Famous

by Jessica Burkhart

  Parfait!

  I sat to Whisper’s even canter and lifted myself just out of the saddle into the two-point position as I gave Whisper a bit of extra rein. She pushed off the ground, tucked her forelegs, and jumped over the first vertical. Red-and-white poles were behind us and they stayed in their cups. But I couldn’t focus on that.

  Cold wind nipped my face as I prepared for the second vertical—a little higher and with white-and-blue poles. I allowed Whisper to increase her speed a tiny bit, and her stride lengthened as we reached the second obstacle. Whisper cleared the vertical like a horse that had competed a million times. Not like the five-year-old greenie she was.

  We flew over the fake shrubbery, and I let out the reins more as we made a long, sweeping turn to face the fourth jump. I gave Whisper even more rein and watched as she kept an ear pointed in my direction and one ear forward. Whew, I thought. She’s paying attention to me and the course. I had control of her, and the oxer was in front of us before I knew it. I hoped the extra speed would help Whisper clear the spread of the double oxer.

  She dug her back hooves into the arena dirt and pushed hard off the ground. As she cleared the span of the jump, I couldn’t help it—I smiled. This had to be the closest feeling to flying. I kept my eyes between Whisper’s gray ears, looking ahead. Whisper unfolded her forelegs and landed with room to spare on the other side of the oxer.

  Seven strides until the trickiest obstacle—the triple combination. The jumps weren’t high, but there was only room for one stride in between each jump before we had to be in the air again. Timing was everything.

  I collected Whisper, softening my hands and slowing her stride. I needed every ounce of her attention on me. Whisper tossed her head and tugged the reins against my hands. She was excited and didn’t want to slow down.

  Four strides away.

  Wisp, I tried to talk to her via ESP. You have to listen. Slow down, girl.

  I did a half halt and pushed my body into the saddle seat. Whisper kept her pace up, then started to slow. An ear twisted in my direction, and I had control again. A trickle of sweat rolled down my temple from under my helmet.

  Whisper couldn’t have waited one more second to listen. We were at the first third of the jump. I didn’t give her too much rein as she pushed off the ground and landed safely on the other side. One stride later, I moved my hands just slightly up her neck and lifted out of the saddle. Whisper’s timing was perfect—she lifted into the air, clearing the rails, and came down cleanly on the other side.

  A second later I asked Whisper to launch into the air again to complete the triple combo. She followed my instructions and snapped her knees under her, pushing off the dirt and leaping into the air. Whisper landed and I held my breath, but all I heard were hoofbeats as we cantered away from the triple. No rails had fallen!

  I was très proud of Wisp. She had gotten out of hand and pulled herself together, listened to me, and had completed a complicated triple as if she did them every day.

  I kept her collected as we took the next vertical, faux stonewall, and another vertical. Whisper didn’t ask for more rein or lose interest between jumps. After the vertical, I gave Wisp a little rein and allowed her canter to quicken as we approached the second-to-last jump—a double oxer. This one had a wider spread than the first.

  Whisper breathed rhythmically as she moved, and I kept my eye on the oxer. I let out the reins a bit more, and Whisper swished her tail with excitement as she moved into a faster canter. We were at the oxer, and I lifted out of the saddle as Whisper surged off the ground and soared over the space between the rails. She landed without coming close to the rail behind us and tore off toward the final vertical.

  I trusted Whisper. She was at a near gallop, but it was controlled. Wisp hadn’t stopped listening to me, and as long as she didn’t forget about me, I wanted to give her a little freedom. Wind whooshed in my ears as we swept past Mr. Conner. The saddle seemed to disappear between us, and it felt as though we were one. I’d never felt closer to my horse before.

  The vertical loomed tall in front of us as we approached it. A tiny flicker of fear was extinguished when Whisper gave a determined snort, and I knew she was going for it. She wanted to clear the jump.

  Just as we’d started, with little time for me to overthink things, there was no time to overanalyze the final jump.

  It was here.

  I lifted out of the saddle, taking weight off Whisper’s back, and kneaded my hands along her neck. Whisper thrust into the air using her hindquarters, and it seemed as though she was never going to stop ascending into the air.

