CHASING PAVEMENT tag: charlie

[ALEXANDRA JACQUELINE CARLYLE]

Alexandra Carlyle had never been the kind of person who enjoyed nature. She had always absolutely despised being outdoors. Of course, like any reasonable person, she made some exceptions - yachting in the south of France, tennis matches outside at the country house, garden parties in the afternoon. Normal activities. Not walking around in the mud and getting dirty just to take care of horses as some form of therapy. Brook Haven Ranch, in the middle of nowhere Montana, was supposed to be for troubled kids. They used horses to help people "heal" according to one of the brochures her dad had shown her. All that was perfectly fine, for, like, criminals and what not. Kids with actual issues. She didn't have actual issues. So, she'd worked a bit too hard and maybe hadn't been sleeping enough. And maybe she'd taken a bit too much Ritalin that day and that was why she fell. She'd dislocated her kneecap - she wasn't an alcoholic or a gang member. Her father hadn't even thought anything of it until the doctor in the hospital told him she had anorexia, which was blatantly false. Even then, he was more concerned that people might find out and it would reflect badly on him. He'd made her stay in the hospital for two weeks where they'd basically force-fed her and caused her gain six pounds. It had been disgusting.

And now, with a freshly healed knee, she should have been back in ballet. Instead, her father had dumped her and her brand new horse in Montana of all places. The horse was nice enough. Her name was Didi and she seemed quiet and sweet. Maybe riding wouldn't be so bad - if it weren't in the middle of nowhere.

Walking into the barn, Alexa looked around, confused. There didn't seem to be any staff around. The one time she'd been riding as a child, there had been staff everywhere getting the horses ready and looking after them after they finished riding. She'd had a meeting with someone in the administration office that morning who'd told her that her clothes weren't appropriate for Brook Haven and that her father had been told to send her more appropriate clothing. As if he would remember or care about that, seeing as he was due to fly to Melbourne for a business meeting in two days. She had a feeling she'd gotten on the school's bad side though - they told her she needed to adjust her attitude and she had screamed that she would get her father to sue every single one of their hideous-clothes-wearing-asses. Then, she'd just stormed out of the office and wandered around, completely lost until she ended up in what appeared to be the barn. Shouldn't there be, like, other students around or something?

Pausing, she heard what sounded like someone else coming into the barn. "Hello?" she called softly. "Is someone there?"

This place was just creepy. Couldn't her father have just sent her to some spa in Aspen or a yoga retreat in Fiji?


tagged. charlie
outfit. click.
credits.carolyn's sweet blasphemy *

[CHARLOTTE AUGUSTINE REID]

The mud was at its worst when the skies were open the way that they had been for the past week or so. Charlie was shivering in spite of the heat as she let herself into the barn, brushing as much of the sticky stuff off her boots on the mat by the door. She hadn't seen anyone on her way in, and she had to think that the others were too busy holing up from the rain to be out here right now. Mr. Brook was probably in his office, and she'd spoken to Mrs. Brook just earlier.

But the emptiness of the barn made her miss home. Made her miss Mr. Holden. Daddy. Kenneth. Times like this she wondered why she was here in the firt place, and why they couldn't have sent her and Kenneth together (though she was mature enough to realize that since he already had a six year old daughter, they might be thinking that sending the two of them out with their relationship might not be a good idea).

"Hey," Charlie said as she came in, rang out her braid and gave her head a hard shake to get the moisture out of it. She wasn't sure that she recognized the girl who was standing in front of her, and she cocked her head to the side, trying to place her. Since she made a habit of getting to know everybody who was around her (and gauging personalities so that she could make sure that she wasn't getting in with the wrong crowd who might put her down for the person she was), it was surprising that she didn't know this one. Must be new.

"Looking for your horse?" She didn't smile. Charlie rarely smiled around females since she'd learned that her smiles were very easy to take advantage of.