Home Sweet Drama

by Jessica Burkhart

  Mr. Conner ran a hand over his short black hair. “I’m sorry this happened to Alison and Julia. They missed their chance at the YENT. I regret their innocence wasn’t proven earlier.”

  Heather shifted in her seat and Mr. Conner looked at her. “I apologize for not taking your claims about their innocence more seriously,” he said. “You have to understand that we thought the cheat sheets were real.”

  Heather nodded. “I know. I’m just glad that everyone knows they didn’t cheat.”

  “They will also be immediately reinstated on the advanced team,” Mr. Conner said.

  Heather and I smiled at each other.

  “I’ve also spoken with Mr. Nicholson this morning,” Mr. Conner continued. “He’s agreed to hold another tryout for the YENT the week after fall break. So those who qualified for testing last time, Julia, Callie, and Alison, will have the opportunity to try out for Jasmine’s seat.”

  Endless possibilities started running through my brain. Callie deserved to make the YENT. After all, it was partly my fault—and Jacob’s—that she didn’t make it the first time. But if Callie did make the team, it would be so uncomfortable. She hated me and lessons would be the worst if she made it. Alison and Julia were excellent riders, too, and they also deserved it. I hated wanting someone other than Callie to make the team, but I also had to get the most out of my lessons. And I didn’t know if I could do that with Callie in the arena with me.

  “Julia and Alison will resume lessons tomorrow,” Mr. Conner said. “I’m thrilled to have them back on the advanced team.”

  He nodded once at us. “If you don’t have any questions, then go tack up your horses and I’ll see you in the indoor arena.”

  Heather and I stood and left his office.

  “It’s going to start all over again,” Heather said as we walked to the tack room.

  I pushed open the door. “What?”

  “The craziness over the YENT. Mr. Conner must have just finished that phone call. If Julia and Alison knew about the YENT tryouts, they would have already told me.”

  “He’s probably calling to tell them now,” I said. I walked past rows of gleaming saddles, taking in the smell of leather. “They’re going to freak.”

  Heather slid Aristocrat’s saddle over her arm and hung his bridle over her shoulder. “And so is Callie.”

  I played with Charm’s snaffle bit. “Three riders.”

  “One seat,” Heather finished.

  6

  THAT RED LIGHT

  I FELT DIZZY AS I TACKED UP Charm. My fingers kept slipping as I tried to run down his stirrup leathers and my hands shook as I slid the bit into his mouth and bridled him. Charm was always able to sense my mood. He nudged my arm with his muzzle. I looked into his big brown eyes.

  “Thanks, boy,” I said, hugging his neck. “I know you’re going to do great. I just need to relax.”

  My phone buzzed on my wooden tack trunk and I walked around Charm to check it.

  Good luck! U r going 2 kill it! <3

  Paige.

  Thx! Hope so!! I wrote back.

  I put on my black helmet and took Charm’s reins, scanning him one last time to make sure he looked perfect for Mr. Nicholson. His chestnut coat gleamed, his blaze and sock were clean, and I’d painted his hooves with clear polish. He was so ready. I looked down at my own blue button-down shirt and tan breeches to make sure I was as spotless as Charm.

  “That’s as good as you’re going to look, so let’s go already,” Heather said. She walked past Charm and me, leading Aristocrat. The darker chestnut Thoroughbred laid back his ears a fraction as he passed Charm. The two had been rivals since our first day at Canterwood.

  “Wow, thanks,” I said, but I followed Heather and Aristocrat down the aisle and we made our way toward the indoor arena.

  I watched Heather and she acted as if she could do this every day.

  We reached the indoor arena and mounted once we’d led the horses through the entrance. I walked Charm in the opposite direction of Aristocrat and started warming him up along the wall. Charm, a Thoroughbred/Belgian mix, didn’t want to walk for long. He loved to move fast and within minutes, he was tugging on the reins and asking to trot.

  I gave him rein and he moved into a smooth trot, his long strides quickly covering the arena ground. The dirt muffled the sounds of his shoes and we made a couple of circles around the far side of the arena and left the other end for Heather and Aristocrat. Just pretend it’s any other warm-up, I told myself. No big deal.

  We changed directions and made a few more circles before Mr. Conner came into the arena. Heather and I slowed our horses and lined them up in front of him.

  I started breathing faster, knowing I couldn’t trick myself into forgetting that the camera was on. This wasn’t any other warm-up. It was the first time Mr. Nicholson would see our riding since YENT camp. He could decide that I hadn’t improved or … had gotten worse and remove me from the team. The thought was enough to make me nauseous.

  “Hi, girls,” Mr. Conner said. “I hope you’re ready to get started.” He tipped his head in the direction of the camera. “I’m going to turn on the camera and then we’ll begin. This will be a normal lesson, so there’s no reason to be nervous. All right?”

  We nodded.

  Mr. Conner walked to the camera and tripod and pushed a button. A tiny red light went on. That light had sealed Jas’s fate and it was about to do the same for me.

  “Please walk your horses to the wall,” Mr. Conner called. He moved to the center of the arena and held his clipboard in front of him.

