Rival Revenge (14 page)

“Thanks,” I said. I sipped it and the bubbles made my stomach feel better.

“I promise that I'm okay,” I said to Mr. Conner. “Really, I was feeling sick before the lesson and I shouldn't have ridden, but I did. Is Charm okay? Where is he?” I looked around and Doug held Phoenix and Aristocrat by the exit, but Charm was gone.

“Mike took him to cool him out and put him away,” Mr. Conner said. “He's completely fine.”

Phew. At least Charm wasn't hurt because I'd been dumb enough to ride when I'd been sick.

“The nurse is expecting Sasha,” Heather said, closing her phone. “I can walk her over when she's ready.”

I didn't have time to see the nurse. There were a million things to do on my list. “I don't need to see the nurse,” I said. I started to stand and Mr. Conner grabbed my elbow, helping me up.

“Sasha,” he said, frowning. “This isn't optional. Either I'll walk you over or Heather will.”

“I'm—” I started to protest, but the look on his face told me I had no choice.

“Let's go,” Heather said. “Do you want to sit at the stable for a while or go over now?”

Ugh! She wasn't going to let me out of this either.

“Let's go now,” I grumbled. I took a couple of steps and the spots faded. I took another drink and Heather walked close to me, like she was afraid I was going to faint again. “I'm fine, really.”

“If you're gonna pass out, at least aim for the grass and not the sidewalk,” Heather said. “I'm not catching you.”

That made me smile. “Deal.” At least it had stopped raining when we stepped outside—everything was slick and the sky was still gray.

Heather and I walked down the sidewalk to the infirmary. Heather pulled open the door for me and pointed to a hard plastic chair. “Sit. You're walking at snail speed, so let me go sign you in.”

I rolled my eyes, but sat down. Heather actually cared. Just a tiny bit.

Heather told the receptionist I was here, then sat beside me.

“You can go,” I said. “I'm
fine
.”

Heather pulled out her phone and started texting. “Like I
want
to be here? But if I leave and you pass out in your chair or something, Mr. Conner will blame me. So shut up and just sit there, fainter.”

We waited for a few minutes before a nurse in blue scrubs walked over with a chart in her hand. “Sasha, come with me and we'll get you checked out.”

“Okay.” I got up and looked back at Heather.

She sighed. “I'm staying till you get back. Get over it.”

I hid my smile and followed the nurse. I already felt so much better in the AC and the soda had made my stomach less queasy.

She took my height, weight, blood pressure, and all of that normal stuff. She asked me a ton of questions about what I'd been eating, drinking, and what my schedule had been like. After a few more tests, she finished marking on her chart and looked up at me.

“You're suffering from mild dehydration and exhaustion,” she said. “I want you to go back to your dorm room
and slowly drink a few glasses of water. And rest. I'm going to give you an excuse from classes tomorrow. You need a day to recover. Keep drinking fluids. That should make you feel better. And if there are ways for you to slow down your schedule, please try.”

“Okay,” I said. “But can I go to my riding lesson tomorrow? I really can't miss it.”

The nurse shook her head. “I don't think that's wise. I want you to rest the
entire
day. If you still feel dizzy tomorrow, you need to come back, all right?”

“I will,” I said. “Thanks.”

The nurse wrote something in illegible handwriting
and handed me a tiny slip of paper. “Give that to the receptionist for your excuse from classes. Feel better and please call us if you don't.”

I smiled at her and walked out of the room. I opened the door to the waiting room and saw Heather still sitting where I'd left her. And pacing by the door was Jacob.

His hands were jammed in his front pockets and his eyebrows were pushed together. He and Heather both looked up at me at the same second.

“Sasha,” Jacob said, walking over to me. “I heard that you fainted. Are you okay? What's wrong?”

Heather was off her chair and between us in two
strides. “Calm down, Jacob. God, you're going to make her faint just by being in her face.”

“I'm
fine
,” I said, trying not to look at Jacob and just concentrating on Heather. “Just mild exhaustion and I need to drink water or something.”

I stepped around them and handed the note to the receptionist.

“You sure?” Jacob asked, his green eyes moving back and forth over my face.

“I'm sure.”

The receptionist handed me back a note. “You're excused from all classes tomorrow,” she said. “Take it easy.”

I smiled my thanks and Heather, still between Jacob and me, turned to him. “You can go now,” she said. “Sasha's okay.”

Jacob didn't want to leave. I could see it in his face.
“I … hope you feel better, Sash. You can always text—”

I shook my head. We both knew better. His eyes lingered on my face for a second, then he walked out of the infirmary.

Heather looked at me with a knowing glance, but didn't say anything. “I'll walk you back to Winchester,” she said.

I'M FINE.SERIOUSLY!

When Heather left me at the steps of
Winchester, Livvie was there and waiting. She took my arm and led me into her office.

“Sasha,” Livvie said. Lines of worry showed on her forehead and she looked stressed. She held my arm as I sat down and then went to sit behind her desk. “I got a call from the infirmary that you fainted during your lesson. How are you feeling now?”

“Much better,” I said. “I didn't drink enough water and I was overtired. But I'm going to rest and I'll be fine.”

“Well, I'm going to make sure dinner is delivered to your room tonight. I'll check on you tomorrow since you're excused from classes,” Livvie said.

“Thanks,” I said.

“Let me know if you need anything,” Livvie said. “You okay to walk to your room?”

“Absolutely,” I said. “I'm great, really.”

I smiled and left her office. My stride slowed as I approached my dorm room. Okay, okay. I still felt a little wobbly. But I was being ridiculous—I needed to pull it together. I put my hand on the doorknob and before I could even turn it halfway, the door flew open and Paige stood there, staring at me.

“Omigod, Sasha!” She hugged me carefully and took my arm to lead me over to sit on my desk chair. “I got a text from Nicole that she heard you fainted. I called you a zillion times and you never answered. Then I called the infirmary and they wouldn't tell me anything—something dumb about patient confidentiality.”

“I'm so sorry I didn't call,” I said. “My phone's back in the stable. I left everything there and went right to the infirmary. Heather actually walked me to the nurse and she stayed with me until I was released.”

Paige sat at her own desk chair and scooted it closer to me. “Heather? Wow. You must have really freaked her out when you fainted. I'm sorry I wasn't there.”

I leaned back in my chair, swiveling it a little. “It's not your fault. And she was pretty cool about the whole thing.”

“What do you need? Can I make you something to eat or get you anything?” Paige asked.

“No,” I said. “Thanks. I got excused from all of my classes tomorrow and I didn't even need it. But whatever—I'll take it.”

Paige nodded at my bookcase. “You can actually relax and spend the whole day reading the new books you got over the summer. And you can watch E! all day. You know they'll have marathons of something amazing. I'll be texting you whenever I can to make sure you're okay. And we can have a quiet night tonight. A movie or something and we can go to bed early.”

“That sounds perfect,” I said. “I love that idea. I'm going to shower and get into cozy pj's. You pick the movie, okay?”

Paige nodded. “Will do.”

When I emerged from the shower, I towel-dried my hair and braided it. I just didn't feel up to blow-drying it, and who cared since I wasn't going to class tomorrow.

I got on top of my comforter and covered up with my snuggly blanket.

“I narrowed it down to two comedies,” Paige said. She held up the DVD boxes. “Preference?”

I covered a yawn. “Either one is great.”

“I'll surprise you, then,” Paige said. She put in the DVD and before she could press play, someone knocked on our door.

Paige opened it and Nicole, one of my friends from the stable, peered inside, looking at me with wide eyes.

“Oh, Sasha,” she said. “Are you okay?”

I knew everyone was just asking because they cared, but if one more person asked me if I was fine …

“I'm great,” I said. “Paige and I are going to watch a movie, Livvie's bringing dinner later, and I'm going to sleep it off.”

“Good,” Nicole said, her blond curls falling around her face as she nodded. She handed a bag to Paige. “I grabbed your stuff from the stable,” she said to me. “Your phone's in there—I know I wouldn't want to be without mine for a night.”

“Me either,” I said. “Thanks.”

“I'm going to go so you can rest,” Nicole said. “Text me if you need anything.”

“I will,” I said. “Bye.”

Paige and I waved her out the door. Paige got settled on her own bed and before the previews had even finished, I fell asleep.

DISMOUNT.
NOW
.

WHEN PAIGE'S ALARM CLOCK WENT OFF THE
next morning, I started to jump out of bed. But then I remembered that I'd been excused from classes for the day. I dozed on and off as Paige got dressed and ready for class.

Paige picked up her bag and books. “I'll text you later.
Rest
today, please.” She stared me down. That was the
You better listen or else
Paige look.

“I will, I will! Don't worry.”

Paige left and I did rest. For five minutes—until I was sure she was away from Winchester and on her way to class.

I pulled on my riding clothes and stuck my head into the hallway. It was empty. Everyone was in class. I tiptoed
down the hallway, knowing I had to sneak by Livvie's office. I stopped by her doorway and, holding my breath, listened to see what she was doing.

“Of course I'll e-mail that spreadsheet,” I heard Livvie say. “Let me check my files.”

I heard her metal cabinet door open and knew she wasn't facing the door. I peeked, just to make sure, and Livvie was shuffling through papers, her back to me. I hurried by and pushed open the door out of Winchester. When it closed quietly behind me, I knew I'd made it. I probably had at least a couple of hours before Livvie came to check on me.

I walked on the far edge of campus, away from the main buildings and sidewalks so I wouldn't run into anyone. When I got to the stable, I entered through the side door and checked the whiteboard near Mr. Conner's office. It said he was at a meeting until nine, and while he was gone, Mike was in charge.

Perfect. If I ran into Mike, I could come up with some excuse why I was riding in the morning by myself. He probably didn't know that the nurse had told me to rest today.

I gathered Charm's tack and headed for his stall. I left his tack on top of his trunk and picked up Charm's tack box.

“Hi, boy,” I said, entering his stall.

With a mouthful of hay, Charm looked up at me, looking a little surprised to see me at this time of the day. Usually, I was in class.

“I know, I'm supposed to be taking it easy, but I'd go crazy if I had to rest
all
day,” I told him. I hugged Charm and then started grooming him in his stall. “I know I need to practice and just thinking about not riding made me nervous.”