Welcome to Hickstead, home to both Seven Oak Stables, and Blue Acre - two rival stables. Both offer opportunities for their clients to reach the highest level of excellence. Each stable differs from the other, so choose wisely and never forget, loyalty is everything... Meanwhile as the stables battle it out, there's trouble brewing at the university. Be careful, if you don't pick a side you may get caught in the cross-fire...
This is an chilled out rpg with a super friendly and relaxed atmosphere! Remember to sign up with your characters full name in all caps and don't forget to do your claims! Thank you and Welcome, we've been established since 10th March 2009 but unfortunately have had to close guest view of our boards due to multiple sites ripping off our hard work, such a shame! Come chat to us in Discord before joining if you like!.
“Sorry,” he smiled. “I couldn’t help it.” There were times that Oliver liked to tease the richer folks he knew. While there were people like Janie and Molly, where their parents worked hard to help raise the kids – the other people were fun to tease. Mainly because their common sense and street smarts were lackluster. Thankfully, Archie was smart enough to see that Oliver wasn’t being malicious.
Oliver nudged back, allowing his shoulder to linger a millisecond before releasing. “I just started learning, to be honest. It was frustrating at first, but it makes you slow down, y’know? Have you ever tried it?” he asked, probably already knowing the answer. He didn’t know much about Archie other than he spoke German and rode horses. Oliver had asked Molly and Janie to help sus out any more info, but they often told him to put his big boy pants on.
Oliver snorted. “Sleep the right way, the wrinkles from the pillows will give you some lines to follow!” Nahs was right though. There was a lot of good makeup out nowadays. He did joke with Janie when he saw her outside of Nutcracker. Her ballet makeup was so jarring up close. But when he had seen her on stage, it was perfectly normal looking. “Would they make you wear a bald cap with sie straggles?” Or was that a too-specific kind of Scrooge?
“Thanks! It’s just a long mental game you know. I’m sure it’s the same for when you get ready for an audition. Well, less chance of me breaking something on Violin. A teammate showed me this death-diving thing, where people purposely dive in terrible form. I couldn’t stomach it! But I guess those people all end up okay somehow,” he laughed. “Though videos like that are always a good distraction from the crazy prep the teachers are putting on us for the spring.”
October was rolling around, and Oliver was already missing the summer weather. Mainly due to the fact he was used to being in the sun, and swimming. His genetics had prepared him well for the colder months, so the breeze from the ocean wasn’t a terrible thing.
He only found himself at the pier today because it was somewhat nicer out. Oliver, out of the things he had going in his life – found fishing from one of his swim mates. It had taken Oliver a few times to figure out all the mechanisms it but found the activity cathartic. And since he got fifth in a violin competition, he needed it. Despite his friends and family saying fifth in a massive London competition wasn’t bad, it still stung.
Oliver sat on a bench and opened his tackle box. He wouldn’t do anything fancy today, probably a lure. If he needed more bait, the source wouldn’t be far away in the way of minnows or the shop. As he fingered through his options, Oliver felt a shadow cast over him. He looked up to see Archie, the third reason Oliver found himself more at Blue Acres. “Hey, Archie. You here to check on your family yacht?” he teased, with a big grin.
“Yeah, I saw one of his classes once while I was passing the auditorium. I don’t know how many of you don’t go home and take a mean nap after that.” Oliver hadn’t had any classes with Mr. Gallagher, but from what he noticed – he was a chill type. Kind of like Mr. Stonehouse, but different in a sense. The teachers at the secondary school weren’t too terrible. Or maybe Oliver just didn’t pay attention enough to his peers’ complaints.
“They would have to make you really old looking if you took Scrooge on,” Oliver teased, gingerly placing his violin in its case. He was too wrapped up in the conversation to continue. Plus, it sounded like Nash needed to talk a bit anyway. “We have the spring concert, then I have a coemption coming up in a month and a half. I’m a bit nervous about it since there’s a lot of people. London has a lot of talented people. I think I’m more nervous about my violin concerts than my diving competition!”
The mention of a classical piece made everyone groan and roll their eyes. Oliver was different, as he enjoyed them. Most of the class didn’t mind them, it was when the pieces got a bit too long and boring – could it be hard? They weren’t professional musicians, except for a few who wanted to do this professionally later.
“We could do Vivaldi’s Winter, but condensed somehow?” Oliver offered. It was fast-paced enough in some areas that could be the finale. It was a bit of a tougher piece, but everyone here could play it.
“Would anything from the Nutcracker count?” The easy answer would probably be yes, but it was up to Aaron what he wanted. There were plenty of options. Sugar plum was always a favorite.
