Take the Reins (8 page)

“Not so fast,” I whispered. “Slow down.” I gave the reins a few short, sharp tugs, to try to slow his pace. Water jumps—or liverpools—were tricky. The fake water below often scared horses if they approached wrong.

I did a half-halt—pulling slightly on the reins while urging Charm forward with my seat. But he continued to barrel toward liverpool. He wasn't listening! If I didn't do something, he could injure a leg when he landed on the other side. With my forgotten gloves in the trailer, the reins cut into the skin between my thumb and finger. The only option was to ride
with
him instead of against him. We swept past the judges. My grip on the reins relaxed and I gave Charm his head to approach the jump as he wanted. I prayed we wouldn't knock the rail.

Hoofbeats thudded in my ears. My hands slid along Charm's neck as we approached the jump. His body lifted into the air, clearing the rail. He seemed to suspend over
the water. I took a gulp of air when his hooves hit the dirt. Thank God! His left front leg wobbled as he hit a soft patch and I held still to give him the room to correct his landing. Charm's back hooves landed centimeters away from the water line. He cantered to the final jumps.

We made it around the next few jumps without knocking down a rail or brushing a fence. Excitement bubbled inside me, as I focused on finishing the course.

The final obstacle was a rustic wooden rail with boxes of bright flowers on the sides. The flowers were meant to distract the horse and cause the horse to refuse the jump. Charm cantered vigorously toward the jump and surged over it. His hoof thudded against the rail and I twisted around to see the rail shudder in place before staying in the hold. Yes! I'd just tied with Julia! She was by the arena fence, talking furiously into her cell phone.

“Number 188,” the loudspeaker said. “Sasha Silver has a score of no faults.” I let out a whoop of excitement, dismounted, and led Charm out of the arena.

“Look at that, boy!” I said to Charm. “We cleared all of those jumps!” Charm flexed his neck, pawing the ground. Mom and Dad whistled from the stands.

And then it hit me: Julia and I were going head-to-head.

THE LAST RIDER FINISHED HIS ROUND. JULIA
and I stood on opposite sides of the ring, waiting to hear his score. “Number 196, Alex Walker, has scored zero faults,” the announcer said.

My heart pounded. It was official: Julia, Alex and I would compete in the jump-off. We'd have the same course, we'd be competing for the fastest time, and the rails would be raised in this round. The judges removed two verticals from the course. Our jumping order was determined randomly—Alex had the first slot, followed by Julia and then me.

I watched Alex's ride. His black gelding, Agent Ace, thundered over the jumps and Alex urged him into a slow gallop on the long turns. The final jump was the highest
of the course, but Alex and Ace soared over it. The crowed roared its approval.

“Final time for Alex Walker is fifty-nine seconds with no faults,” said the announcer.

Julia mounted Trix. She had to jump clean and beat Alex's time. A bell sounded. The bay mare seemed to have the course memorized. Julia's face never changed expression—she kept her eyes forward, always on the jump ahead of her. She urged Trix into a fast canter as they approached the final jump. Trix leapt into the air and at the last second, her shiny black hoof nicked the rail. The rail shook and looked as if it would bounce out of the holder and tumble into the dirt. Julia looked over her shoulder as the rail wobbled and then settled back into the hold. My stomach sank. Audience applause filled the ring and Julia pumped her fist in victory. That was going to be hard to beat.

“Time for Julia Myer is fifty-two seconds with no faults.”

Julia trotted over to me. “Are you really going to even
try
?”

Her face was half hidden by her black riding helmet. She had a few splotches of arena dirt on her nose. I ignored her and double-checked Charm's bell boots.

“Heather!” Julia called across the ring. Heather ran over and high-fived Julia. A red ribbon—second place—peeked out of her jacket pocket.

“Is that the new It look, Silver? A buzzed mane?” Heather asked, smirking.

Charm swung his hindquarters around so Heather got a lovely shot of chestnut rump. Before I could say a word, Julia and Heather linked arms and took Trix to the waiting area. Julia draped Trix in a sweat sheet and waited to watch my round.

I turned away from them, focusing all my attention on Charm. Glancing into the stands, I saw Callie waving a blue ribbon at me. She beat Heather in dressage! With a grin, I gave her a thumbs up before signaling Charm to enter the ring. Charm stepped up to the starting line and the bell sounded.

I pushed Charm into a fast canter as we cleared the first jump. He landed easily and huffed in excitement as he powered toward the second fence.

Charm slowed a notch and the oxer was soon behind us. He soared over the rails, the water jump and the in and out set. I urged him into a slow gallop on the long turn and we approached the final rail and the evil flower box. We hadn't knocked a rail yet, but I couldn't tell if our time
was faster than Julia's. Charm gathered himself before the final fence and we flew over it. His hooves pounded the dirt after the jump.

