xx. dare to d r e a m [[Open]]

[cassie hills.]

"Hey, boy.." Cassie said to her horse as she leaned on her horse's stall door. She waited for her lazy horse to get up so she could take him out to the pasture that day. She kept leaning on the door while she watched Salute get up from the dusty, dirty stall floor and shake himself off. Cassie laughed a little as her horse shook himself off. It wasn't every day he did that, and for some reason, it just amused her.

Cassie finally got off from leaning on the stall door, and opened the latch to enter his stall. Before she entered, though, she quickly grabbed his rather pretty, light blue, new, almost shiny halter and his bright purple leadrope that were hanging on the hook outside his stall. Then, she entered.

After shaking some of the dust and wood shavings off of his body, Salute happily walked over to Cassie. He loved seeing his owner, obviously.

"Come here, pretty boy." Cassie said to her horse as she watched him walk up to her. She held the halter and leadrope in her hand, ready to put his head in as soon as he got up to her.

Right about as Cassie was going to slip on his halter, Salute nudged her pocket. ... Oh yeah! She pulled out the few baby carrots she had her her pocket that she had basically forgotten about. She put a couple on her hand and handed it too her horse. She would save the rest, for later.

As Salute was eating his treats, Cassie quickly slipped the halter over his head, and clipped on the leadrope. "Are you ready now?" she asked her horse as he finished chewing the couple carrots that she had given him. At that, she led him out of his stall and they began walking to the pasture. As they were on there way there, Salute tried several times to stop and eat the grass, before Cassie yanked his head up. Oh, how that never got old...

Finally, they reached their destination of the pasture. Cassie gave Salute a pat for being good and not all hyper, like he would usually be if she led him out to the pasture at a barn they had only been at for a few days.

Now that they were there, Salute was getting a little anxious to be let free in a bigger area where he could graze freely and run around. Cassie finally opened the gate and led Salute in, un-doing his halter and taking it off.

At that, Salute immediatly took off in a full gallop for a big, thick, tall patch of grass at the other end of the pasture. Cassie smiled as he took off, she couldn't get enough of seeing horses be happy and free all the time.

word c o u n t;; 492

[Conner||Jake]

A cluck and a whistle escaped the young boys lips, as he clipped on a blue leadrope to the big chestnut thoroughbreds halter.
Easy now Nixon, Jake Swanke lead the big gelding out of his stall and tied the leadrope on the tieing ring outside his stall.
You are, the first horse I've groomed... so you better feel special, The gelding nickered as if you say' pshhh whatever son'. Jake grabbed a curry comb and began working all the dirt off his chestnut coat. Placing the brush back into the grooming box, he grabbed a hard bristled brush, and removed all the kicked up dirt. Then he grabbed a soft brush and worked that over the geldings coat, to make it shine. And finally he grabbed an old stable towl and rubbed it on his coat, There, that wasn't too bad, Jake lied, he didn't want to do this everyday. It was out of the ordinary for him. Placing the horses green/black plaid stable blanket on, Jake sighed gently.

Alright Nixon, come, Jake pulled gently on the leadrope, and began walking out of the barn. The big thoroughbred hesitated for a moment, then followed gradually behind Jake. The sun was covered by alot of grayish looking clouds, it was probably going to rain. Thankgod. Jake thought intentally the sun was just too bright here in Pennsylvania. He hated it. But not as much as he hated being forced to live, and work here.

Seeings a girl at the far fence of the pasture he was going to, he decided not to interupt waht she was doing. Jake went to the first gate to the pasture, and unclipped the latch.
Easy boy... easyyy... Jake patted the thoroughbreds neck as he began prancing around in circles, he knew he ewas excited about getting into the pasture. Once in the grassy fenced in area, Jake turned Nixon's head toward the gate and removed his giant leather halter.
Go on, Jake tapped the gelding's shoulder, and he took off to play with the other horses in the field.