“What piece would you like us to play?” Another student asked.
Oliver let out a huff of air before looking up and seeing his friend Nash. “Oh, hey! Yeah, I’m dumb enough to think I could sight-read this without air violin,” he snorted, as he removed the violin from his shoulder. “My aunt challenged me to learn this piece, thinking I wouldn’t dare try yet…but here we are!”
He rolled his eyes at Nash’s comment about talent. “I don’t know, you could beat me in a sword fight any day. How’s your acting classes going?” Oliver had zero talent for the stage unless he was there in a tuxedo playing a solo. But being required to know lines and move his body in a way that expressed emotion, was a lot different. Yeah, there was emotion in music – but Oliver wasn’t exactly expected to keep his eyes open as he moved his hands and arms.
“You were really great as the ghost of Christmas Past!” Remembering Nash had partaken in the school Christmas Carol production.
Ama smiled at the teens. “Of course. Willow Brook Academy’s dance?” She only knew that because there were a lot of people coming for dresses and outfits, staff and students alike. Ama tapped on her chin, as she eyeballed over Janie and Molly. Not in a weird way, but taking mental measurements and skin tone, and guessing their style based on what they were currently wearing.
“You three head to the dressing rooms and I’ll be back shortly.” Ama didn’t leave them too much room to refuse, so Oliver ushered Janie and Molly to where they were instructed.
“It felt like she was x-raying us with her eyes. That was weird,” he commented finding one of the fanciest chairs he had ever seen in his life. It was comfortable and sturdy. Oliver didn’t have too much time to relax since Ama appeared out of nowhere. It had only been a few minutes.
In her hands were six dresses, something Janie hadn’t expected. She gave a glance to Molly before Ama spoke again. “Alrighty, here are some options. I know you asked for glitter, but since you both are still growing – I picked options that can be used a few times. Other than just this one dance.” Ama handed Janie and Molly a dress each. Janie’s dress was a midnight blue with thick straps and pleats, and Molly’s dress was a silver brocade with a bustier style top. “I’ll be out here if you need help getting them on," she commented, before opening two rooms next to each other.
Oliver couldn’t help but peek at the four other dresses, wondering how the hell Ama pulled those selections so fast. “I’ll be here too,” he said, watching his friends enter their rooms.
“No one will know unless they know the movie,” the students replied. Oliver himself didn’t know why Die Hard was a holiday movie either, but he liked the idea of playing some random movie score.
When Mr. Stonehouse offered to do the concert as a movie score one, that made the classroom pick up – something that wasn’t expected. Despite how long it took, the teacher did manage to get the class riled up. In a good way. Music class wasn’t for everyone. Plus, there was only so much Mozart kids their age could be into at the moment. “I mean, do you want us to play some kind of holiday music?” Oliver asked. “We could do a score from the Peanuts Christmas Movie…or the Grinch, obviously.”
“Not everyone celebrates Christmas, Mr. Stonehouse,” a student called out. Oliver agreed.
“It should be a holiday concert or the winter concert,” Oliver agreed. Maybe it was something silly to implement, but it was like Easter. It was a wildly spread holiday, but the other folks had to ask off for their religious holidays. At least they got it off, but having to ask was a bit weird.
“We could do the soundtrack of Die Hard, that’s a holiday movie,” another student said. The others couldn’t help but snicker.
“I don’t think she has them all the time,” Oliver said. “Mum said it’s only to help cater to the school events and such. She was here for a work event a while ago and they weren’t out yet. Money doesn’t mean taste either….I remember seeing pictures of my sister’s dance when she was our age. Some of those girls came from the ritzy area of the Oldaker and yikes!”
“Both look like something you would wear on stage…” He gave a look at Molly and laughed. “I’m more of a butt person myself so…but I’m sure someone would find Janie’s chest attractive.”
Janie could feel her face burn with a bit of embarrassment, but she laughed it off. “I’ll try to find something more demure, then,” she said, putting the dresses back. As Janie began running her hands over the line of dresses, the sound of pristine heels was heard.
“Have you three been helped yet?” Janie and Oliver looked to see the owner herself. She was dressed smartly, all in black like the other staff. But with a bit richer aura. Janie couldn’t help but look at the shoes that lead up to well-toned legs. It made her feel a bit naughty, but they were great legs.
“We’re looking for outfits for a dance. Molly here would have more info!” Oliver responded.
He was thankful that more students would be coming in. It meant he wouldn’t be facing Mr. Stonehouse by himself. Not that the teacher did anything wrong. Oliver was just happy to have a bit of a cover or something. Or the idiocy of the other students to keep him awake. There was nothing like a badly tuned oboe to jolt someone up.
