The A Circuit 04- Rein It In (14 page)

Kate glanced up with a frown. “Easy for you to say,” she snapped. “If I ever want to go to another show, I need to keep my grades up.”

Zara raised both eyebrows, startled by the bite in Kate’s voice.
So
not like her. Usually the girl was too nice and polite for her own good.

“Whoa,” Zara said. “Sorry, I was just kidding around. But seriously, what’s the big deal? You’ve got all week to study.”

“Not really.” Kate shook her head. “I mean, I’m still behind from Cap Challenge, and if I don’t catch up by the time we get back, my teachers are going to start calling my parents.”

“Yeah?” Zara still didn’t get it. “So they’ll understand, right? Indoors only happens once a year, and it’s a big deal.”

“Not to my parents,” Kate countered. “It’s practically a miracle they even let me come to this one. All they need is an
excuse, any excuse at all, and they’ll make me skip the rest of the shows.”

“Wow.” If someone like Marissa or Dani or even Tommi had said the exact same thing, Zara would have assumed she was exaggerating. Kate could be sort of melodramatic at times, but Zara could tell that this time, she was deadly serious. “So your parents are pretty hardcore, huh?”

“They think school is, like, super important.” Kate played with the corner of her textbook, her long blond hair falling forward to hide her face. “They don’t get the horse thing at all.”

“Gotcha.” Zara flopped down on the bed next to her. “Then listen, it’s lucky you know me. I’m probably the world’s number-one expert at hiding bad grades—and all kinds of other stuff—from parents. I can help you.”

Kate looked dubious. “You can?”

“Sure. This one time a couple of years ago I was totally flunking out of math class, and I managed to keep my parents from ever finding out.”

“Really? How’d you do that?”

Zara shrugged. “Well, my dad was easy. He was touring in Australia at the time,” she said. “And of course I just deleted all the e-mails my teacher sent before my parents could get them.”

“Of course.” Kate looked a little shocked.

“Yeah,” Zara said. “And luckily this happened right when all the Oscar buzz was starting up, and I told my mom I overheard some people saying she was a shoo-in for Best Supporting Actress for some dumb-ass spy thriller she had out that year. She forgot I existed for the next two or three weeks, and by then I’d brought the grade up again.”

Kate smiled faintly. “Um, I don’t think the Oscar-buzz thing is going to work on my parents.”

“Good point.” Zara rubbed her chin. “Okay, then there was the time I should’ve gotten in huge trouble for appearing in this skanky tabloid in, let’s just say, not as many clothes as I should’ve had on.”

This time Kate actually laughed. “Wow,” she said. “Um, I’m thinking I wouldn’t have to worry about that one, because if my parents saw something like that they’d both have heart attacks and die.”

Kate actually looked a bit more cheerful. Zara grinned. Hey, at least her wild-child past was good for something.

Zara had left the door ajar when she entered. Now it swung open and Fitz peeked in. “Hey,” he said. “Everybody decent in there?”

“No, but it’s cool. Come on in,” Zara called.

She saw Kate look over at Fitz, her whole face sort of lighting up when she saw him. Cute.

“Did you guys hear about the party in thirty-seven?” Fitz hurried in and dropped a kiss on top of Kate’s head.

“Yeah. I was just trying to talk your girlfriend into going,” Zara said. “She’s not buying it from me, but maybe your hunky manliness will change her mind.”

Fitz grinned and flexed. “I’ll try,” he said in a fake deep voice.

Kate laughed. “Seriously, you guys.” She brushed her hair out of her face. “I should study.”

She didn’t sound quite as convinced as before. Zara glanced at Fitz. “You grab her left arm, I’ve got the other one.”

“Cool.” Fitz caught Kate by the wrist and tugged gently.
“Come on, gorgeous. We’ll just go for a little while, and if it’s lame, we’ll leave.”

“But …” Kate hesitated, glancing at her schoolbooks.

Zara gave a yank on Kate’s arm. “We’re not taking no for an answer,” she said. “Look, would it help if I promised to help with your homework tomorrow?”

