In My Own Head (open)

[collesteford]

Colleste Eve-Rachel Foster



A young girl named Colleste was in the corner of Queenie's stall, supporting a few blank pages on a wooden board. She wrote the characters' adventures with an expert hand. Quietness surrounded her, enveloping her with peace. Her mare nickered. She raised her eyes to the bay mare, stretched out a hand and stroked the mare. Queenie looked at Colleste through dark eyes. "Hi, Queenie," Colleste chuckled. She scratched the mare behind the ear and Queenie threw her head as if laughing. A laugh escaped Colleste, and she made a kissing noise. The bay nudged her pocked but Colleste made a mock sad face. "Aww, I wanted them for myself." She took out the apple slices and held them out to the hungry mare. She listened to the barely-audible crunching and continued her work. Colleste smiled as her stories wove their way onto paper. On the back of the page, she sketched a light reference of her lead, before continuing on another page. Queenie let out a whinny as though someone was entering the stable, but Colleste didn't hear it, while she was in her own world.

[libby anne rowan]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: f9f9f9; border: #2d465a solid 10px; width: 450px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] I belong with you tagged Colleste words idek muse I Belong- Tyler Hilton notes He's a noisy boy credits template by irish! There was absolutely nothing on this green earth (besides her boyfriend, of course) that Libby loved more than taking Hooligan out on the cross-country course. The thoroughbred was, by most counts, completely insane, and was usually more likely to buck her off and take off running than he was to actually complete an event, let alone place in the top six, but that was what Libby loved about him. He was wild and unpredictable and there was nothing push button about him. Sometimes she had to "pony club kick" all the way down to a jump, sometimes she had to practically rip his face off to get him to slow down, sometimes putting leg on meant he'd go bucking like a madman, sometimes he didn't even make it out of the start box. As far as Libby was concerned, he was the perfect horse. Maybe that made her crazy too? On this particular day, Libby could not have been more thrilled when Beth told her they were going to go school Cross-country, although she had a feeling that James did not share the sentiment since it probably meant he would be chasing after her crazy horse at some point, and it was freezing cold out... well, freezing for texas anyway. Nevertheless, she donned her helmet and cross-country vest, knowing that even if she didn't want to wear it Beth would pin her down and force it on her and wouldn't let her on her horse if she so much as looked at the cross-country course without having it on... not that she would ever try to get away with out riding in it, she knew that with Hooligan's lack of predictability, or even on a more predictable horse, it would be just plain stupid to assume that she wouldn't fall off and get hurt. You never knew what was going to happen out there. It didn't take long for them to get out on course. The course at Crossfire was relatively straight forward so that students or people riding horses like Hooligan could have a chance to actually make it through a whole course without having a heart attack or getting themselves killed. As soon as they got onto the course Hooligan started his uppity dance, refusing to hold still for even a fraction of a second, and as usual, Libby was completely unfazed. Beth and James also seemed to act like Hooligan's antics were perfectly normal as Beth gave Libby instructions for the first three jumps and sent her and Hooligan on ahead, making sure to tell her that she absolutely had to get her horse stopped before the fourth jump... which was easier said than done. As soon as Libby gave Hooligan a bit of rein he took off like a racehorse out of the gate, letting out a big buck about five strides out before focusing on the task ahead and hooning off towards the first jump. For the most part it was going fairly smoothly, with only a few minor tantrums on the horse's part from each set of jumps, and by the time Beth sent them off over the last set and said she'd meet her back at the barn, Libby felt like they'd had a very successful day, which was rather rare with Hooligan. Over the very last jump, Hooligan was coming in like a runaway freight train, and despite Libby's best efforts to slow him down, he wasn't giving in. He was locked on his jump and by golly he was going for it. So rather than fighting him the whole way, Libby decided she would be better off just keeping herself balanced. The jump was pretty straight forward and Hooligan was athletic enough that she was quite certain he would be just fine taking it at a full gallop... or so she hoped. True to form, Hooligan came barreling in, and took the long spot, launching over the jump with plenty of room to spare. It wasn't the prettiest jump in the world, but he cleared it. Taking advantage of Hooligan's momentary lapse in momentum on the landing, Libby hauled back on the reins and turned her horse in a large circle, continuing around making the circle smaller until Hooligan finally had to come back to a trot and then a huffing walk. She let out a deep breath and patted his dampened neck, cooing to him about what a good boy he was before turning him to head back to the barn. He was a sweaty mess, despite the chilly weather, but he was also still as high strung as he was before he went out on course. There was no end to Hooligan's energy. It was a wonder he didn't make it as a racehorse. Once at the barn, Libby clipped him into the cross ties in the middle of the aisle and began untacking him. Hooligan, however, wasn't so willing to stand still and behave himself just yet and, as usual, started making all sorts of ruckus. He swung his hips this way and that way, pawing the ground, and screaming to any horse in the barn that would answer him. Libby just rolled her eyes, knowing full well that attempting to reprimand him for his bad behavior would only make things worse. He was a problem child if there ever was one.