Leaning down, I rubbed his sweaty neck. “Way to go, boy!”

Charm trotted out of the ring. Julia and Alex led their horses beside Charm as we waited for my time.

“Nice ride,” Alex said as I dismounted.

I smiled at him. “Thanks! You, too.” At least the guys at St. Alexander's School for Boys seemed decent. But not as cute as Jacob.

No one spoke to Julia as she stared straight ahead and didn't look at any of us. The loudspeaker came on. We all held our breaths.

“Number 188, Sasha Silver.” Please, oh, please. “Time is fifty-five seconds with no faults.”

Cheers erupted from the ring. I'd lost by three seconds! I let out my breath and slumped against Charm's side. The only class at my first state show and I didn't win. Charm flicked back his ears, looking at me for reassurance, and I patted his neck. “It's okay, boy. You did great.” I knew it wasn't his fault. If I had worked harder on timing, we'd be taking that blue ribbon. We would have to practice more, or there was no way we'd make the advanced team.
I looked into the stands. Mom and Dad, standing in their seats, cheered as if I had won first place.

With a sigh, I led Charm over to Julia and tried to smile. “Congratulations,” I said. “It was a good round.”

“I don't need your congratulations,” Julia spat. Mr. Conner motioned Julia over to him and she headed off, leaving me alone.

“Charm, I'm so sorry,” I said to him. “We would have won if I'd practiced more.”

Charm watched me and nosed my arm. He didn't look as defeated as I felt.

“Your first show at this easy level and you didn't win,” Heather said. “Poor Sasha Silver from Briar Creek.” She reached past me and stroked Charm's buzzed mane. I held myself back from slapping her hand away. Instead, I led Charm away. I collected my red ribbon from the judge and pinned it on Charm's bridle. I consoled myself that Mom, Dad, and Callie had seemed thrilled that we'd gotten second place. Maybe they thought that's the best I could do.

“Aren't you going to go do a victory dance with Julia?” I asked Heather later while we waited for the horses in front of us to exit so we could leave.

“Why would I do that when I can stay here with you?” Heather asked, not even glancing in Julia's direction. I
looked at Heather's ribbon. “If you think it's because she won and I didn't, you're wrong. There were actually talented riders in
my
class.”

“So, what happened? Why aren't you with Julia, then?”

Heather kicked her boot into the arena dirt.

For a second, she had that same look as when she had fought with her father in the parking lot. I couldn't help feeling a surge of sympathy.

“I know it's tough sometimes,” I said. “But—”

“Do you think I need advice from
you
?” Heather interjected. “I have my own friends, so save it for someone else.” She walked right past Julia, who was posing for a photo with Mr. Conner, holding up her blue ribbon. That could have been Charm and me.

The horses in front of me separated and I led Charm out of the arena. We waited for my parents outside.

“Way to go, honey,” Dad said, squeezing my arm.

“Second place!” My mom enthused.

They were beaming with pride. I felt ungrateful, suddenly, and guilty about the way I'd reacted to their clothes. “I'm so glad you guys are here.”

We took our time walking to the trailers. I listened to Mom and Dad chatter about the way “Charm attacked that fence.”

“Want to grab a soda with us before you help Mr. Conner?” Dad asked.

“That sounds good,” I said. I was grateful to have a few more minutes before we had to say good-bye.

Mom seemed to sense my mood. “We'll be seeing you in a couple of weeks for Parents' Weekend,” Mom reminded me.

I nodded, but even that didn't make me feel much better. When Charm and I got back to Canterwood, we were going to practice. School and fun couldn't get in the way. This show was over. Now it was all about the advanced team. Charm and I had five weeks to work. If people thought I practiced hard before, they hadn't seen anything yet. I could balance good grades and practice like crazy.

It wasn't even a choice—I had to.

I ABSENTMINDEDLY STIRRED MY SODA WITH
my bendy straw and stared out the cafeteria window. A week had passed since the show and I was still feeling down.

Julia had gloated all week long about her blue ribbon. She brought it everywhere—to lunch, to practice—even to class. Callie was excited about her wins, too, even though she downplayed it for my benefit. Paige did her best to cheer me up. She'd even gotten permission from Livvie to make chocolate-chip pancakes this morning, since it was a Saturday. At least Parents' Weekend was a week away—thinking about showing Mom and Dad around campus gave me something else to focus on.

Charm was sad, too. He seemed listless in his stall and when I turned him out in the pasture, he ambled around
instead of taking his usual gallop up and down the fence. Charm wasn't used to losing.

I had to focus all of my energy on practicing for the advanced team testing before Thanksgiving break.