  I pushed my heels down and sat deep in the saddle. Charm walked toward the wall and we passed the window that overlooked the big pasture with the rolling hill. As soon as the test was over, I’d cool Charm and turn him out. He’d need a break after this.

  “Trot,” Mr. Conner called.

  I gave Charm rein and he moved into a smooth, easy trot. Ahead of us, Heather posted to Aristocrat’s trot and the two were in perfect unison. I directed my attention back to Charm and ignored Heather and Aristocrat. I couldn’t lose focus for a second.

  “Reverse directions and sitting trot,” Mr. Conner said. As Charm and I changed directions, I saw him scribble something on his black clipboard. For a second, I wondered if he was writing about something I’d done wrong. Or maybe it was about Heather.

  Stop it! I yelled to myself. Whenever I’d lost focus before, I’d always messed up. That wasn’t happening again.

  I took a breath and regained my attention. At least Heather was behind us now and I couldn’t watch her.

  “Halt,” Mr. Conner said. In three strides, I’d brought Charm to a stop.

  “Trot halfway around the arena, then canter,” Mr. Conner said.

  I urged Charm into a trot and posted until we reached the halfway point of the arena. I gave him rein and sat in the saddle, letting him move into a canter. Charm shook out his mane and leaped forward, a little too fast, and I jolted backward a bit. I fought to keep my face from turning red as I righted my body in the saddle.

  You should have been prepared for that, I told myself.

  I eased Charm’s canter a bit and he flicked his tail, annoyed at being told to slow down. But he listened and didn’t fight me.

  “Slow to a trot and begin figure eights,” Mr. Conner said.

  Charm slowed and we began the pattern. After a few figure eights, Mr. Conner asked us to walk the horses for a couple of minutes. Then, he made us do spirals.

  “All right,” he said, holding up a hand. “Stop and walk your horses to the other end of the arena. You’ll take a few jumps and when you’re both finished, you may cool out your horses.”

  I almost wanted to shout, YES! I’d been worried that this would be the lesson Mr. Conner would make us do dressage instead of jumping. Dressage wasn’t my strongest area and even though Charm and I were working on it, I wanted Mr. Nicholson to see us jump. Charm’s first love was cross-country, but he was great at indoor cour
ses too.

  “Heather, please start when you’re ready,” Mr. Conner said.

  Heather circled Aristocrat twice and I watched as she quieted him with her hands and legs before pointing him toward the first jump. The course had a tall vertical, a double combination, a shorter vertical, and then an oxer. I already knew the combination would be the trickiest for Charm and me. Sometimes, he got excited and tried to rush fences. With the combo, he couldn’t do that. Eyeing the double, I knew Charm only had two strides before we had to take off from the first half of the combination to the second. It was going to be tight.

  Heather’s blond hair, wavy today, flowed out from under her helmet as Aristocrat cantered toward the first jump. At just the right moment, Heather rose into the two-point position and kneaded her hands along Aristocrat’s neck. The gelding jumped into the air, tucking his forelegs under his body. He cleared the vertical and they headed for the combo. Heather’s timing was perfect as she let him go and he leaped the first half of the combination, then cantered for two strides before lifting into the air for the second half. They made everything look easy, but I knew how hard Heather had worked to get here.

  The short vertical and oxer weren’t a problem for Aristocrat or Heather. They cleared them easily and Aristocrat tossed his head as Heather cantered him away from the course. He knew he’d done well and he acted as if he wanted to go again.

  My fingers started to grip the reins, but I made myself relax. If I tensed, so would Charm, and I wanted him to be cool through the course.

  Like Heather with Aristocrat, I moved Charm through two circles before guiding him toward the red and white vertical. We flew into the air with perfect timing and he landed with a quiet thud on the other side. The first half of the combination loomed in front of us. Charm snorted and asked for more rein, but I held him back. If he gathered too much speed, it would be hard to slow him enough through the double.

  Charm lifted into the air for the first half of the combo and I rose slightly out of the saddle. I kept my heels pushed down and my hands steady along Charm’s neck. He landed on the other side my heartbeat seemed to echo in my ears as loud as Charm’s hoofbeats.

  Two… one… now! I counted the strides between the halves of the combo and urged Charm into the air. He snapped his knees sharply under his body and arched over the jump. That was my favorite feeling—being suspended in the air for the briefest second. Charm hit the ground and we moved to the short vertical. Charm’s ears pricked forward and he jumped it eagerly and applied the same enthusiasm to the oxer.

  “Good boy,” I said, trying not to dance in the saddle. Instead, I patted his neck. He’d done a great job and we couldn’t have had a better ride. As he slowed to a trot, the stress of worrying about the tape started to melt away. I’d been worried about it for forever and now it was done.

  I rode Charm next to Aristocrat and stopped him. Heather looked over at me and gave me a nod.

  “Not a disaster,” she said, her tone light. “I mean, you didn’t fall off or anything.”

  “Thanks a lot.”

  Mr. Conner finished writing on his clipboard and smiled at both of us.

  “Those were excellent rides, girls,” he said. “Please dismount and cool your horses. See you next class.”