Mr. Stonehouse began asking about the winter concert and Oliver internally groaned, forgetting about it. He always knew that a concert happened in December and April. A few students offered the classic Silver Bells and Rocked around the Christmas tree. All good choices, but predictable.
Oliver raised his hand. His nerd side would be coming about, but why not? When he was pointed to, Oliver blurted out, “The Imperial March from Star Wars.”
Oliver rolled his eyes at the cleavage and independence. It was true, the girls were obviously going to do what they want. Maybe it was because Oliver viewed them as sisters at this point, wanting to make sure their respected future people would treat them well. Not like Oliver had a lot of practice himself, though he had kissed a few people.
Janie flashed him a playful smile before attempting to wrap an arm over Oliver’s shoulders. They were close in height, but Oliver managed to have a bit of a longer torso. But nevertheless, she grabbed him tight. “Let’s look at the more outrageous colors and styles first!” Janie dragged Oliver to the section of what Janie thought looked like Candy Land and Willy Wonka. If her goal was to look like a possible cupcake, then she could.
The skirts of the dresses looked a bit shorter than she liked, mainly due to Janie being all leg and her waist sitting a bit higher than others. She found an orange fringe dress and a cupcake mint dress. Neither did Janie see herself buying, but she was here to have fun, right? And to make Oliver a bit miserable. Hands took the hangers and held them up in front of her. “Which one should I try first?”
He couldn't tell if it was the weather or the school blasting the heat ridiculously high. Either way, Oliver could feel his eyes drying up from the dryness. Thankfully, the music room and the auditorium were better at temp control. He could only cringe at the idea of his violin getting any kind of damage. Next to his friends, Oliver would kill anyone over his Violin. Like the horses were to Janie and Molly, his violin, was his baby.
Oliver wasn't in a particular rush to get out of school today. His friends were off doing something at the barn and Oliver didn't have land or water practice. There was a piece he had been eyeing cautiously at home. And biting the bullet, Oliver felt brave. A high chance of being laughed at, sure, but none of the students had three titles of violin wins under their belt as he did.
Bach's Adante no. 2 would kick his ass and Oliver knew it. But he was ready to get messy. He stood in the empty music room, Mr. Stonehouse probably in his office or something. Oliver lifted his violin and began playing, slowly and painfully. Sight reading as he went.
He was so involved that he didn't hear the door open and the person came in. Either to ogle pr study their own stuff.
“It’s like someone’s quinceañera!” Janie smiled. That was one of the few parties she knew that had a lot of flashy things. Imagine having a coming-of-age party where a big dress was involved. Janie had her sweet 16th and that was fun, but nothing like a quinceañera.
“Yeah, I don’t know what mom’s making yet...but it will feed us and your families for days.” Okay, maybe not days, but small-batch cooking was not in the bloodline. They had a second freezer for goodness’ sake. Granted, they had a lot of people in their house to feed, but sometimes Oliver wondered if it was necessary. His pop did feed his coworkers, and some of it went home with Molly and Janie.
Janie smirked and gently punched Oliver who faked pure death. “C’mon, Olly – Molly is on the Great Wizard Time. We are blessed by her presence.”
“My apologies, oh great one!” Oliver bowed before Molly laid out her plan. “I vote minimal cleavage. I don’t want to spend my time punching eyes out,” he stated. Janie smiled knowing she really didn’t have a lot to offer in that area. She tended to be a bit more modest in her clothing as her performance clothes were the opposite.
“How about we see what they have in colors first?” Janie offered. It was more of a selfish reason. Molly always looked good in pastels and bright colors. They always looked good against her skin. “Or we can have Oliver pick somethings out to see what old lady stuff he wants us in.”
“Yeah,” Oliver smiled. “It was a long travel weekend, unfortunately. We got second, so it wasn’t too bad.” While third or first was preferred, the school was going against some of the best teams. He was looking forward to not having to travel so far until the summer and spring. The training was still there, but it wasn’t as grueling.
Well, since he offered. “Okay, yes, thanks! I’ll be back in a jiffy.” Oliver stood up and grabbed his wallet, and fast walked to the hallway. On his way, he saw Janie in the hall headed toward her own class. She gave him a look and then noticed his eyes and face. His friend shook her head and handed him the rest of her iced coffee. He voiced a thank you and got back to class before the first bell.
Oliver took a comically long sip from the caramel latte. It was sweet, just as he liked it. Perks of having someone with just the right amount of sweet tooth. The rest was sipped down with much vigor, as it was small. Oliver finished it and threw the cup out; hand sanitized his hands – just in time for the third bell rang for class to start.