:-:Hopeful:-: [Reserved for Maxine]

[Rachel Corrigan]

My first day at this place, and I got a horse talkin' to me!!! My sneakers were heavy on my feet as I carried my luggage and paperwork from my return to the office from the stables. Everyone I walked past in the halls and walkways on the route to my dorm looked preoccupied but mostly happy. They carried stuff of their own and carried themselves with confidence past the brick laden walls, through the foot thick wooden doors, and into various classrooms, lounges, and bathrooms.

Room 114 my voice was a soft whisper compared to the voices and music drifting out of the different doors leading into crazily decorated dorm rooms. My ash pale hand slipped out of my jacket, closed around inself into a fist and knocked on the door. Is anyone in there? Silently I hoped that someone would answer but really I was scared that I wouldn't like whoever I was assigned to room with.

The thought of constant arguments, bickering, and horror evryday scared me to bits and I couldn't stop it. But as I stood before that old wooden door, I felt something. I got the hope. No, the knowing that me and my roomate would get along fine. The feel that I would be happy to get here every day. With the new found courage in this, I stood before the door and waited to meet my fate with my new roomate.

[Maxine Porter]

Brushing my hand lightly over Poppuri's small, soft, orange head, I continued to unpack my suitcases and backpack. Sighinly loudly, I studied the room intently. It was quite spacious, yet roomy, and it was clearly big enough to hold two students comfortably with room to spare. I smiled and continued to rummage through my close. I hung up a few shirts and some of my favorite skinny jeans on hangers and into my side of the walk-in closet. I had only gotten to my room an hour ago and no one had been here yet. I was happy about that, it gave me time to drop a few tears and choose my side of the closet.

The carpet beneath me was soft under my sock covered feet and I wiggled my toes playfully as Poppuri bounded around happily. I had already set up her tiny litter box near my nightstand. She was still learning to use it, being a kitten and all.. The day had had a real bang to it already. I met my fated horse, Dancer the Nobel pain in the butt, and I met a guy named Cody. Yes a guy, Amazing I know. Still, I was happy to runaway to this room, my room. My only escape. I just hoped my roommate wouldn't drive me to hate my only escape route. I grabbed my toiletries bag and headed for the bathroom to set down my toothbrush and whatnot.

The bathroom was spacious as well.. The toilet had it's own cavity of a room while the bigger part of the bathroom held a tub, shower, and two sinks. It was the color of warm caramel and the air fresheners that were set in there made the room only seem more inviting. Nice set up I smiled and murmured to myself. I looked at my wrist watch and it read 5:32 and my roommate hadn't showed up yet. I started to think maybe I wasn't assigned a roommate at all. A glimmer of joy sparked deep in my chest but then it went out as quickly as it came. Deep down I wanted to make a new friend and actually have the full experience of being away from home with total strangers. I laughed at my deep insight. How insane could I possibly get.

Then I heard it, Poppuri jumped near the door. Someone had knocked and I sprinted toward it, fingers crossed. Ok here we go! before I gave myself time to think, I turned the doorknob and opened the door. Poppuri Squirmed out of the crack and I yelled out, Poppuri!! No Get back here! I bent down but stood back up when I saw who stood at the door. A girl about my height with blond hair and blue eyes stared back at me surprised. Sorry, m-my cat she's a bit rambunctious. I said nervously, trying not to sound like a total fool., I thrust my hand out in front to shake and offered my name. The name's Maxine, Nice to me you uh I stopped and waited.

Poppuri was scratching lightly at the girl's luggage and I saw she had a pet carrier. Poppuri could scent out the cat this girl had. At least we had the same liking in animals. That just means we won't have an issue with pet arrangements. I smiled the sweetest I possibly good, in fear of scaring the girl away.

[Rachel Corrigan]

It had only taken a minute or two for the large wooden door to open and one second for the other girl's cat to escape and run to Japedo's carrier. At first I tensed up, scared at how things would go between us. But when i saw my new roomate nervous as well, I realized that she had been nervous because of her cat rushing out the door and I had been nervous because of the future, I relaxed a bit.

She has a cat too. Well, this might not be that bad! Hopefully. Gosh you gotta find the bad in everything!! My nerves calmer and hers apparently on edge, I figured that talking would be a good idea. I had a chance to get a good lok at both the person in front me of me and her cat, Popurri I guess, who was checking out my little black one, Japedo. I noticed that both me and her were about the same height and build, me being a little thicker, and she had really dark hair cascading down past her slim shoulders.