Stepping out of the field, Jake latched the gate back into place. He put the halter in a plastic bin next to the fence, for weh nhe would come back out and get Nixon when it was time for afternoon feed and hay. Jake glanced voer at the girl, she seemed kinda scensterish... kinda like him. It waas kinda odd... well maybe for people around him that he wasn't wearing these 'jouphers' and 'boots' but instead he was wearing dark washed jeans, a blue shirt with red lettering that said 'Ima babycake', and blue/red skate shoes. Kinda weird apperal for a day at the barn, but hey this was Jake's way of protesting, and hopefully they would kick him out. But he doubted that.

[cassie hills.]

Cassie watched her horse carefully as he pranced out to the thicker patch of grass on the other side of the pasture and graze. Since she had nothing else to do, she decided to climb up and sit on the fence so she could watch her horse graze some more. Hmm.. nothing more exiting then watching your horse stand there and graze for an hour or two.

So she just sat there and watched her horse graze for the mean time, but still trying to storm up some ideas on what she could do. She always bit her lip when she was multi-tasking, which was what she was doing now.

Then out of the corner of her eye she noticed someone else bring their horse up to the pasture. Sweet..! More company, maybe. That would give her something to do, hopefully. She noticed how Salute was also interested in the other horse coming into the pasture as well. He stopped grazing for a moment and looked up towards the horse, ears pricked and alert, what he usually looked like when he met another horse.

Salute immediatly trotted up to the other horse and his, what looked to be his owner. He nearly broke out into a canter when he was half way there. Oh Salute, how he got way to exited over little things. Even though Salute seemed like he was happy that he wanted to meet this horse, Cassie figured she better go over there to make sure he wasn't causing any trouble either. She began walking over to the other side of the of the pasture where the horse and other guy was. As she got closer she noticed that the guy kind of had her style.. exept she was wearing her tan breeches and tall, black, leather riding boots on instead of her casual wear; faded ripped jeans and converse shoes. Usually her fingernails were painted black too, but since her best friend happened to be a total girly girl, she just had a clear coat on today. Of course, her long-ish black hair and nose peircing hinted some of it. ...Interesting

By the time she had got over on the other side of the pasture Salute was already over there trying to sniff noses and make friends with the other horse. "Hey, I hope my horse isn't causing any trouble..." she said as she approached the guy and his horse. Obviously, she knew Salute wasn't trying to cause any trouble, but still, he might have been causing a distraction to the guy and his horse.

word count;; 455

[Conner||Jake]

Jake stole quite a few glances over at this girl, but made no attempt to go and say hi. I mean he wasn't too social half the time, and usually other people had to make the first move. Then his thoughts ran over to Amy, he made first attempts to go talk to her?? Jake sighed and then took in a big breathe of air. The feelings he was already starting to have with Amy, it scared him greatly. He glanced at the girls horse, who seemed pretty interestedi n Nixon. The big chestnut thoroughbred rose his head up high as this new horse came over to him.
Be good, Nix. Jake made a popping sound, it was his way of saying 'i love you' to Nixon in horse language. Yea Jake was weird but hey, Nixon understood and that's all that mattered.

Jake looked voer to the other side of the fence, just as the girl was beginning to walk over here. He immediatly begin rewinding and playing situations that could happen in his head. It was a 'Jake' thing... Just like how he would get 'high' off of Mountain Dew, he was just unique, in very many ways. He looked her over, studying her. She was wearing the normal apperal for a day at the barn, unlike him. Who wore his casual wear. But mind you he did bring an old t-shirt and work jeans, along with ankle boots. Since he would have to work a couple horses later on. Jake just didn't feel like wearing those things until he needed too. When the girl finaly got over to him, she asked him if he horses was causing any trouble. Or it seemed like a wish that he horse wasn't causing any trouble... something like that.

Naw, Nixon needs to run around and make friends, Jake ran his hand through his jet black hair, and chuckled. This girls carried his hair color as well, and she wasn't that bad looking. Oh god, Jake's 'flirty' side was coming out. Jezzzzzusssss. But even though he thought she was hot, he still was going to be a gentleman. Cause' that's how he rolled:)
I'm Jake, He introduced himself without a handshake, he realized handshakes tended to make people nervous. He learned that from Amy. There he goes again, talking and thinking aobut Amy. What was wrong with him? Jake kinded dreaded the thought that he might actually fall 'in-love' with Amy... Well onyl fate could decided it.

