The future belongs to those who know where they belong.

[Amelia DeFoe]

The weather had taken a definite turn for the better, and Amy was planning on capitalizing on it. Since it was the weekend, and she had already finished her homework, there was plenty of time in the day for her to distribute it between her three animals. After letting Tommy out into the pasture after their ride, Amy headed to the cafeteria to grab a sandwich and a bottle of water. Wolf was, as always, at her side, although his usual vest had been replaced with a bandanna for the day, since the vest needed a few seams fixed.

Her meal in hand, Amy walked towards the football field. Letting herself into the enclosed space, she bent down to remove first Wolf's bandanna, then the leather leash, before she released the shepherd from his duty with a quiet word. As Wolf trotted off to examine the field for traces of those that had been there previously, Amy found a section of the fence and sat against it. After breaking the seal on her bottle, Amy took a drink, then searched through her bag before she found the book she had been reading. She ate as she read, careful not to smear the pages, letting herself get lost in the story.

[Deleted]

The teenager walked of the White Ribbon House. She had a wallet in her back pocket along with her phone as well as one of her favorite Russian books. One of her favorite authors was Fydor Dostoevsky. She also had a few authors that she liked but he had very good books. She didn't care about the genre. She read pretty much anything. She had read books in English but most if the time she read the books in Russian. Her first language was comforting to her now that she couldn't speak it anymore except to her family and old friends. She still wrote in Russian in her diary and to her friends though. She didn't want to forget some of her first language so she made sure she write in Russian at least once a week and also spoke it. She tucked the book under her arm.

The teen looked at her phone. It was about two in the afternoon. Seeing as she hadn't eaten lunch yet she walked to the cafeteria. She selected a pop, soup, and meat with potatoes along with a piece of rye bread. It was somewhat a meal that she'd have at home. Except there were some differences between American lunches and Russian lunches. She decided against eating in the cafeteria even though it was late in the afternoon all of the tables were full and there was no where for her to sit. She remembered seeing something about a field. There was probably no sports or anything going on now so she could go there to eat. 

She walked out of the cafeteria and towards the football field. The girl walked to the field and let herself into the field. She scanned the area. There was a girl and a dog by a piece of fence. She walked towards the pair. "Can I sit here?" Natalia asked the other girl. "I'm Natalia Pavlovna by the way." She said introducing herself to the other girl. 

[Amelia DeFoe]

Amy was so engrossed by her book that she didn't notice when someone joined them in the field, although Wolf did. However, the shepherd was distracted quickly enough by a scent on the wind, and turned to lope after it towards the other edge of the fence, his attention captured by whatever he had sensed rather than the newcomer.

Natalia's voice was the first that Amy noticed of the newcomer, and she flinched in surprise, then turned to look up, taking a moment to figure out what had been said, before she responded, "Uh, sure. Sorry, you startled me." She smiled briefly, then moved the bookmark to her page so that she could close the book and turn to look at the other girl, Natalia, "Nice to meet you, Natalia. I'm Amelia DeFoe, but Amy is perfectly fine if you'd rather."

Considering that she hadn't seen the girl around campus at all, which was rare in the small-school environment, it was likely that Natalia was new to campus, and that made conversation topics easy, "What style do you ride?" After all, it was a riding school. There were so many things to talk about with new people, and none of them had to be personal, which Amy really preferred, if she was honest.

[Deleted]

"It's fine. Sorry I didn't mean to startle you." The girl said returning the girl's smile with one of her own. "It's nice to meet you Amy. You can call me Nata or Natka if you'd like." The girl said. She had many nick names but she found that some Americans liked to use very short nick names and she only had two or three nick names that were short. Most of her nick names were rather quite long. Some of them were even longer then her first name. It didn't matter to Natalia though. She liked her nick names. Ira would sometimes call her Natik but that was rare. Most of the time though none of her friends, old class mates, or family would only use one nick name with her though. They'd all use different nick names but she didn't mind. 

The teenage girl sat down with her back against the fence. She set the book down next to her but. It before making sure that the book still had a book mark in it. She turned to face Amy as the other girl asked her a question. "I ride English. What about you?" She said answering Amy's question as well as asking one of her own. She figured that Amy rode seeing as she asked what style she rode but she didn't really know. It was more of a guess and she'd soon find out if the girl rode or not.

It'd be nice if Amy and her could be friends but she wasn't that good at making friends in America. Everyone was always smiling with complete strangers and that wasn't something that she was used to. She briefly wondered what breed the dog was that was next to Amy and what the dog's name was. She decided against asking this minute though. Maybe in a few minutes of so she'd ask what her dog's name was and what breed he was. 

