Initiation (23 page)

“What happened?” Brielle asked.

“Whisper started responding to verbal cues again. She cantered when Mr. Conner said ‘canter,' and today she trotted when he said ‘trot.' Remember how she did that over the summer?”

“Right,” Brielle said. “You and Kim worked with her on that. She started up again?”

I rubbed my forehead. “Yes! And I don't even know
when
she's going to do it, and she'll catch me off guard every time. It throws off everyone's focus during the lesson. I don't know what to do.”

Bri was quiet for a moment. “Remember what you and Kim did together?”

“Kim called verbal commands and I made sure Whisper
waited for my signals and if she didn't, I held her to another gait.”

“Have you tried that?”

“Not in my lesson,” I said. “There are five other people who are there to learn.”

“What about someone from your class?”

I turned my head to look at Khloe. “Khlo, do you have any free time this week?”

“I thought you'd never ask,” Khloe said, clearly having eavesdropped the whole time. “Of course I'll help.”

I smiled at her and then turned back to the phone. “Thanks, Bri. That was a genius idea. I'm going to work with Whisper and kick that habit.”

“I know you can,” Brielle said. “You did it before. You know, I'm glad I called you.”

“Me too. So, what's going on at Yates?”

“Oh. My. God.
So
much. You won't believe it! So, Ana and Jeremy are, like, totally into each other. Seriously. It's PDA every five seconds! You'd be so grossed out. And plus, Will is . . .”

I let Brielle talk until she ran out of breath. Everything she said made me miss home and Yates. I wasn't there to see Ana and her first boyfriend. I wouldn't see Tay's swim meets. Brielle and I wouldn't be shopping together. The
three of us used to know every bit of school gossip. We were on the inside. Now, I was barely keeping my head above water.

Finally, I stopped Bri by saying I had a lot of homework to do, which
was
true. We hung up and I went back to work. This time, I was able to concentrate because I finally had a plan for Whisper.

I was
not
going to use my desk as a pillow tonight.

7:12 a.m.:
TGIT

It's only Thursday, but I'm grateful for that! This week has been so intense that I'm basically counting down the minutes until the end of classes tomorrow. I managed to finish all of my homework last night
and
I woke up early this morning with time to blog.

The two things I'm looking forward to the most today?

1.
Fashion class.

2.
Riding. Duh!

I've got a lesson and then K's going to help me with Whisper.

Oh! When I finished talking to B last night, K and I talked about what a long first week it had been. We decided to have a . . . wait for it . . . sleepover on Friday night. K volunteered to send e-vites today. The only bad part? We have to invite R. K
obviously wants C to come and we can't not ask R. Hopefully, she won't want to come and she'll say no. On the invite list: C, R, L, and J.

Posted by Lauren Towers

TWEEEET!

The whistle blew and I pushed off with my toes, diving into the pool. I slid into the cool water and began racing toward the opposite end of my lane. Today, Mr. Warren had us swimming relays. Through my goggles, I could see Riley in the lane next to mine, matching me stroke for stroke.

I squeezed my eyes shut so I'd stop looking at her and pushed myself, my lungs burning. I kicked harder and after two more strokes, I opened my eyes. My fingertips touched the end of the pool and I lifted my head, breathing hard. Next to me, Riley yanked off her goggles.

“Excellent, everyone,” Mr. Warren said. “Lauren, you reached the end just a second before Riley, followed by Drew Adams.”

I grinned.

Riley traced the top of the water with her fingertips. “Wow, good one. Maybe you should switch to the swim team instead of riding, LT. You're definitely a better swimmer than you are an equestrian.”

“Maybe I should do both, Riley. I'll think about it!” I smiled at her and swam to the stairs to get out of the water. The swim had loosened my muscles and it had taken tension out of my shoulders. I'd been thinking about this afternoon—riding with Khloe—all day. I felt a little nervous. Khloe was on the advanced team. I wasn't. She didn't know about my show circuit past, championship titles, or my accident. I wanted her to see me as a good rider. A feeling I hadn't felt in a
very
long time bubbled at the surface:
competitiveness.

But I knew better than to be competitive with Khloe
.
She was my roommate and fast becoming a good friend. Sometimes, though, I couldn't think about her riding on the advanced team—doing dressage moves that I'd used to do every day. Moves that, now, I couldn't let anyone see.

AT THE STABLE KHLOE HEADED TO EVER'S
stall while I went to change. I almost rounded the corner when hearing sniffling. I stopped. I didn't want to intrude on whoever was upset.

“I love him so much,” a girl's voice whispered. “I want to be there for him.”

It took one moment, but then the familiar voice eventually registered.
Riley
.

She murmured one last thing I couldn't make out, then moved, her boots tapping on the concrete. I left quickly, but we saw each other anyway.