[cassie hills.]

Cassie kept exchanging glances with this guy. He was kind of hot, but she didn't want to seem like a little hooker, plus she sucked at flirting, so she would hold back on that for now. "Yeah, so does Salute." she said at the comment he made about his horse needing to make more friends. It made her happy to know that she wasn't alone with being a newb here.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Cassie." she replied to them both introducing themselves. She took a step forward so she could pat Salute's neck while he was making friends with the other horse, apparently called Nixon. "Do you ride?" she asked him. Well he had a horse, so there was a good chance he obviously rode... but she still knew plenty of people who had there own horse and didn't ride. But still, it was interesting to know who rides and dosn't ride. To her, atleast.

Since Salute was being a good boy around this other horse, she decided she would give him a couple more carrots for a treat. She pulled a couple more baby carrots out of her pocket, put them in her palm, held her hand flat and let Salute take them.

Salute obviously noticed that Cassie had pulled out a few more carrots, and left his friend-making session with Nixon for a moment to enjoy the carrots his owner had given to him as a treat. Oh, how he would never get tired of carrots... or just be given treats in general. He was happy now... not like he already was, but just happier.

Cassie cracked a small smile as Salute enjoyed the treats she handed him. Not like he never enjoyed them, psh, there would be no possible way for him to not like his treats... but it made her happy whenever her horse, or any horse was happy. That's part of what's in a true horse-lover, right?

After he was finished with his treats, Salute went back to sniffing nose's with Nixon... of course.

word count;; 363

[Conner||Jake]

Jake nodded to her comment about her own horse, she had seen her horse earlier in the barn.
So your new here aswell? Jake bit his bottom lip, and leaned on the driftwood fence. And nice to meet you too, Cassie. He looked out into the pasture, out at Nixon, who was cantering around like a manic on wheels. Nixon was the first horse that Jake actually started to bond with, here at Darlington. But it probably wouldn't last too long, since he was scheduled to work like 4 horses later on that day. That thought scared him to no end. Does he ride? Ofcourse not.
Well, let's just say I just started. I got into some toruble back home, and I was forced to live here, and work with the schools horses. To 'clean up' my act. Jake smiled, that whole absolutly adorable 'side grin'. The same side grin that Amy melted at when she saw it.

Jake whistled gently, and Nixon came galloping toward him. He pulled out some oats he had stuffed in his pocket, and fed them to Nix... Who ate them like he was starved.
I feed him, I swear. Jake chuckled and patted Nixon's neck, the thoroughbred then trotted off out into the middle of the pasture and began grazing contently. The lanky teenage boy looked up at the sky for a moment, then back down to earth. The only reason he did that, was again to try to wish this place away. But after tow times of trying the only thing he could do was... wish that the third time he did it, Darlington would disapear. And again it probably wouldn't happen. The on;y way this place would dispear for him, was if he decided to actually like this place and clean up his act. Which probably wouldn't happen either. Poor Jake, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place... what was there to do?

[cassie hills.]

"Yeah. It kind of sucks all of the sudden being thrown into a new place.. but i'm sure i'll get used to it... slowly." she commented about being at Darlington. Sure, it was a cool place. But she finally got settled down into one place, someone pulled her out and sent her somewhere else. She thought... she had been to atleast 5 different boarding schools in the past 3 years. God, it fricken sucked. And she was getting tired of it, too.

Cassie didn't even notice that Salute had went off back to his patch of grass on the other side of the pasture, once again. She was getting tired from just standing there... so she leaned against the fence to relax a little bit. Hopefully, Salute would get bored from grazing and she could just take him inside and do something else with him. She wanted to ride, but everyone knows you can't ride a horse just after they have eaten. Then why did she let him out in the pasture first? She was thinking that she was too tired to ride... but oh hell she never got too tired to ride. So, who knows what was on her mind at that moment. Whatever it was, it obviously had her make a crazy decision.