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[collesteford]

Colleste didn't notice the sound of barn doors opening. There was a horse's screaming and she snapped out of her world. Queenie let out a whinny and pinned her ears. Queenie bared her teeth at the stallion disrupting her and her owner. Colleste got up, groaning. She noticed the other girl, with brown hair. Colleste's eyes glinted with anger for a moment before regaining their composure. "Oh, I'm sorry," she found herself saying. "I was just in the stables... um, with my mare." She noticed the pages she was still holding and hid it behind her back. Queenie let out a shrill neigh and Colleste hugged her. Queenie looked at her master with dark eyes. Then, turning her dark bay head, bared her teeth at the stallion. She let out a gentle No, girl, before turning to the other girl. "I'm sorry. Queenie's like that. She's just a bit temperamental." Queenie sent out a look that screamed Diiiiieeee! but Colleste let it slide. As long as Queenie didn't do anything. Colleste put down her manuscript and slid out of the stall. Queenie positioned her body so she could lash out at the gelding, that seemed to be a thoroughbred, if he tried any funny business. Ears flicking back and forth in uncertainty, she outstretched her neck and narrowly missed the gelding's neck, showing him what would happen if he dared go anywhere near Colleste.

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[libby anne rowan]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: f9f9f9; border: #2d465a solid 10px; width: 450px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] I belong with you tagged Colleste words idek muse I Belong- Tyler Hilton notes He's a noisy boy credits template by irish! Despite the fact that Hooligan was currently making more noise than a stampeding herd of elephants and was having a bigger tantrum than a two year old who wanted candy at the grocery store, he was really rather harmless. The worst thing he ever did was buck his rider off and go galloping off like a madman. He wasn't really a mean horse, he just had so much energy that he hardly knew what to do with it, so he put it to good use making as much trouble as he possibly could. If you could look past his inability to stand still for more than two seconds at a time, and forgive him for dumping you on course every other time you took him out, he really wasn't all that bad. Truth be told, Libby loved him the most out of her herd of grays. Sure, she loved Pudge, Jet, Jinx, and Connie... but there was just something special about Hooligan that made him her favorite. The tall gray gelding hardly seemed to even notice the angry mare in the stall not far from him. He was far too busy craning his neck and trying to see if he could spot the horse down the aisle that kept answering his whinnies. In general, he got along very well with other horses. He often got himself kicked or bitten for bothering the other horses too much, but he really wasn't dominant at all and got along with pretty well any horse that he was turned out with. He didn't have a mean bone in his body. Even though he was 12 now, he still had the personality of a young horse, and hadn't quite matured out of his baby habits yet, and it was likely that he was always going to be a bit of a dope. Libby, on the other hand, did notice the mare reaching out to bite at her horse, and even though she knew that horses were always biting each other, she hardly found it favorable. "Maybe you should arrange to have her moved to a stall away from the cross-ties then." She said rather matter-of-factly. As far as she was concerned, if a horse was going to attempt to bite a horse just because it was near to her stall, it really shouldn't be kept in such a widely used area where it was exposed to a lot of horses. You never knew when a less forgiving horse than Hooligan might come along who would just have a fit if it was bitten, and that wouldn't be ideal for anyone.

