and then preceded to drag her slightly down the corridor to where Bella had stopped.
"Ummm, well, William's at uni...Harry is...um, I don't actually know where Harry is, London maybe? And then...pa, pa might be here...was there a flag flying above? That usually tells you if pa or granny are somewhere...it's quite useful actually."
"Right then." Rose said, giggling as she threw herself down onto Bella's bed, "you've actually got no idea then."
"Not really."
The three of them laid down on her bed, their feet dangling off the edge as they relaxed into the mattress.
"You know, all this celebrating now," Harriet hiccuped, "and we've still got another two years left."
"Yeah." Bella sighed, "but at least it's actually subjects we really like now, no more maths."
"Hey!" Rose exclaimed, "I like maths." She pushed herself up so that she was looking down at the other two, "you know, Josie and Vi both say that a-levels are harder."
"Don't say that." Bella groaned, "let's ignore that for now."
"Yeah." Harriet slurred before sitting up with a start and gulping, "Bella."
"What." She replied sleepily.
"I think I'm gonna be sick."
♔♕
The summer was fantastic.
Once the first rush of parties were out the way, Bella then spent every waking minute riding, going to all the events she could. She did the pony club areas again with Kaapi and, much to her delight, qualified for the pony club championships again.
Then it was results day. Bella hadn't thought that she would be that nervous for it but she was. The night before she barely slept, suddenly being able to remember everything that went even slightly wrong in her exams.
She did good. Well, really good actually. A*'s in PE and history, A's in both English's, Biology, Physics and Spanish, and then all the rest were B's. She was thrilled, as were her family. And it was all worth it, all the stress, and the nightmares about quadratic equations and the breakouts from eating rubbish food, it was worth it.
Once results day was out of the way, all of her attention turned to the championships. The pressure was turned up this year after doing so well last year but she had every faith in herself and Kaapi who had been going incredibly.
It started off well. A brilliant dressage that put them in first place followed by a quick and clear cross country. By this point, her father, brothers, aunt and grandpa who were all there watching her, were ecstatic. She was in the lead. All they needed now was to go clear in the showjumping and the title was theirs.
"𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚊, 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙𝚜, 𝚒𝚜 𝙷𝚁𝙷 𝙿𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝙸𝚜𝚊𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝚘𝚏 𝚆𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙺𝚊𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚘, 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝙷𝙼 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚀𝚞𝚎𝚎𝚗"
Bella pushed him forward into a nice bouncy canter as they entered the arena. Nodding to the judges, the bell rang and she turned the corner towards the first jump. He jumped it brilliantly. And the next. And the next. A bit sticky over the third upright but that was more to do with her directions. He was going brilliantly.
She knew that all they needed to do was go clear. A clear round and they would win. And she knew he could do it. He would do it.
The final line was a triple, two uprights followed by an oxer. They jumped the first one nicely, then she dropped her hand slightly and she felt him get long. Oh. It was supposed to be a nice two strides to the second. Instead it was a long two strides meaning he ended up right underneath the jump, far too deep underneath it. Somehow, he managed to get over it. But then what was supposed to be a long three strides became an awkward four.
She felt it before she heard it. And it was the crowd that then confirmed it. They had knocked the pole.
It wasn't disastrous by any accounts, it just meant that she didn't win. They came second instead. But that triple scored itself into her memory, frustrated didn't even account for how she felt.
Not at Kaapi, never at Kaapi. At herself, why had she let herself drop her hand, get lazy, that's what she had done. Bella had just thought that he would do it, that he'd jump it.
"Never mind." Her pa said softly to her as she trotted out of the arena, but they could all see there was no point. She was far too annoyed with herself.
Bella tried to put on a good face for the prize giving, and she was happy, she was. They had improved by four places despite going up a level, and that was good, really good in fact. If it hadn't have been for her stupid mistake then she would have been delighted with second. But it was the fact that she could have been there. She could have won, if she had just kept her focus.
She looked up from grooming Kaapi as her grandfather leaned over the stable door. "Don't be down for too long Bella."
"I know." She replied, "but I could have done it if I hadn't been so lazy."
"You just got content, you thought he'd do it." He leaned over further to stroke Kaapi's nose, "and he probably could have done it, but that's why he's such a good pony...you'll never make that mistake again."
♔♕
It was true. That tiny mistake had made her want to continue to compete more than anything. To prove that she could do it, that she would learn from her mistake and, as her grandfather said, never make it again.
♔♕
𝗔/𝗡: 𝗶 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶'𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗶 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘆. 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗱! 𝗛𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝘅