Rival Revenge (17 page)

PHOTO OP

ON SATURDAY MORNING, PAIGE AND I LEFT
Winchester together. We'd woken up early because we both had a zillion things to do.

“Have a good ride,” she said.

“Thanks, and have fun with Geena,” I said. “Whatever you decide to make, I hope it's something that involves chocolate.”

Paige grinned. “That could be arranged.”

We split up and I hurried to the stable. Charm and I needed a solid workout. There were only days before the tape, and we had to practice hard. Like, crazy hard.

I grabbed Charm's tack and took it to his stall.

“Hi, boy,” I said, smiling at him as I unlatched the stall door.

Charm pricked his ears and walked up to me. I hugged his neck and clipped a lead line to his halter.

“Let's get you sparkling and then we'll work,” I said.

I reached into Charm's tack box and pulled out a hoof pick. I cradled his right hoof in my hand and picked out the muck and dirt. After all four hooves were done, I brushed him and tacked him up.

Hoofbeats clattered down the aisle and I saw Julia and Alison lead Trix and Sunstruck toward me. I unclipped the crossties so they could pass through the aisle.

“Hey,” I said. “What're you guys doing?”

“We're taking them for a jog on the trails,” Alison said. “Sunstruck needed to get out of his stall and I actually thought he'd rather spend time with me than be ridden by Mike.”

“I'm sure,” I said. “Mike's not you or Julia, so I'm sure Trix and Sunstruck are glad just to be with you guys no matter what you're doing.”

Julia patted her bay mare's neck. “She hasn't lost any of her muscle tone, thanks to Mike. And I know us hand walking them isn't enough, but we just wanted to hang out with them today.”

I waved my hand. “You don't have to explain wanting to chill with your horse to me. I get it.”

Alison smiled. “Yeah, you and Charm definitely have a bond.”

The girls waved and walked away. For a second, I wondered if they'd ride once they got far enough away from the stable, but I knew they wouldn't. That would be it for them if they got caught riding
and
without helmets.

I was just glad—even though the situation was awful—that they were able to spend time with their horses.

I put on my helmet and led Charm to the indoor arena. I started to stick my foot in the stirrup, but the camera caught my eye. Hmmm … I could tape a lesson to see how I looked. Then, I'd be able to see for myself what I needed to work on. For a second, I wondered if Mr. Conner would care that I was using the camera, but then I decided he wouldn't mind since I wasn't taking it out of the arena.

I led Charm over to the camera and found the button to turn it on. I mounted and started warming up. Charm was ready to go today—he walked briskly for a few strides before tossing his head and begging for more rein. I couldn't help but smile at his energy. Charm was trotting over ground poles when Jasmine and Phoenix entered the arena. Jas halted the gray, yanking on the reins and halting him by the entrance. She mounted and started him toward us.

No matter what she said—I wasn't going to let her intimidate me out of the arena. I was staying.

“Awww, look,” Jas said. “It's Fainting Sasha. Should I stay close in case you start to see spots and fall off?”

“You wouldn't be able to keep up to stay with us,” I said. I turned away from her and let Charm into a canter to stretch his legs. His gait was smooth and I didn't bounce in the saddle at all. We made two laps around the arena, passing Jasmine who was still warming up Phoenix at a trot by taking him through figure eights.

I slowed Charm to a walk and thought about areas where we most needed improvement—definitely dressage—and using the camera to critique my moves was the perfect use for it.

I urged Charm to collect his trot. He raised his head and neck, which put more pressure on his hindquarters. His strides became shorter, just like I wanted, and I could feel him pushing more with his back legs.

After a few laps around the area, I slowed him and patted his neck. “Nice,” I said. “Now we're going to switch to an extended trot in a sec.”

I wanted to give Charm a break and transition him from collection to extension, so I trotted him without being collected for a few laps, then asked him to extend
his trot. This time, Charm dropped his head and neck. He extended his stride and I smiled, but stayed focused. He was doing great even though dressage was our toughest area. But Charm felt smooth as we moved around the arena. I caught Jasmine looking at us once or twice as we practiced.

She was working with Phoenix on circles and transitions. I loved how even the gray moved, and he seemed to know what Jasmine wanted before she even asked him. They were an amazing pair—if only she realized what a great horse she had. If she did, they'd be unstoppable.

Jas and I practiced for an hour before I felt I'd put Charm through enough dressage work. I let him walk in lazy circles for a few minutes, then halted him. I did a few stretches in the saddle and when I sat up from touching my right boot toe, Jasmine was stopped next to me.

“What?” I asked.

“That's all you're going to do?” Jas said, shaking her head. “Stretches? I guess Mr. Conner's announcement that our first show was a schooling show made you feel pretty confident that you'd do well.”

“It
is
a schooling show. And why do you think stretches mean I'm confident? That makes no sense.”

Jas laughed. “Maybe you're not confident—I was
wrong. I meant to say that you're finally realizing you have no chance of staying on the YENT and you're just resigned to doing the ‘best' you can, which isn't even close to enough.”

“You don't know anything. I'm staying on the YENT and I'm going to impress Mr. Conner and Mr. Nicholson at the show.”