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[collesteford]

Colleste was glad that the stallion didn't notice her mare's fit. Colleste stepped back a bit. Unsure then she prepared to go forward again when Queenie blocked her path with her rump. "What's wrong girl? Are you scared about me?" She reached up and scratched the mare behind the ear. Queenie slowed her lashing out. "Yeah... about that. I'm new here and this is one of the only ones available." Colleste turned to her mare.
"Queenie, you can't go lashing out at horses like that." She gave her 'the Look' and Queenie snorted. Queenie hadn't touched the skin of the gelding. "I'm using it while they find a stall further away. This girl just doesn't like males of any species. Bad experience." Queenie gave a nicker to the girl, ears pricked. "Girls she tolerates usually." Queenie pawed at the wood chips. She could already see the pieces of stray wood from Queenie's cribbing. Colleste faced the girl, with gorgeous eyes who had seen the horrors of the world. "That was a sucky first impression wasn't it? I'm Colleste Eve-Rachel Foster. From up in Richmond. This is Queen of Hearts. I got her a year ago to help me deal with my de- problems. I had to help her. After her experience with abuse she needed me." Queenie lowered her head to Colleste's top and inhaled her scent. Colleste giggled, giving one of her rare smiles. Noticing the manuscript on the hay bale, knowing that the girl would've noticed them, in her position, her amusement failed. "Yeah. I'm a nerd. Book-girl you can call me. Not much difference from school. If I hadn't dropped out. I hope I won't have to leave this place." Her eyes showed all her emotions from anger to sadness. Colleste stepped back and sat on top of the manuscript. Queenie faced her. "Yeah, Queenie knows how I feel." Kissing her nose, she smiled. "Those stupid hypocrites up at your old barn." Queenie nickered again. Colleste wondered if the girl knew how she'd felt. Queenie pushed her nose against Colleste's chest, which was the object of ridicule. And her much-too-skinny belly. At least she was eating again.

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[libby anne rowan]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: f9f9f9; border: #2d465a solid 10px; width: 450px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] I belong with you tagged Colleste words idek muse I Belong- Tyler Hilton notes He's a noisy boy credits template by irish! Libby really just didn't have a clue how to handle everything that she had just been told. Normally, people didn't just go off and start telling people personal things like the fact that they had "problems" that the horse had helped with or that their horse had been abused, or that they got called "book-girl" because they wrote on paper. Libby was a relatively laid back individual who really had no issues with anyone unless she had a very good reason to dislike them. She was generally the wild bouncing one around the stable who was yelled at by the adults for running more often than the children were. She was fairly sure she didn't have any real enemies... except that one guy who had crossed the line a few too many times and became the sole recipient of her anger... particularly after she'd slapped him in the face and declared to all of Addison that he was a dick... after which point her boyfriend had tackled the guy for trying to go at her. Other than that, Libby disliked no one. She really couldn't have cared less if someone was a "nerd" or if they were a jock. They were all just people. Besides, she was fairly sure that her boyfriend was a genius and she was pretty sure that made him a nerd... even though he was captain of the rugby team which made him also a jock. She herself fell into the "dumb blonde" category, even though she wasn't blonde... which made her just dumb. She generally just pulled off passing grades, thanks to tutoring from James, and was constantly saying incredibly stupid things that made absolutely no sense whatsoever. Libby lived a very care-free life, a "live and let live" sort where she didn't bother anybody and nobody bothered her. There was no sense in wasting time judging other people or being bothered by people who judged you. "Wow... that's... uhm... nice?" she said, very uncertain how she was supposed to respond to all of that, "Err... I mean not nice about all the bad stuff but... yeah... just uhm... if she tears up that stall too much Beth is going to be pissed so you should probably try to figure out how to maybe stop all that.... or something." Libby was all too familiar with irritating Beth. Considering she seemed to almost always be with Beth, she was well versed on the consequences of pushing too many of Beth's buttons... and she could attest to the fact that angry Beth was not a very pleasant person to be around. She loved Beth, but when she spotted her in a bad mood it was best to flee the scene before becoming another victim of her anger.

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[collesteford]

Colleste knew she was weird. What they didn't know was that she still thought about these things today, how damaged she really was. Like how she didn't know what a friend was. How she didn't trust humans. And how she didn't know how to behave. Colleste felt a pressure on her throat. She let it escape. Her face was the perfect image for a movie in a sad scene. But she looked like that all the time. Really, she was beautiful. Many people hated her. She hoped that the girl wouldn't be added. Colleste really used to be crazy. But she had let her 'friends' get to her. Colleste was always the freak at school. The one with no friends. Eventually she dropped out. Colleste was good at her grades. But no one noticed her except to bully her. Now Colleste trusted no one. "I don't think I'll fit in here, really. I can never fit in with all the normal people with friends." She scratched Queenie's ear.
"But I have to seize the opportunity. It cost me a fortune to get here, even though I knew even then my life would never stop sucking." Colleste rolled her eyes. Through the barn doors a gust of wind blew her hair into her face. Wiping it from her face. "See. Even the wind can't bear to look at me," joked Colleste.