Standing in the old hallway, covered with rustic red tiles, beside all of my luggage, cats, and new roomate, things were starting to become a little awkward. Sorry, my cat she's a bit rambunctious. The name's Maxine, nice to meet you uh...

Rachel and Japedo. at the sound of his name, Japedo gave a cry of welcome to everyone. So you must be my new roomate, nice to you Maxine. Do you go by Max? my hand reached out to shake hers and it felt like everything was ok, like there was nothing wrong in the world at that moment, like I just met my best friend. With the worry gone, I was happier.

I looked over at Maxine's cat and smiled. She was sticking to Japedo's carrier like duct tape. She seems to like Japedo quite a bit. Poppuri right? She's cute. my voice came out much more confident than it had at the beginning of the conversation.

[Maxine Porter]

The girl facing me finally spoke, seeing as the situation was becoming quite awkward. Her name was Rachel and her cat Japedo. That's cute I thought happily. Rachel reached out to shake my hand, and made small talk to fill the hallway. So you must be my new roommate, nice to you Maxine. Do you go by Max? Her voice was sweet and inviting and I took in a sharp breath as our hands touched. Have you ever gotten that feeling were you just feel like everything is going to be ok? I felt that in church once, but I felt in now. Strong. I looked at her and imagined us being great friends. Growing up with each other, graduating with each other, being each others brids' maids. I laughed at my creative imagination and answered her question.

Yeah, Max is what I usually go by. What about you, do you go by Ray? I asked curiously. I needed to know these things before we actually truly became roommates. Chuckling a bit, I noticed I was standing in her way from entering our room. Oh! I exclaimed. Sorry, come in. I mean get comfortable. I stepped aside to let her in. She lugged her suitcases and carrier into the room and walked toward the bed that didn't have my clothing sprawled over it. Poppuri bounded into the room behind Rachel and then stopped next to Japedo's carrier. Clawing it diligently, I walked over and snatched her off the floor. Come here you rascal. No one wants to be annoyed by an orange hairball.

I giggled and placed her into her bed, which was at the foot of mine, and then sat down. My comforter beneath me was a pretty lavender purple that my mother bought me just before coming here. So, have you found your talking horse? heh I couldn't help but ask. I felt silly asking, secretly considering maybe I was crazy and Dancer was an alien from outer space

.

[Rachel Corrigan]

When Max laughed, I couldn't help but laugh along. Yea, Ray is fine with me. my smile widened at the memories behind my nickname. I laughed harder when she realized that I was still standing in the hall. Once she moved aside, I made my way to the empty bed in the room with all of my stuff. Poppuri bound her way over to Japedo's carrier, waiting to meet her new roomate.

Come here you rascal. No one wants to be annoyed by an orange furball.

[/i] At hearing this, I smiled and began unpacking.

First up was the bedding. My sheets were a sapphire blue that I loved. The thick blanket was not only always warm when I needed it to be, but a black and white checkered pattern that I had had since I started middle school. Second out of the luggage was my clothes, very casual but only a little feminine. It's a lot of jeans and t-shirts, but not quite all. I grabbed a bunch of hangers for the closet and found the empty side and started to fill it. It made me comfortable to know that Maxine had chosen the side that she wanted,

Clothes put away, I arranged everything else and heard Maxine's question, but before I answered it, I laid my suitcases under my bed. So, have you found your talking horse?[/i]

Yea I did. I named him Rosco. I guess you have too huh? It's a little strange to have a horse talk inside my head. I looked over at Max, smiled, and set up Japedo's litter box. I knew that he was getting restless from staying in that carrier for so long. Do you think Poppuri would be okay with Japedo? I think the last thing we need is a cat fight. I had to laugh a little at the unexpected joke. It had just slipped out of my mouth, bypassing my brain. I wanted to ask Max though, to make sure that nothing bad would happen to either pet.

[/blockquote]

[Maxine Porter]

Rosco, huh? That's a unique name for a horse. I wonder what he thought. I shook my head and smiled at my thoughts. I seriously was considering that maybe I was going crazy, actually trying to understand the thoughts of a horse. I nodded and started to scrap off my deep blue nail polish as I spoke, Yeah, I named my talking horse Dancer. He seemed to like it but he seems like a natural pain in the butt. I laughed, remembering my first encounter with the brute.