  A grin split my face before we’d even landed. When we did, I turned quickly and saw the pole was in the cup!

  We’d completed a clean round!

  “Good, good, good girl!” I said, patting Whisper’s neck. “You were amazing, baby!” I gently pulled on the reins, slowing her down. Whisper’s stride had an extra bounce to it—she knew she’d jumped clean.

  Cheers broke out from the side of the arena. The clapping and noise only made Whisper’s prancing more pronounced.

  “Yeah, Lauren!” Drew called. He’d dropped Polo’s reins around the gelding’s neck and clapped.

  “Awesome, Laur!” Bri said. She gave me a thumbs-up.

  I pulled Whisper to a trot, then a walk, as we exited the arena and passed my friends. Whisper kept swishing her tail and lifted her hooves high into the air. It was as if she knew her friends had been watching. I rode her up to the group and everyone surrounded us, offering me a palm to slap.

  A shiver ran through me. This time from pure bliss—not cold or fear.

  “LT, that was amaze!” Cole said. He held up his gloved hand. “I wish we had that on video.”

  A perma-grin was stuck on my face. “Thanks, guys,” I said. “It was all Whisper. She’s turning out to be a real jumper.”

  The group broke up to let me cool down Whisper.

  “Lauren,” Mr. Conner called. “Bring Whisper into the arena and walk her along the wall to cool her down. The rest of you need to line up in front of me.”

  I nodded and turned Wisp back toward the arena. I walked her on a loose rein.

  Mr. Conner smiled at me, looking up from his clipboard. “That was a fantastic ride, Lauren. Well done.”

  I smiled. Praise like that was rare from Mr. Conner.

  “However,” Mr. Conner said, “I’m afraid your time was a half second behind Cole’s. I hope you’re still just as proud of your ride, though.”

  “I am,” I said. “Whisper was amazing.”

  “Congratulations, Cole,” Mr. Conner said, nodding at him. “Your ride was not only clean, but it was also the fastest time. I’m quite proud of your effort today and hope you are as well.”

  Whisper and I rejoined the group, and everyone smiled at Cole.

  I mock-frowned at Cole. “We’ll get you next time,” I said icily.

  “I’d like to see you try,” he said, playing right back.

  Everyone laughed. Even Mr. Conner.

  EVERYTHING’S COOL . . . RIGHT?

  AFTER I TOOK CARE OF Whisper, I headed for Zane’s stall. Brielle, sliding the bolt to lock his stall door, turned to me with a smile.

  “If it isn’t Miss I Rock at Show Jumping,” Bri said. She undid her long ponytail and let her blond hair fall around her shoulders.

  I shook my head at her. “Thank you, but we need a zillion more rides like that to really qualify as ‘rocking.’ ”

  Zane poked his head over the stall door, and I reached out to stroke his cheek. Brielle had a royal-blue halter on him that looked stunning against his coat.

  “What are you up to now?” Brielle asked.

  “Hoping to chat with you, actually,” I said. “Do you have time to talk for a few minutes? I was thinking we change and meet in the common room, maybe?”

  Lines creased Brielle’s forehead as she frowned. “Is everything okay? You’re making me nervous!”

  I waved my hand dismiss
ively. “Oh, yeah. Everything’s totally fine. I’ll explain, but I just want to talk so I can basically make someone else stop talking.”

  We both laughed as I rolled my eyes at the awkwardness of my explanation.

  “Sure,” Brielle said. “I’ll talk to you to quiet someone else. Makes total sense.”

  “Let’s get out of here.” I gently pushed my friend’s shoulder in the direction of the exit. I looped my arm through hers, and Brielle and I chitchatted as we made our way across the frigid campus and back to Hawthorne.

  “See you in five,” I said when we reached the stairs.

  “Four!” Brielle said, running up the stairs to the room that she shared with Clare.

  I opened the door to my room, and it was empty. Khloe was probably still cooling Ever after their lesson. I purposely hadn’t told her that I’d been planning on talking to Bri. The whole thing was so silly. After Brielle told me everything was fine with her, then I could report back to my friends that I’d been right all along.