Riley looked at me, mascara smudged around her eyes. “What?” she accused.

“Just heading to the bathroom to change,” I said, trying to be cool.

But once I was all dressed, I couldn't stop wondering what—or who—she'd been talking about.

Riley definitely had a secret.

After our riding lessons, Khloe and I met at the small arena behind the stable. We were both on foot, leading our horses with one hand and sipping sodas with the other.

“Thanks again for offering to help,” I said. “I totally owe you a trip to The Slice.”

Khloe took a long sip of Diet Orange Zest and nodded. “You do. I think I'll take you up on that tonight.”

“Sounds good to me. I'm dying for pizza and the restaurant sounds cute.”

“It is. Plus, their pizza is so good. You'll never want Pizza Hut again.”

We walked the horses through the entrance and stopped at the fence. Khloe and I climbed it, sitting on the top rail next to each other. Khloe put Ever's reins over the mare's head and let go.

“Aren't you afraid she'll wander away?” I asked.

“Nah,” Khloe said. “She always stays nearby.”

Khloe was right. Ever took a few steps to inspect a
yellow and black butterfly, reaching her black muzzle toward it. The butterfly flew away, toward the setting sun, and Khloe and I smiled as Ever ambled back over and nuzzled Whisper.

I took a sip of my orange soda and loosened my hold on Whisper's reins so she could reach Ever. I loved her so much and she'd been
perfect
in today's lesson, but I couldn't wait until we had a relationship like Khloe and Ever's. One of complete trust and an unbreakable connection with the other. I wanted to let Whisper loose, too, but I didn't know if the mare would head for the arena's exit.

We finished our sodas and tossed them in the trash can behind us. The temperature had cooled in the twenty something minutes we'd sat on the fence. Both horses swished their tails, standing together.

“How was your lesson?” Khloe asked, swinging her legs back and forth.

“Great,” I said. “We did flatwork—exercises like spirals and serpentines. Mr. Conner said we're going to spend the rest of the week taking it easy to get the horses used to daily lessons. Next week, we're starting normal classes.” I grinned. “Jumping and dressage. I can't wait to work though dressage with Whisper.”

“I bet,” Khloe said. “I feel the same way. Mr. Conner's making us ease into lessons. Ever's probably missing dres-sage as much as I am.”

“I can't wait to see you two in the dressage arena,” I said. “I'd like to come watch your lesson sometime, if that's okay.”

Khloe smiled. “I'd love that. I wish we were in the same class, but at least we can watch each other ride sometimes. We should practice together during the weekends, if you want.”

The competitive vibe I'd felt pulsing through my body evaporated. Khloe wasn't competition. She was my friend and roommate. I was embarrassed that I'd even felt the slightest bit of competitiveness when I thought about riding with her. Khloe was here, offering to help, and I just knew she wasn't looking at me as a rider beneath her.

I looked at our horses, blowing into each other's muzzles. I wanted to be honest with her. But I couldn't. Not yet.

“We definitely have to ride together,” I said. “I'd love that. We should trail ride this weekend.”

“And invite Cole and Lexa. It would be the perfect ending to our sleepover.”

“Did you get RSVPs yet?” I crossed my fingers that Riley had said no.

“Everyone texted me back a yes,” Khloe answered. “Including Lady Edwards.”

We exchanged looks.

“Maybe she'll be nice since we extended an invite to her. Lexa, Clare, and Jill will be there, so at least we won't be alone with her.”

Khloe hopped off the fence, her boots making a small puff of dust when she landed. “I
doubt
she'll be nice, but you're right—it won't just be the three of us. It's worth inviting her to have Clare over.”

Khloe put on her helmet, and I got off the fence and did the same. Khloe didn't like talking about Clare and Riley. I wondered if it made her sad that her bestie friend was best friends with someone she couldn't stand.

“I was thinking that we could do the same exercises you did with Whisper over the summer,” Khloe said.

“Sounds great. I'm ready.”

We mounted and Khloe moved Ever to the center of the arena. “I'm going to keep her still and call out instructions like I'm Mr. Conner. I'll ride with you after a while.”

“Good idea. I think riding with us is smart—it'll add pressure to Whisper. Plus, she's never worked with Ever before.”

“Exactly. Sometimes I'm going to give commands
with a different inflection in my voice like I'm talking to Whisper.”

“Perfect, Khloe.”

I walked Whisper to the edge of the arena. She was already warmed up and loose from our lesson earlier.

“Trot,” Khloe said. She used a tone as if she was lunging a horse—her word had an edge of command to it.

Whisper didn't respond to Khloe. She walked until I squeezed my legs tighter against her sides. I posted, rising and falling with her shoulder.

“Canter,” Khloe said.