Famous (7 page)

Cole nodded, his white helmet bobbing. He shifted in the saddle, and Valentino's ears pricked forward. Mr. Conner put the whistle to his lips and
tweet!
Cole and
Valentino shot through the entrance at a fast canter and headed for the first vertical.

“You okay?”

I looked over, and Drew had eased Polo next to Whisper. He kept his gaze on the course so Mr. Conner was less likely to catch us talking.

“I'm all right. Thanks for asking,” I said quietly. “I was nervous before, but now I just want to go.”

Cole and Valentino launched into the air and cleared a double oxer with gorgeous form from both horse and rider. They landed with ease on the other side and Cole did a half halt, slightly slowing an excited Valentino as they approached a triple combination. Cole was setting the bar
high
.

“You're going to do great.” Drew sneaked a glance at me, smiling.

I smiled back, feeling my heartbeat slow a little from his words.

Meanwhile, Cole had maintained a clean and fast ride over half the course, and he and Valentino conquered each jump as if they'd ridden this course a million times. I was so impressed with my friend. I couldn't wait to tell him how awesome he looked out there!

Along the wall, Mr. Conner's eyes were glued to Cole
and Valentino. Mr. Conner held the stopwatch, ready to freeze the time as Cole approached the final jump.

Cole let out the reins a notch and allowed Valentino to quicken his canter as the pair neared the highest jump on the course—a tall vertical with black-and-white-striped poles. The jump looked simple and clean, but it was deceiving. If Cole let his guard down and Valentino rushed it, the horse would knock the pole to the ground. But if Cole didn't allow his mount to maintain enough speed, Valentino would likely bring down the top pole with a back hoof.

I held my breath as Cole moved into the two-point position and Valentino rocked back onto his haunches and pushed off the arena ground. Black mane and tail whipped through the air as horse and rider seemed as though they were trying to touch the cloudless sky.

“Wow,” I whispered.

“Yeah,” Drew whispered back.

Valentino landed safely away from the jump, and not one of the poles even so much as jiggled in their cups.

“Yeah, Cole!” I yelled, clapping.

Drew put two fingers in his mouth and let out an ear-splitting whistle.

The rest of my team cheered and clapped as a
pink-faced Cole slowed Valentino to a trot and exited the arena.

“Jeez!” Lexa said as Cole joined our group. “Trying to make it
impossible
for all of us to look good after that?” She grinned and high-fived him.

Cole laughed, then stuck out his tongue at Lex. “Valentino just wanted to
go
.”

He loosened the reins and let Valentino walk in a circle nearby.

Mr. Conner finished writing on his clipboard and raised his hand to get our attention.

“Brielle,” he called. “You're up.”

Mr. Conner announced Cole's time, and I shook my head in amazement. Cole hadn't even been pushing Valentino too hard. That's what I liked most about the ride. I'd seen enough riders push their horses beyond the point of safety and past the horse's comfort level to get a fast time. I'd had to turn my head plenty of times when I'd witnessed a rider smacking a horse with a crop after almost every jump to increase the horse's speed. Each of us—myself included—carried a crop, but Mr. Conner would
never
allow us to get away with using one like that.

The whistle tweeted, and Brielle and Zane cantered forward. Brielle was a competitive girl, and as I watched, I
couldn't tell if she was ahead or behind Cole in time. Her ride was just as clean, and she and Zane were one fluid body as they tackled the course.

“Want to hang out at the media center after class?” Drew asked. “We could grab a private room and do homework, then maybe watch a movie.”

I fought the urge to look at him and kept my eyes on Bri. “I really want to, but there's something I have to do after class. Can I text you when I'm done and we meet up then?”

“For sure,” Drew said. “Actually, that'll give me time to meet my swim coach.”

“Everything okay?” I whispered, cheering inside as Bri cleared the triple combo.

Polo stamped the ground with a front hoof. “My coach just wants to change my workout partner for the gym and give me a new spring schedule. Did Taylor talk to you about swimming recently?”

That made me look at Drew. “No. Why?”

“Coach Jenner decided the team needed two captains.”

“You're still one of them, right?” I searched Drew's face. His eyes had darkened to a gray-blue. I remembered Taylor's Chatter update about swim team tryouts. I'd seen a recent note that he'd made it.

“I am, but Taylor Frost is the other cocaptain.”

There was a hint of bitterness in Drew's voice. I couldn't blame him. He tried so hard in this beyond-bizarre situation of my ex-boyfriend coming to Canterwood and wanting to be friends with me. Unknown to Drew, Taylor wanted me back. Like,
back
back. As in girlfriend back.

Circumstances kept pushing Taylor and Drew together. They shared a few classes, and since they both swam, they were on the school's swim team. Now they shared the responsibility of being cocaptains together. Sympathy panged in my stomach for both of them.

“Drew, I'm sorry,” I said. “You've been beyond amazing about the Taylor thing.”

I closed my mouth when Mr. Conner looked in our group's direction. I put my focus back on Brielle as she and Zane headed for the second-to-last jump. Mr. Conner looked back to her, and I wet my lips.

“I feel bad that you guys keep getting stuck together,” I said, my voice barely audible. “I'm glad you're still captain, but I'm sorry you have to share it with someone less than ideal.”

“Thanks, Laur,” Drew said, his voice super quiet too. “I have to keep reminding myself that it's more of a title thing and Taylor and I won't really be doing much together.”

Brielle and Zane cantered, almost breaking into a gallop, to the final vertical.

Too fast, Bri!
I wished I could tell her.

Zane reached the jump and took off a millisecond too late. He'd misjudged the speed and his closeness to the rails. Knees knocked on the plastic pole, and it tumbled to the ground as Zane cleared the lower rails and landed. I felt Bri's disappointment, but she eased Zane to a trot and patted his neck.

“Good ride, Bri!” I called. “You two looked great.”

The rest of my teammates chimed in with praise for Brielle. She smiled and dipped her head at us.

“Thanks, guys,” Brielle said when she was within speaking distance. “I tried to chase you, Cole, but I tried a little too hard.” She leaned down, hugging Zane's neck. “You, mister, were perfect. You did everything I asked. That was my fault.”

She started to cool him down, and Clare walked Fuego up to the starting point when Mr. Conner called her name. Pulling my bottom lip between my teeth, I waited for my turn while trying to keep nerves from settling into my stomach.

FINALLY IT WAS MY TURN.
I was the last to go. Clare had given a spotless ride but had the slowest time. Lexa had a clean ride and the third fastest time after Cole, who maintained his lead over everyone. Drew and Polo had knocked a rail in the triple combo but had a quick time. Carina and Rocco had been less than a second off Cole's time. I was proud of Cole for holding the lead over everyone.

I'm not going to focus solely on time,
I told myself.
I want a clean ride
and
a good time. But no rushing.

“Good luck, Lauren!” Drew said, giving me an encouraging smile.

“Kill it, Laur!” Lex cheered.

I halted Whisper just outside of the arena. She was the
youngest horse in the group and greener than the rest. I tightened my fingers on the reins and kept my legs loose against her sides. I didn't want Wisp to get a flying start, become excited, and then fight me to slow down and pay attention. I needed to start at a collected canter, and if she behaved, I'd feel out allowing her to quicken her pace.

Tweet!
Mr. Conner didn't give me another second to overthink things. I urged Whisper forward, and she sprang into a neat, steady canter.

Parfait!

I sat to Whisper's even canter and lifted myself just out of the saddle into the two-point position as I gave Whisper a bit of extra rein. She pushed off the ground, tucked her forelegs, and jumped over the first vertical. Red-and-white poles were behind us and they stayed in their cups. But I couldn't focus on that.

Cold wind nipped my face as I prepared for the second vertical—a little higher and with white-and-blue poles. I allowed Whisper to increase her speed a tiny bit, and her stride lengthened as we reached the second obstacle. Whisper cleared the vertical like a horse that had competed a million times. Not like the five-year-old greenie she was.

We flew over the fake shrubbery, and I let out the reins
more as we made a long, sweeping turn to face the fourth jump. I gave Whisper even more rein and watched as she kept an ear pointed in my direction and one ear forward.
Whew,
I thought.
She's paying attention to me and the course.
I had control of her, and the oxer was in front of us before I knew it. I hoped the extra speed would help Whisper clear the spread of the double oxer.

She dug her back hooves into the arena dirt and pushed hard off the ground. As she cleared the span of the jump, I couldn't help it—I smiled. This had to be the closest feeling to flying. I kept my eyes between Whisper's gray ears, looking ahead. Whisper unfolded her forelegs and landed with room to spare on the other side of the oxer.

Seven strides until the trickiest obstacle—the triple combination. The jumps weren't high, but there was only room for one stride in between each jump before we had to be in the air again. Timing was
everything
.

I collected Whisper, softening my hands and slowing her stride. I needed every ounce of her attention on me. Whisper tossed her head and tugged the reins against my hands. She was excited and didn't want to slow down.

Four strides away.

Wisp,
I tried to talk to her via ESP.
You have to listen. Slow down, girl.

I did a half halt and pushed my body into the saddle seat. Whisper kept her pace up, then started to slow. An ear twisted in my direction, and I had control again. A trickle of sweat rolled down my temple from under my helmet.

Whisper couldn't have waited one more second to listen. We were at the first third of the jump. I didn't give her too much rein as she pushed off the ground and landed safely on the other side. One stride later, I moved my hands just slightly up her neck and lifted out of the saddle. Whisper's timing was perfect—she lifted into the air, clearing the rails, and came down cleanly on the other side.

A second later I asked Whisper to launch into the air again to complete the triple combo. She followed my instructions and snapped her knees under her, pushing off the dirt and leaping into the air. Whisper landed and I held my breath, but all I heard were hoofbeats as we cantered away from the triple. No rails had fallen!

I was
très
proud of Wisp. She had gotten out of hand and pulled herself together, listened to me, and had completed a complicated triple as if she did them every day.

I kept her collected as we took the next vertical, faux stonewall, and another vertical. Whisper didn't ask
for more rein or lose interest between jumps. After the vertical, I gave Wisp a little rein and allowed her canter to quicken as we approached the second-to-last jump—a double oxer. This one had a wider spread than the first.

Whisper breathed rhythmically as she moved, and I kept my eye on the oxer. I let out the reins a bit more, and Whisper swished her tail with excitement as she moved into a faster canter. We were at the oxer, and I lifted out of the saddle as Whisper surged off the ground and soared over the space between the rails. She landed without coming close to the rail behind us and tore off toward the final vertical.

I trusted Whisper. She was at a near gallop, but it was controlled. Wisp hadn't stopped listening to me, and as long as she didn't forget about me, I wanted to give her a little freedom. Wind
whooshed
in my ears as we swept past Mr. Conner. The saddle seemed to disappear between us, and it felt as though we were one. I'd never felt closer to my horse before.

The vertical loomed tall in front of us as we approached it. A tiny flicker of fear was extinguished when Whisper gave a determined snort, and I knew she was going for it. She wanted to clear the jump.

Just as we'd started, with little time for me to
overthink things, there was no time to overanalyze the final jump.