  I stood in front of the full-length mirror and checked my reflection. I’d slipped out of riding clothes and had slid on black leggings and an oversize lavender-and-white striped off-the-shoulder sweatshirt with ragged edges.

  I grabbed a brush, ran it through my hair, and slid my feet into black ballet flats.

  Brielle was going to beat me!

  I hurried out of my room and almost collided with two other girls coming out of the common room. I peered inside and Brielle, sitting on the couch, gave me a Cheshire cat smile.

  “Four,” she said.

  “You’re fast and you look fantastic,” I said, taking in Bri’s outfit.

  Like me, she was in leggings, hers gray paired with a bubble-gum-pink V-neck long-sleeve shirt. A long necklace—big aqua strands mixed with silver—hung around her neck.

  “I got my speed from waking up five minutes before I had to leave for school,” Bri said. “My fashion sense came from you, dear LT.”

  I put my hand across my heart. “Aw. You are my bestie.”

  I walked around to the kitchen and filled the teakettle with water. This chat with Bri was going to be so short, we probably wouldn’t even finish our tea here.

  “Can I make you a cup?” I asked her.

  “Please,” Brielle said. “Whatever you’re having.”

  In minutes I had two steaming mugs of white tea with blueberry.

  “Thank you,” Bri said as I handed her a mug. “It looks like you picked this one out just for me!”

  I smiled. “That’s because I did!”

  I’d chosen a white mug with an aqua heart in the center. My mug was coffee brown with pink dots and a matching top with a space for a straw.

  My tea was too hot to sip, so I set it on a yellow Kate Spade coaster with gold polka dots. Christina had gotten the house the coasters as a gift for doing well after our first week on campus.

  “This is going to be the silliest talk we’ve ever had,” I started. “I seriously can’t believe I even went this far with it, but like I said, it’s to stop this insane chatter.”

  Bri’s eyes widened. “Ooh, but aren’t we fans of insane chatter?”

  “Not this kind,” I said. “This insane chatter is driving me, well, insane.”

  “What’s going on?” Bri asked. She mirrored me and set her cup in front of her on a coaster. She tucked her legs under her.

  “First, I wish I didn’t have to say anything. You’re my best friend, and I trust you like no one else. I don’t want what I’m about to say to ruin your growing friendship with Clare.”

  Bri raised an eyebrow. “Um, okay.”

  “Clare’s just looking out for me, but she’s going to the extreme and sees something that’s not there. She went to Khloe about it, and they both ganged up on me. Normally, I wouldn’t cave to peer pressure. You know me.”

  Bri nodded. She didn’t look worried at all. That made me feel even more confident that what I was about to say would be confirmed as a total misunderstanding.

  “Clare said that she’s noticed something ‘off’ with you lately. Like something’s up and you’re not telling us. She insisted it was true all weekend, and I told her that first, you’re my bestie and you’d tell me, and second, I didn’t see what she did. If anyone were to pick up on something ‘off’ with you, it would be me.”

  I picked up my mug and took a cautious sip of tea. It was the perfect temperature, and I took two more swallows before putting down the mug.

  Brielle swallowed. But not tea.

  “I just want Clare to stop looking for things, and that’s why I asked you to meet me. I wanted to sit down, just you and me, and ask if there’s anything going on that you haven’t talked to me about or want to tell me. If not, I totally get it and Clare was wrong. I’ll tell her we talked and there was nothing up with you, and then she’ll back off.”

  Brielle’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. “I—,” she started. “Nothing is going on with me now.”

  Her words made me pause. “Why did you say ‘now’?”

  Brielle’s face turned chalky white. She grabbed an orange pillow and clutched it across her stomach.

  “Lauren,” Brielle said.

  “Bri, no.” My voice was high. “I don’t want Clare to be right. Everything okay, isn’t it? You’re not leaving Canterwood, are you?”

  Brielle shook her head.

  “Whew,” I said. “That was my biggest fear. Talk to me. What’s going on?”

  Big tears filled Brielle’s eyes. With one blink, they cascaded down her face and dripped onto the pillow.

  “I’ve been keeping something from you,” Brielle said. “Something really big. And Lauren, it started to make me feel so bad these past few days that I haven’t been myself. Clare’s right.”

  I froze. All I could do was stare at her.

  Brielle swiped at her eyes. “I don’t deserve to be crying. Lauren, please promise you’ll listen to me and the whole story before you leave.”

  Slowly I nodded. I still couldn’t speak. What was Brielle hiding that she couldn’t tell me about?

  “Lauren, I dated someone this past summer.”

  “You did? How? I was home for most of the summer.”

  “You were, but you were so busy looking for a horse and getting ready for Canterwood that you didn’t have much time to hang out with Ana and me. It was the end of July when I started going out with this guy. We broke it off not too long ago.”

  “You don’t have to be this upset that you dated someone and didn’t tell me, Bri,” I said. “I mean, I wish you would have told me, but like you said, I was busy. Still, you could always tell me anything.”

  There was a long pause.

  Too long of a pause.

  “Brielle? Who was the guy?” I asked. My heart thumped in my chest. Why was I afraid to hear the answer?

  “Oh, Lauren. I wish I could take the whole thing back! I can’t believe I did it! I’m so sorry!” Brielle covered her face with her hands. Her shoulders shook, and I watched her struggle to regain composure.

  “Laur, the guy I dated—” Brielle wiped at her tearstained cheeks. “It was Taylor.”

  THOSE BETTER BE FAKE TEARS

  I SHOOK MY HEAD. “BRI, if this is a joke, it’s not funny. I’m impressed that you mastered tears on command, but not for this.”

  “I wish it was a joke, Lauren.” Brielle’s voice was hoarse.

  The entire room seemed to spin.

  Clare had been right.

  Khloe had been right.

  Brielle had been keeping a secret.

  Taylor had been keeping a secret.

  Brielle had been my best friend.

  Taylor had been my friend.

  “It was after you guys broke up—I promise,” Brielle said.

  “As long as Taylor and I weren’t together, that so makes it okay!” I interrupted.

  Brielle fell silent. She hugged the couch pillow as if it was a shield from me. But nothing could hide this secret
now. Brielle was completely exposed.

  “Go on, please,” I said, sweeping my hand in an encouraging gesture. “I want to hear every detail of this ‘okay’ story.”

  Brielle’s posture was rigid. She looked as if I’d slapped her across the face. “I never said or thought it was okay. I knew better the entire time. At first it was the three of us going out a lot—Ana, Taylor, and me, or with some other people from school. One night Ana and I were supposed to meet Taylor to go to the movies, but Ana got sick. I went as his friend and, and, I don’t know, I got caught up in it or something. We kept going out as a group, but after a while Taylor and I started going out on our own.”

  “Did he ask you? Or did you ask him?”

  Brielle took a breath. “I asked him.”

  “Wow, Brielle. Wow.” I picked up my mug, holding it so hard I worried for a second that I’d crack the ceramic.

  “Lauren, there’s no excuse. I knew I was breaking the best friend code by going out with your ex-boyfriend. But a tiny part of me rationalized it away by thinking about you here. You were in a new school, with new friends, new boys, a whole new life. You and Taylor were over.”

  “Like you just said, there’s no excuse.” I put down my mug without even taking a sip and crossed my arms. I’d never been so furious. Anger heated every part of my body, and my jaw was getting tired from being clenched.

  “After the first time we went out, I was going to call you,” Brielle said. Her eyes pleaded with me. But I felt nothing but anger. “I had my phone in my hand and put it down at the last second. I should have stopped things with Taylor then. If I couldn’t tell you that I’d made a huge mistake and had gone on one date with him, that should have been a big enough warning sign to me to stop the relationship.”

  “Guess you missed the sign, huh, Brielle?” My tone got more and more biting with every word I said.

  “I chose to ignore it.” Opposite of my tone, Brielle’s only got weaker. “I went out with him until he left for Canterwood. We both swore to each other that neither of us would ever tell you because it would only hurt you. Then he was gone.”

  “God, I’d almost forgotten that Taylor’s been here lying to my face longer than you have,” I said.