[Amelia DeFoe]

Amy waved away the girl's apology, "It's not your fault, I was paying too much attention to my book." No, that wasn't really the case. She had grown dependant on Wolf, and had forgotten that sometimes, she did still have to pay attention herself. Hearing the nicknames that Natalia offered, Amy nodded, then grinned, "Alright." She wasn't sure which one she should use, but she'd figure it out the next time she had to address the girl.

The talk turned to riding, and Amy nodded as she heard her question answered, "That's cool." She shrugged when the question was batted back, "I technically ride both, I started with Western, specifically trail and western pleasure, but I'm learning English right now, hopefully learning more about dressage eventually." She was well on her way there, and she loved Amur and his amusing tricks, which she had finally learned after working up the courage to email his previous owner. But, while she rode a horse that would rear up on command, her father still wouldn't let her jump. Go figure out that logic, but she hadn't argued. She knew he was just worried. "Did you bring a horse or are you riding one of the academy horses?"

[Deleted]

The girl nodded as Amy spoke saying that it wasn't her fault. "Ok." The teen said to the other girl. Amy had nodded when Natalia had given the girl nick names she could use instead of saying her full first name. She knew it was a mouthful for most Americans to say and most didn't say it right. To be honest no American she had ever meet besides people with a degree in linguistics who had studied Russian knew how to pronounce it correctly. She figured that it'd be hard for Americans to mess up the nick names she had given Amy. Those were the nick names she gave everyone in America. 

The girl simply nodded when Amy spoke after the talk went into riding. She listened as Amy answered the question she had asked. "That's cool." She said with a small smile on her face. Maybe they could be friends. Not many Americans she had meet could get a small smile on her face much less a smile. She didn't smile often mostly because everyone in Russian only smiled with people they knew. She often never smiled or laughed. Not to mention jokes. She never understood jokes and didn't like them.


"I've never ridden Western." She admitted to Amy. "Do you mind if I ask what your dog's name is?" She asked. Amy didn't have to answer if she didn't want to though and Natalia would understand if she didn't want to answer. "I brought my own horse. Her name's Dovol'no Karmen but I call her Karmen. She's an Andalusian." She replied answering Amy's question. "What about you?" She said batting the question to Amy. 

[Amelia DeFoe]

Amy nodded as she heard the girl's admission, "I hadn't ridden English before I came here, so I know the feeling. You could probably talk to the barn manager about borrowing western tack and trying it out, though, if you wanted to?" That's what she'd done with Tommy at first, for English, before her dad had stumbled upon Amur, who had been a perfect fit for her situation.

The conversation turned briefly to Wolf, and Amy glanced up to see what the shepherd was doing before she responded, "Nah, you can ask whatever you'd like about him. He's registered as Guardian's Oculto Lobo, but for friends, it's just Wolf." She had ignored the letters around Wolf's registered name, as she usually did. He'd passed his CGC, but there was no need to brag about it. After all, it was the least one could expect of him.

Hearing the mare's name, she nodded, "That's cool. Does it mean anything in another language?" The name sounded foreign, but it could possibly just be a name, "I have two. Tommy, Tomcat's Quiet Lullaby, is my western horse, he's a paint, and Amur, As High as Honor, is trained for English, he's an Arabian Hackney cross." She considered the girl's horse's name, "Karmen should be in the same barn as Amur, we might see each other. What classes are you taking?"

[Deleted]

"Ok. I'll have to try it once Karmen's settled in. Thanks for telling me about it." She said replying to Amy's statement. She had a small guess that Karmen would be ok at it. Thankfully she could collect her trot and canter so it'd be more of a jog and a lope. It wouldn't look how the Quarter Horses and other stock horses move though. The girl nodded as Amy answered her question about her dog's name.

The girl nodded as Amy asked if Karmen's name meant something in another language. "Yes. It means Carmen Bonita in Russian." She replied answering Amy's question. "That's cool. That'd be awesome if we saw each other in the barn." She said to Amy. She listened as Amy asked what classes she was taking at Blue Ridge. She had heard that Blue Ridge was called BRRA or The Academy by some of the students. She had guessed that as more time went by she might start calling Blue Ridge BRRA or The Academy. It just depended. "I'm taking Pre-Algebra, English Literature, Biology, World History, Dance, French, Dressage, Cross Country, Show Jumping, and Intorduction to Herbal Remedies. I'm also taking Foal Handling and Swimming as my extracurriculars." She said reciting her classes by memory. She had memorized her classes as soon as she got her schedule. "What about you?" She was interested to know if they had any classes together. It'd be nice to know someone in at least one of her classes.