“You?” Fitz looked skeptical. “Um, last I heard you weren’t exactly an academic superstar.”

Zara stuck out her tongue at him. “Says who? I could be a genius if I wanted to.”

Kate laughed, finally allowing them to pull her off the bed. “Fine, shut up, I’ll go. But only for a few minutes.”

Zara grinned triumphantly. “Awesome! Now hurry, let’s get up there before Dani drinks all the beer.”

Chapter Eleven

An hour later, the party was in full swing. Tommi had found herself a seat on the AC unit under the window, where she was listening without much interest as Marissa and some girl from Ohio whose name she’d forgotten argued over some stupid TV show Tommi had never seen. The hotel room was stuffy and overly warm, laced with the scents of sweat and beer. People were crammed into every corner of the place—it seemed as if every junior attending Harrisburg had turned up. A guy was digging through the minibar, tossing tiny bottles of alcohol, cans of soda, and bags of peanuts at any cute girl who walked past. A couple was making out on one of the beds as if they were the only ones in the room. Several girls were dancing on the other bed, occasionally falling off to raucous laughter. The music was loud enough that Tommi couldn’t believe the other hotel guests hadn’t complained yet.

“This is great, isn’t it?” Marissa shouted into her ear.

Tommi forced a smile. “Sure,” she said. “But I think I should—”

Marissa had already turned away to shout something at the other girl. A second later she jumped to her feet.

“Need another beer?” she asked Tommi.

Tommi shook her head and held up her bottle, which was still at least two-thirds full. She wasn’t in the mood for getting drunk tonight. Not with the Large Juniors starting tomorrow. For some reason Toccata always seemed to find the ring at Harrisburg particularly distracting, and Tommi would need to be on her toes. Besides that, she meant what she’d said about wanting to get on Fable early. Her test ride that afternoon had gone pretty well, but “pretty well” wouldn’t take her far in the eq finals. If she was going to compete, she wanted to be ready to do her best.

The girl from Ohio was chattering to some guy who’d just wandered over. Marissa danced off toward the bathroom, where beer was chilling in the tub. Left alone, Tommi sneaked a peek at her watch, thinking about calling it a night.

She glanced at the door, trying to estimate the best path through the hordes of partying juniors. At that moment it swung open and three more people came in. One of them was Scott Papadakis.

Suddenly Tommi felt a lot more interested in the party. She watched as Scott traded high fives with a few of the other partiers and stopped to chat with a cluster of girls near the TV. Halfway to the bathroom door, he noticed Tommi watching him.

He stopped short and leaned over to say something to his friends. They both turned and stared at Tommi with interest. Then Scott peeled off and came toward her.

“Hey,” he said when he reached her. “What’s up, Tommi?”

“Not much.” She took a sip of her beer. “Quite a party, huh?”

“Yeah.” He grinned and glanced around. “Hard to believe half of these people have to be on a horse at, like, eight a.m. for the Small Juniors.”

Tommi nodded, shooting a look at Zara, who was one of those people. She was huddled with a couple of other girls between the beds, gesturing dramatically with both hands as she talked.

“Are you doing hunters tomorrow?” Tommi asked, turning her attention back to Scott.

“Uh-huh, but mine’s a large. I can sleep in.” Scott turned his head as someone shouted his name. A second later a beer bottle came whizzing at his head. He lifted a hand just in time to catch it. “Thanks, dude!” he shouted to someone across the room.

Tommi couldn’t help noticing the way his muscles flexed as he untwisted the cap. “Bummer for you,” she said. “I’m doing the Larges, too. Hope you didn’t have your heart set on another championship, because it’s not going to happen.”

“Oh yeah?” He took a swig, then grinned and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. “Dream on. But hey, at least losing to me tomorrow will give you practice for losing to me again on Sunday.”

“Guess again,” Tommi retorted. “In case you haven’t heard, my new eq horse is going to blow the socks off all the other nags here.”

“In case
you
haven’t heard, eq’s judged on the rider, not the horse.” Scott blinked. “But wait—
new
eq horse?” He sounded interested. “What do you mean?”