Jas dropped the reins and folded her arms, smirking. “You're not as stupid as I thought you were. So you get that it was a test—the whole ‘schooling show' thing. No one else is going to practice crazy hard and they're all going to look pathetic next to me. You can practice as much as you want, but it won't help.”

“Jas, seriously.
What
is your deal? Why don't you just go back to Wellington already?” I asked. “Doesn't this ever get old for you?”

Charm tensed beneath me, sensing the anger in my voice.

Jas edged Phoenix closer. “You really should be nicer to me. Grateful, actually.”

I rolled my eyes. “Grateful? Please. For what?”

“You just should be.” Jas's eyes were on mine.

“Whatever. Like I believe anything you say. I've got no reason to be grateful to you for anything.”

Jas smiled, but it wasn't a happy smile. It was scary and the look on her face almost made me walk Charm right out of the arena.

“Fine,” Jas said. “Believe whatever you want. But I helped you more than you'll ever know.”

“Then if it's so amazing, tell me. You'd never keep it to yourself, so spill. Unless this entire thing is a bluff.”

Jas lifted her chin. “Julia and Alison would
wish
what I'd been hinting at was a bluff.”

I kept my eyes on Jasmine.

“They didn't cheat.” Jasmine didn't even lower her voice. “I stole papers from them and studied their handwriting. I made the cheat sheets and planted them while they were too busy gossiping about whatever boy drama was going down in Blackwell.”

My brain raced as I tried to figure out how to keep her talking, without being too obvious.

“So you did that to them,” I said. “You caused Julia and Alison to lose their dreams—their shot at the YENT. And you seem so proud of it.”

“I am,” Jas said, smiling. “They didn't deserve the YENT. Heather was lucky I didn't have a chance to do the same to her, but I'll still get her.”

There wasn't a hint of doubt in Jasmine's voice or on
her face. She believed she ruled the school and could do whatever she wanted.

“You wish,” I said. “Heather's so much smarter than
you.
Even if I don't tell her, she'll figure it out and come after you.”

Jasmine laughed. “Oh, Sasha. You're still
so
Union. It's just your word against mine. And who's going to believe the girl who's so overtired she blacks out on her horse?”

Jasmine dismounted, loosened Phoenix's girth and led him out of the arena.

I sat in Charm's saddle, trying to figure out exactly what to do. Breathing would be a good first step. I sucked in air—still shocked at what had just happened.

I looked over at the camera, something I'd been trying hard not to do ever since Jas began her arrogant confessional. The red light was still on.

UNWANTED THOUGHTS

AFTER TEN MINUTES OF LEADING CHARM IN
circles to cool him out, I walked over to the camera. I stared at it, then turned it off. I started to reach for the button to pop out the mini-DVD, but something stopped me. This was up to Julia and Alison now.

I turned off the camera and led Charm to his stall. Inside my wooden tack trunk, I found my phone.

If u want 2 get back on team, take DVD from arena camera. Now.

I sent the text to both Julia and Alison.

I'd just given them everything they needed to clear their names.

Dazed, I brushed Charm, mucked his stall, and gave him hay. My head was swirling from what I'd just heard. I
couldn't even begin to think about what was going to happen to Jasmine. She was off the YENT for sure.

“See you tomorrow, boy,” I said, kissing Charm's muzzle.

I left him in his stall and started toward Winchester. When I reached the courtyard, I stopped and sat on one of the stone benches. The place was deserted. Everyone was probably heading to dinner or holed up in their rooms doing homework. I listened to the water trickle from the fountain and couldn't stop the flood of thoughts about everything that had happened this week.

Eric and I were broken up. We'd never get back together.

Jacob liked me, but was staying with Callie because he'd promised he would, to spare her feelings at my request.

Paige and I were getting our BFF vibe back, but it was still kind of weird.

The Trio and I had a sort-of-alliance.

And I'd lost my other BFF, Callie, forever.

I looked up from my lap and saw an image of Jacob standing in the spot he'd been in when he'd asked me to give him another chance. That moment last spring felt as if it was replaying right now in front of me. His green eyes had never been so intense and there was emotion behind
every word. He'd been sorry about how he knew it would hurt Callie's feelings if he left her for me, but he couldn't stop himself from telling me how he felt.

I can't stop thinking about you
.

That's what he'd said. And I couldn't get it out of my brain. I wanted to. I knew I needed to be on my own and I wanted Callie and Jacob to stay together. But every time I thought about Jacob …

But then I saw Callie's face at my birthday party when I'd told her I'd been wanting Jacob back for a long time and had tried to kiss him. I'd never seen someone look so betrayed. The look on Callie's face had made me want to sink onto the floor of the Winchester common room and never get up. I thought about the pain on her face every day since it had happened and couldn't stop the twisting of my chest whenever I thought about that night.

I started to get up and leave, but instead I leaned back against the bench. It had been such a crazy week that I needed a few more minutes just to breathe. Every time I thought about my party, it almost made me freeze. I couldn't process what felt like thousands of images that flashed in front of me from that night. It had been one of the worst days of my life. But I'd done what I had to
do and I wouldn't change anything I'd done that night. Things were awful now, but I was still here. Still on the YENT. Still doing well in my classes. I had to stop thinking that there was any way I'd repair any of the relationships I'd destroyed. They were over. I had to keep going.