[Amelia DeFoe]

Amy nodded as Natka thanked her, "Not a problem. It's a fun way to see what you might or might not like, right?" It had been for her, at least. And now look where she was, with a horse trained in English only, silly though he sometimes was.

Hearing the translation, Amy smiled, "It's a pretty name." And it was! Compared to her two, both of whom had nice names, but nothing fancy, the name was pretty unique, although there were plenty of those around the academy, if she remembered correctly.

Talk turned to classes, and Amy listened to Natka listing hers, comparing them to her own schedules as she heard the class names, "We have English lit, biology, French, and herbal remedies together." At least, provided none of the teachers chose to split their classes, which happened sometimes when a class got too big. She considered which classes she had already listed, then added, "And I'm also taking algebra one, geography, psychology, trail, and beginner English riding, although I'm hoping to move into Dressage with Amur next year." She would have to consider what her schedule was changing to soon, although she didn't really know which classes she would change, other than her core classes, for obvious reasons. Possibly she'd try another elective, but she wasn't sure yet.

[Deleted]

She nodded as Amy spoke saying that it wasn't a problem. "Thanks. Your horse's names are also pretty." She said accepting the compliment along with adding one of her own compliment. It was true. Amy's horse's names were pretty. Amir's name was quite pretty. His registered name was pretty and she liked his barn name. It was very exotic sounding.

She nodded when Amy told her what classes they had together. The had quite a few classes together which would be nice because she would know someone. Hopefully the classes they had together wouldn't be split. However that'd be up to the teachers if they wanted to split up the classes or not. "That's cool." She could never imagine taking psychology as a class. Though she didn't know what she'd take next year. She probably move up a few class or two in her core schedule and either keep or drop a few of her classes depending on what classes she liked and what classes she didn't like. She might keep one of her electives and drop the other elective or she'd keep both of her electives. She'd probably drop swimming next year but it all depended on how much she liked it. 

[Amelia DeFoe]

A slight smile graced Amy's smile as her compliment was returned, "Thanks." She hadn't chosen either of their names, but they were both well-suited for the horses, the more flighty Amur held the name of a falcon, and the calm Tommy had a serene registered name. "We should ride together sometime, I'd love to get to see your Karmen." And another person to ride the trails with would definitely not be a bad thing, since she hated to impose on her friends. If Natalia said no, though, maybe she should see if Luka had planned anything for the weekend. He probably wouldn't mind giving Bruno a run either, and the spaniel got along well with Wolf.

Amy though for a moment about what else she could ask Natka about that wasn't too personal, but Wolf's return to her made her forget about the other girl for a moment. However, when the dog didn't alert, she relaxed again, turning to dig through her bag, "Bored, Wolf?" The dog's head turned towards her as he heard his name, but when she held up the tennis ball she'd found, his plumed tail began wagging. After throwing the ball and sending him after it, Amy turned back to Natalia, "Sorry about that. Anyway, how much of campus have you seen already?"

[Deleted]

She simply nodded and gave Amy a small smile. "No problem." She commented. "We definitely should sometime. I'd love to see your Tommy or Amur." She said as Amy suggested that they ride sometime. It'd be great to ride with a friend especially since she hadn't meet many students on campus. Especially because she hadn't ridden with any of the students at Blue Ridge yet. 

She smiled as Amy held up a tennis ball that she gotten out of her bag. Wolf's tail wagged as Amy held up the ball. "It's fine." She said as Amy had just thrown a tennis ball and sent Wolf to go get it. She thought about the question running through all of the places that she had been or seen on campus. She hadn't explored much and still had to use to map to navigate her way to places still. Hopefully by the end of summer she wouldn't need the map and she'd know this place like the back of her hand.

She probably wouldn't need the map after a week or two but Natalia would probably still carry it around with her until the last two or three weeks of summer vacation just in case she got lost or wanted to go somewhere new. "Not much." She admitted. "I've been busy getting unpacked and all. I haven't had much time to go and explore the campus." She continued. The only places she didn't need to use a map for was to get to the barn from her house and to get back to her house from anywhere. Though she didn't need to use a map as much to go to the barn from anywhere on the campus which was good. 

(OOC:Sorry it took so long for me to get a reply up. I've been cramming for exams since May and I haven't had time to get on a computer since my summer vacation just started last Friday. Sorry again it took me so long to get a reply up.)