Tommi quickly filled him in on Orion’s abscess. “But there’s a serious silver lining,” she finished. “Jamie just happened to
have this awesome sale horse in the barn who’s destined to be the next star. He’s letting me lease him while Orion’s out of commission.”

“Interesting.” Scott took a sip of his beer, not looking too impressed. “Well, if catch-riding your finals horse is what floats your boat …”

“Oh, it’s no catch-ride—we’re an amazing team.” Tommi figured that wasn’t really a lie. They
would
be a team by the time the competition rolled around. “But speaking of catch-riding, you’d better hope the judge doesn’t ask us to switch horses as part of the test, because Fable’s definitely not an easy ride.” Tommi smirked. “I just make him look that way.”

Scott grinned. “Don’t worry. I’m used to a tough ride,” he said. “If you end up having to ride my horse, you’ll be crying for your mommy after the first fence.”

“If you say so.” Tommi raised her bottle. “May the best rider win.”

Scott clinked his beer against hers. “Isn’t that the point of the whole exercise?”

Tommi laughed. This party seemed a lot more fun than it had a few minutes ago. She could get used to having someone like Scott around—someone who wasn’t afraid to dish it out
and
take it. It didn’t hurt that he was super hot, smart, and a talented rider.

Too bad he lived so far away. Of course, Tommi had less than a year of high school left, and after that she could live anywhere she wanted. Maybe she should start looking at some West Coast colleges …

She grimaced, cutting off the thought before it could go any further. Scott noticed and leaned closer.

“You okay?” he said, actually looking a little worried. “I didn’t freak you out with my awesomeness, did I?”

“Nope.” Forcing all thoughts of the future out of her mind, Tommi smiled at him. “I was just hoping you’re not going to embarrass yourself by crying after Fable plants you in the dirt on Sunday.”

“Later,” Zara said to the girl with the big nose whose name she’d already forgotten. “I want to grab another drink.”

She hurried away, though she didn’t bother heading for the beer in the bathroom or the sodas in the closet. Drinking wasn’t her goal tonight.

Glancing around for her next victim, she was just in time to see that Scott guy drag Tommi over toward the dance bed. Laughing, Tommi kicked off her shoes and then climbed up there and started boogying. Scott jumped up and joined her.

Zara smiled. Tommi could be pretty uptight sometimes; it was nice to see her cutting loose. For a second she was tempted to go over and dance with them. Then the song switched to a lame old slow jam, and Scott caught Tommi by the wrist and pulled her close. Her arms slipped up over his shoulders, and their bodies pressed together as they swayed to the beat.

Okay, maybe not the best time to go over there. Besides, Zara really didn’t have time to waste on dancing right now. This party wasn’t about having fun—she was on a mission.

After another quick glance around, she made a beeline over to a tall, skinny girl with frizzy hair. “Hey,” Zara greeted her. “Paris. How’s it going?”

Paris blinked, looking confused for a second. No wonder. Zara had barely said two words to the girl before tonight, though they’d ridden in most of the same jumper classes all summer.

“Hey, Zara,” Paris said, recovering quickly. “What’s up? Cool party, huh?”

“Yeah, awesome.” Zara glanced around, then leaned closer to the other girl. “Hey, listen, did you hear about the fight at my barn?”

Paris’s eyes widened. “No!” she breathed. “What fight?”

“It went down like this. …” Zara quickly concocted a ridiculous story about Dani punching out one of the grooms because he’d forgotten to pack her bridle. It was hard to keep a straight face, but she managed.

By the end, Paris’s eyes were practically bugging out of her head. “Whoa!” she said. “That’s crazy! I never thought Dani was like that.”

Oops. Too late, Zara remembered that Dani had ridden in most of those jumper classes, too. Plus she was so freakishly friendly that she knew just about everyone on the circuit. Probably better not to use her in the stories from now on.

“Well, that’s just what I heard,” Zara hedged, backing away. “It might not be true. Listen, I’ve got to …”

Without finishing, she edged behind a group of wide-eyed younger juniors and hurried into the bathroom. Two guys were in there digging through the beers in the bathtub.