Do you think Poppuri would be okay with Japedo? I think the last thing we need is a cat fight. I laughed at the unintentional joke and nodded shooing the preposterous thought away with my hand. I knew the cats would be fine. I be they'll be fine. I mean I bet if Poppuri could she'd jump into the carrier. II laughed aloud and looked toward Japedo's carrier.

Poppuri started to claw at my sheets signaling me she wanted to come up on the bed too, so I bent down and lifted her up and tossed her near my pillow. I sat Indian style and I looked toward the room window that was set between the two full-sized beds. It was snowing again and I shivered just thinking off being out there. My mind went to Dancer, in his stall with all those whinnying horses, scowling and braying in response to his unwanted company. Dancer and I were so alike I had to giggle. I feel like me and Dancer are connected. It's strange... I hadn't noticed I said that aloud, but my voice was distant and my thoughts were focused elsewhere.

This year in Catalp would be quite the adventure. Realizing that I wasn't all totally there, I turned my now focused gaze on Rachel, scratching my head embarrassed. Sorry 'bout that. I do that a lot. W-well I mean I get lost in thought a lot. It can be really annoying. I sighed loudly and then fell back on my bed. The springs squeaked a bit under me but I starred up at the ceiling. So Rachel, what brings you to Catalpa? I wanted to know her reason for coming. Recently this school just seemed like a place for parents to ditch their kids, even of it sounded like a nut house.

[Rachel Corrigan]

Poppuri would jump in the carrier? Hmm...I'd better let Japedo out so he can roam around a bit before she does try to climb in. I wandered over to the deep black again, dragged the zipper around the door to open it, and looked inside to make sure that Japedo was still alive, or at least not a complete mess. Hopefully he didn't do anything that requires cleaning out of anger at me.

Once I put my face in front of the door, a sharp hiss pierced that quiet of the carrier, released from the little oil black furball within it. So that's how you wanna be huh? Fine! I mumbled as I dumped Japedo onto my bed. Distracted by Poppuri, he easily ignored me. He'll get back at me later, I thought while my brain forced my hands to put away the carrier. I must have said it very quietly for my roomate seemed to be having her own conversation. Once she started apologizing, I knew that I should try to comfort her. Try being the main word.

Oh don't worry bout that, I seem to be the queen of social awkwardness. After a while, it becomes a giant inside joke with myself. I sighed, finally sitting on my bed with a bag of cat food for Japedo's bowl. So your horse is a little weird? Mine is cruel and stubborn, but I like him. I let out a chuckle at the memory of my first encounter with Rosco. So how did you come up with the name Dancer? Just then, I realized that she had asked me a question before and hit myself in the forehead with the palm of my right hand, spilling a bunch of cat food over the place.

So Rachel, what brings you to Catalpa?

[/i] I pondered the question, brushing off some cat food at the same time, wondering how to start. Well, last year, there was a riding competition in my hometown. The winners got a summer-long, all expense paid, trip to a riding school in Oklahoma. At the end of the summer, there was another competition. The winners for this one got sent to a mysterious riding school. Guess what? I ended up here. At the end of the story, I gave Maxine a reassuring smile, as reassuring as I could anyways. What about you? How'd you get to come here? Oh! I'm sorry. I keep. Umm...I can get a bit...inquisitive at times i guess and it tends to annoy those kind of people who are very secretive. If I start annoyin ya, please tell me? I was kind of embarrassed at my constant babbling but when I looked in Max's eyes, there was something there that made me calm down again and laugh it off.
[/blockquote]

[Maxine Porter]

I couldn't help but laugh as Rachel shuffled around her words. She was right about her social awkwardness but I was dealing with the same thing in my head. So we were bound to be the perfect roommates. I nodded my head as she asked me a question after I had just asked one, but I wasn’t mad, if anything I was amused. Rachel then decided to answer my question and as I listened intently to her reasonings, I formulated what I would say in response. As she spoke of her competition days, I nodded as needed and thingyed my head questioningly in parts of her story.