“Hey, Sasha.” Jacob slid into the empty seat next to me. He looked cuter than the last time I saw him—if that was possible.

“Hey, Jacob. Aren't we lucky that we got
Titanic
for our homework assignment?”

“Especially since
Gone with the Wind
is so long,” he said

We were trying to figure out who had seen more classic movies. Jacob had sworn he was the winner, but I had one-upped him when he had admitted he'd never seen
The Sound of Music.
Jacob stole a barbecue chip off my plate. “I'm having trouble with my paper, though.”

“Really?” I asked. “If you want any help…,”

“You wouldn't mind?” Jacob had no trace of a smile on his face. “I kind of suck at papers.”

“I could read what you have and give you some pointers,” I offered, trying to stay calm.

“That would be great!” A smile lit his face. “And, uh,” his voice cracked. “Maybe if you're not busy now, and you probably are, we could get ice cream. Or something. If you want.”

Color crept into my face. I fumbled around in my pocket for my lip gloss and tried not to make eye contact.
Say something
. “Sure,” I said, between yoga breaths.

We left the cafeteria and headed for the ice cream shop near the Canterwood Media Center.

“Have you had the initiation ice cream yet?” Jacob asked, looking at me as we ignored the “stay off the grass” signs and took a shortcut over the springy Canterwood lawn.

“What is that?” I asked. “It sounds kind of scary.”

“It sounds disgusting, but you have to try it.” His green eyes gleamed. “It's mint chocolate chip with caramel sauce—Canterwood's colors. It's really not that bad.”

“I'll try it,” I said, hoping I sounded adventurous.

When we reached the ice-cream shop, we stepped up to the counter.

“Two cones with mint chocolate chip ice cream and caramel sauce, please,” Jacob said to the server.

A few minutes later, we got our cones. “Cheers,” he said, tapping his cone to mine. I took a tiny bite.

“Wow, it's really good!” I said.

“Yeah, it just sounds gross,” Jacob said smiling. We left the shop and walked past the library. Soon, we ended up by the English building and our ice cream was long
gone. Neither of us had said a word for a few minutes. I pulled my sweater over my chilly fingers, trying to think of something interesting to talk about.

“Well,” I said. “Thanks for initiating me.”

“Anytime.” Jacob twisted the leather bracelet on his arm. “Do you want to come with me to the center to play video games?”

After my loss at the show, I probably should have been at the stables practicing, but taking a break for an hour was probably okay. And anyway, Charm was grazing outside and he deserved a rest.

“Sure,” I said, finally.

“Ever played before?” Our arms bumped together when I stepped on an uneven part of the sidewalk.

“You'll have to teach me,” I said.

The video game room was empty. “Is Super Smash Brothers Brawl okay?” Jacob asked.

“Sure, whatever you want.” I tried to figure out where to sit. Did I plop down on the floor with a pillow? Or perch on the couch with one leg crossed like Paige did? Jacob put the disc into the console and sat cross-legged on the floor. I sat a couple of feet away from him and mirrored his casual posture.

He handed me a white controller. “I'll teach you.” He
leaned over, so I could smell his sweet, minty breath, and arranged my fingers on the controller. My cheeks burned. Jacob Schwartz was touching me! A boy was touching my fingers! No more hand washing. Ever. An endless row of exclamation points shot through my brain.

Jacob turned on the TV and the game started. “First, pick a character,” he said. Jacob chose a setting for us to play. “Okay, your goal is to press the A and B buttons and knock me off the screen. Got it?”

I looked over at him and, for a second, our eyes met. The game clock counted down and on “Go!” we started to battle. Pressing every button, I maneuvered Yoshi around the screen and tried to look as if I knew what I was doing. I glanced at Jacob. It seemed like he didn't care if I was a good player or not. He just wanted to have fun.

With me.

After a while, we took a break to give our thumbs a rest. He handed me a slip of folded notebook paper.

I opened it.
GamerGuy.
“What's this?” I asked.

“It's my IM name,” he said. “So…maybe we can chat sometime.”

“Cool,” I said.

!!!!!!!!!!

I tore off a strip of paper from his note, wrote
SassySilver
and handed it to him. “That's mine.”

 

An hour later, practically floating, I headed for the exit and dialed Paige.

I squealed into the phone.

“Oh, my God, tell me!” Paige shrieked.

“It was amazing. We had ice cream and played video games.”

“You're so lucky,” Paige said with a sigh. “Why aren't there any cute boys in my cooking class?”

“We'll find you one,” I said. “See you in a bit.” I clicked the phone shut.

I stared at my fingers, half expecting them to glow or show some sign that Jacob had touched them. I went back to Winchester, waiting the whole way for my hands to glow.