"Oh... well that sucks. I'm here 'cause for some reason my parents don't like me getting settled into one place, and they switch me right when I start to get settled in." she started out. She would explain more, but hey, what normal person liked hearing about someone's whole history? From who she knew... she couldn't think of anyone.

Cassie smiled a bit at how funny it looked as Nixon rushed to get a treat from his owner. Then a giggle broke out of her at his comment as he supposivly feeds his horse. "Mhm, I'm sure." she said sarcasticaly. Actually, Salute was the same way. He just knew his manners... which was weird for a horse, but somehow, he did.

word c o u n t;; 366

[Conner||Jake]

Yes, I can deffinitly relate. I don't really like it here alot. But I guess I will get through. I try to look for the light in every situation. Jake sighed intently, something he did alot. Again with his own personal habits. He did many things that people would call weird, but whatever. If they had a problem with him, then they could solve it. If somebody thought he was trippin' then they could tie his shoes. Jake didn't care too much what people thought about him. That was just how he thought ofcourse, alot of people looked down on him.

Nixon had stopped grazing to trott over to Salute, and graze with him. This horses was apperently his 'new buddy'. Good, Jake thought, I can just stick him in the pasture when he is getting on my nerves, Jake grinned at his thoughts. He was sucha nerd. But that's how he was:) The Iphone in his back pocket suddenly vibrated, coming to life. Jake pulled the phone out, and noticed it was Mandy Bridges, and her sister Randy. It's was a text message that said, I see you. Jake shook his head, and rolled his eyes.
The Bridges sisters are a trip. Have you met them? Jake quickly replied with an answer close to this, That's creepy, yo:) he put the phone back into his back pocket quickly and ran a hand threw his hair. He listened as Cassie talked about how her parents didn't want to let her get settled in one place. He chuckled.

Yea, well I'm pretty sure my mom would have fought to keep me at home... if she was alive. Jake nodded solmenly, but recovered not looking affected. He never liked to be sad. But then again he didn't like to be happy all the time. Jake listened to her sacastic comment, he chuckled again. And nodded, Yea, well Nixon is just a little fatty that's all. Jake grinned.

[cassie hills.]

Cassie thought for a moment... who had she met here at Darlington so far? Hmm... there was Jake... that's about it. "Umm.. No, I don't think I have. I may have seen them around... but No. Why?" she asked. She had actually seen lots of people around the barn.. she just hadn't had enough time to start up a conversation with them... or it was just her shyness kicking in. Oh yes, She may not have seemed like it today, but she was shy alright. God, she hated herself for that. Although it could be a good thing, and it could be a bad thing. It sometimes got her out of stuff she didn't want to do, and sometimes it got her in trouble. It got very annoying sometimes... and she was starting to get a little tired of it. Especially since she was at a new place now, she hated it.

"Yeah, the only people who seem to care about me in my family is my brothers... they have tried to help me stay at home, convince my mom and dad to keep me at home, but it just dosn't work.." she said, and sighed. Obviously, her parents hated her. But they absolutely loovveedd her 3 brothers. She actually didn't know why either... she pondered for answers. Was it because she was the only girl, besides her mom, they had in their family? Maybe they just chose her because she was more of a trouble maker then the others. Actually, her brother Brett would be the biggest trouble maker. We don't need to go into details on that one.

Cassie giggled a bit at the comment Jake made about Nixon being a little fatty. "Yeah.. Salute would be the same way, but I keep him fit enough that he dosn't gain much weight... or loose much." she replied to the comment about Nixon being fat.

Suddenly, Cassie's Ipod turned on in her pocket. It was on full blast, so you could hear it loud and clear. "Crap." She thought as she quickly pulled it out and turned off the song that happened to be blasting out, Riot by Three Days Grace. God, She loved TDG. It was her favorite band.

word c o u n t;; 401