First Impressions Matter

[Natalie Popović]

Natalie didn't even notice when the truck and trailer pulled to a halt at Blue Ridge. She was too focused on reapplying her masquera and blush to care. First impressions were very important, and there was no way she was going to walk around a prestigious academy like this one looking like her sister in the back seat--hair pulled back into a sloppy bun and drooling in her sleep.

Only once she looked perfect did Natalie step out of the vehicle. She wore cowboy boots and skinny jeans with a navy embroidered blouse. Attractive, but not scandalous. Elegant, but not too formal. She wanted people to like her, not think she was a rich snob.

She strode into the office trying to act confident. Shoulders back, head up, purposeful steps. People liked confidence.

"Good afternoon. I'm Natalie Popović, spelled with a 'C'. I'm here to check in."

Most people misspelled her last name. It wasn't that hard, and she stopped counting all the different spellings and pronunciations. The worst offender by far was her former teacher who wrote 'Papavitch' for several weeks before Natalie corrected her. Mostly people just used a hard 'c' instead of a 'ch'. If her name was something normal like Stevenson, then there would be no problem with spelling. Out here, she wanted to be American if it meant a better chance of making friends.

[Fiachra Fitzsimmons]

Fitz was sitting at his computer, busily trying to work out class schedules for the teachers and arena sorting out for the equestrian classes, which were due to start up in the next week. He didn't actually assign the arenas, but he put it all into the system once the instructors had worked it all out.

He looked up as the sound of the door closing caught his ears and he gave the confident-looking girl approaching the desk a warm smile, typing in her name as she introduced herself. As he'd entered her enrollment into the computer himself, he knew that her surname didn't end with an 'h'. "Welcome to Blue Ridge Academy, Natalie." He greeted, his voice carrying the same warmth as the smile, though he barely held back the 'spelled with a 'C' comment, as he looked at the screen and took to memory the pieces of information he needed. "You will be residing in room oh-nine of the Green Ribbon House, which is located here." He took a campus map from a tray on his desk and pointed to the location of the large building closest to the barns. "Your horse will have a stall prepared for her in White Oak Barn, which is here." He pointed to the barn directly across from her House. "If you have any major problems, the manager is Ms Carr. Small problems like finding where things belong, anyone in the barn should help you out"

He located her key from the drawer under his desk and placed it on the desk along with a sheet of paper with phone numbers for places around the campus and in town, alongside the map. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

[Natalie Popović]

Well, this was a good start. The secretary seemed like a nice person, but it could also just be his job to be nice. Like cashiers were always smiling and bubbly, but they had to be pleasant. Then again, she could hardly judge considering she would be just as warm and bubbly if that meant more people liking her. She gave a toothy smile. People liked that. It made her seem friendly and approachable. Yeah, just keep smiling.

She watched him point out the building where she would be living and also where Dixie would live. It was hard to decide if she should unpack herself or make sure her mare was settled in first. Her trainer always stressed the point of horse before rider. The exception of course was if Natalie felt ill enough to not be able to look after her horse and still be standing afterwards. Then definitely focus on getting herself better. Like when she had mono, Natalie felt ready to fall off after getting around the first barrel. At a trot.

"Alright, thank you! I think I've got it."

It didn't sound like she would have a roommate. Surely he would have said something if that was the case. The girl pocketed the room key and took the sheets of paper not giving them a second glance. She could enter in the phone numbers into her phone later.

"Have a good day, sir."

Natalie turned and left hoping Danica was still asleep. Her sister often got carsick, and the Dramamine just put her straight to sleep. A picture of her sister looking silly while she slept would be funny to post on Facebook. That's what siblings were for.