So she’s a competition kind of girl? That’s pretty cool I nodded to my random thoughts and then looked up at Rachel when she finished spinning her tale and then questioned me. Again Rachel seemed to stumble over her own words and I smiled to calm her down and to reassure her that she wasn’t burdening me by asking me a mutual question. I giggled as she classified herself as being annoying, I waved my hand in the air to again gesture the dismissal of the statement. “Don’t worry, I can run on a short-fuse but I don’t it’ll go off for you.” I stated coolly. I took in a deep breath to now spin my own tale.

“Well to start off I named Dancer by the way he moves. He’s very coordinated and as stuck-up as one.” I twiddled my fingers and smiled at the thought of my pestering horse. “He’s quite the pain in the butt and just as sarcastic as me, but that’s what I like about him…” I laughed lightly, but then my smile faded suddenly and my gaze dropped to my crossed legs, my dark blue toenail polish shining dimly from the light coming from the window. My thoughts swirled around the reminiscence needed to answer the next question. “My parents moved me around a lot so having true friends wasn’t something I was used to. It was a luxury to me, a luxury I never had. In my junior year, I went back to my hometown thinking I’d find my elementary school friends still waiting for me.” I ripped my gaze from my toes to a staring Rachel.

I continued on but with a weak and pained smile, ”but they weren’t. Shocker, right? I thought so. So instead of having friends to be a buffer against the hardships of junior year, I didn’t have that. School hit me full force and my parents saw the change in me. Luckily for me. They found this school on the Internet. Horses being the keyword that drove them to their decision. They thought it would be a good transition, so here I am.” I laughed weakly, and shuddered at the memory. I looked up at Rachel again and saw pain on her face. Pain for me. The last thing I ever wanted to do was to burden someone else with my pains. My eyes widened and I waved my hands in front of me. “No no you don’t need to worry about it” I tried to smile again, but more sheepishly then weak. I laughed embarrassed now that I spilled my troubles out onto my new

[/I] roommate.

[/blockquote]

[Rachel Corrigan]

As Max talked about her past a little, I couldn't help but feel bad. Woah, what a horrible childhood. but I listened intenly until she finished. She must have seen somethin in my clear blue eyes because she tried to reassure me not to be worried. But I saw something in her eyes. She didn't like that she had just spilled all of that to a practical stranger.

It's just that, when I was little. Well, littler, I had met so many people, gotten my own friends and for a while it seemed like nobody would stick around, like at some point, they would always leave me alone. I never moved after starting school until this year. So I was thrilled when I could make a new kid my friend and hurt when and old friend left. So I guess in some twisted backwards way, I can relate. I hadn't meant to say all of that, but I figured that I had babbled unintentionally enough for one day.

I looked back up at Maxine and smiled. I could hear Japedo playing with one of his toys, or one of Poppuri's, or just Poppuri. It was amusing, the way cats acted. They could be so cold on the surface but underneath, they were all cotton balls and happiness. They were very independent yet very social. I wanna be a cat. Oh crap! I'm sorry! I didnt mean to say that out loud. At my blurp, I started laughing too hard to breathe.

[Maxine Porter]

I nodded and bit my lip. Her story was slightly like mine and I felt better about spilling my sob story after words. I smiled to myself. Maybe we could actually be friends, closer then friends. Best friends. She seemed like she could understand me and I to her. This year would probably break me out of my anti-social bubble. 'My parents were probably right...for know.' I rolled my eyes and smiled.

This year would be ok. I looked to Rachel and I found hope that it certainly would be. What adventures would await us, who knew. And maybe I'd want to stay here in Vermont. Maybe even stay near Catalpa, with Dancer at my side. Who knows, maybe I could even find a guy to like me for who I am. I lughed silently at the thought. I patted Poppuri's head and she launched herself off the bed and onto the floor, circling Japedo's carrier. He still didn't want to come out, but Poppuri seemed quite ok with that. She pounced on it, a determined looked etched on her maw. I laughed and heard a clearly funny statement.

"I wanna be a cat. Oh crap! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to say that out loud" Rachel's hands shot to her mouth and I straitened up where I sat. She started to laugh and couldn't help but add in, "Me too. Meeoooow!" I exclaimed and we both sat there in hysteric laughter. I gripped my stomach as I writhed in pure joyous pain. This would be a great friendship and apparently the cats loved it too. Would Our horses fancy each other? Who cared, we were having the best of times.