  He shut off the camera and I dismounted. When my feet hit the ground, I felt all of the tension that been building for days start to drain from my body. It was a mixture of relief that the tape was over and exhaustion from worrying about it so much. I leaned lightly against Charm’s shoulder and for what felt like the first time in a while, I took a breath.

  7

  HOMECOMING THREW UP ALL OVER CAMPUS

  HEATHER AND I COOLED THE HORSES WITHOUT saying a word to each other. I had a feeling she had been as nervous as I’d been about the test, but she’d never admit it. I clipped Charm into crossties and groomed him. He was so shiny from when I’d prepared him for the tape that all he needed was a light body brush.

  I unclipped the crossties and led him down the aisle. “You deserve to spend the night outside in the big pasture, boy,” I said. He followed me outside and we walked across the stable yard to the pasture. We passed the outdoor arena where Callie was riding by herself. I paused, unable to look away. Black Jack, Callie’s Morab gelding, was flexing his leg and back as Callie took him at an extended trot around the arena. His shiny black coat caught the sunlight and he looked gorgeous.

  I turned away and caught Charm watching them too. His head was raised high so he could see and his eyes were on Jack. Unlike Callie and me, they were still BFFs.

  “C’mon, boy,” I said. I tugged gently on his lead line and opened the gate to the pasture. I walked him inside, then unclipped his lead line. He stood beside me, not moving. I sighed and wrapped my arms around his neck. “I get it. I miss them too.” I dropped down and sat cross-legged in the grass. I plucked a blade of grass and twirled it in my fingers. Charm lowered his head and started grazing near me. I kept my back to Callie and just listened to the sound of Jack’s hoofbeats in the arena.

  When I left the pasture, the sky was starting to turn pink, orange, and purple. I hadn’t realized how long I’d stayed with Charm. I walked through the center of campus and fought the urge to shield my eyes. It looked like Homecoming had thrown up all over campus and it kept multiplying every day. This morning five or six yard signs had been stuck along the sidewalk that I took from the courtyard to Winchester. Now, a dozen signs on either side of the sidewalk directed students to Homecoming activities and promoted the week’s contests. Every dorm hall had a banner over their entrance and I looked down so I didn’t have to see the WINCHESTER 4 THE WIN! sign that draped over our entrance.

  Inside the dorm I hurried down the hallway to my room. If I saw one more inch of green or gold … . I paused outside my dorm and took a breath. Paige had decorated the white board outside our door with a green marker. Her fun, flirty script read Sasha & Paige <3 Homecoming! Go CC!

  I rubbed my eyes for a second, then opened the door. Paige was at her desk, typing on her laptop. She had her stack of textbooks beside her and her bio notebook was open. Maybe now was the perfect time to tell her what really had happened at my party.

  “How’s the homework?” I asked.

  Paige looked up from her computer. “Almost done. One more question to answer. How was your taping? I was going to text you, but I figured you were probably decompressing with Charm.”

  “You know me so well,” I said. “The taping went great, actually, and I was hanging with Charm in the pasture. He did a fantastic job.”

  Paige beamed. “See? Told you there was nothing to worry about.”

  “I was sooo nervous, but we got through it. And at least I’m so busy that I don’t have much time to worry about what Mr. Nicholson is going to say about how I rode.”

  “From what you just told me,” Paige said. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

  I grabbed a clean T-shirt and yoga pants, heading to the shower.

  “I’m going to meet Ryan at the Sweet Shoppe as soon as I finish my homework,” Paige said. “You want to come? It’s going to be awesome. I heard that all of the treats are green and gold!”

  Siiigh. Talking to Paige wasn’t going to happen now.

  “That sounds like so much fun,” I said. “But I’ve got homework.”

  I left out the part that I couldn’t stand one more second of Homecoming.

  “Okay,” Paige said. “Totally get it. I’ll bring you back something fun. I heard they have cookies with green and specially made gold M&M’s.”

  “Cool. Have fun with Ryan.”

  “I will. I can’t wait.”

  Paige went back to her homework and I headed to the shower. I took extra time shampooing my hair—I wanted to make sure Paige was gone before I came out. I dressed, dried my hair, and took longer than usual to flatiron it. I eased open the bathroom door, afraid Paige was still here. But our room was empty.

  I hated t
hat things were off between Paige and me, but I just couldn’t deal with the Homecoming talk. I didn’t want to take anything away from Paige’s excitement, but it just annoyed me.

  I unpacked my books from my bag got ready to do homework. It was surprisingly light for tonight. I settled on my bed and started on my math homework. Right now, it was one of the few times I wished I could go back home for the night—or the week. Canterwood was the last place I wanted to be right now. I knew exactly how tonight would go: Paige would come back and gush about her date with Ryan and that was something I wanted to hear about. I loved seeing her excited about a guy and it was fun to analyze every minute of her dates. But the topic of conversation would eventually switch over to Homecoming. And it was wearing on me. Fast.

  8

  YOU IN?

  AN HOUR LATER, I WAS ABOUT TO TAKE A break when my phone beeped. I flipped it open and found a text from Heather. Come over 4 a sec.

  What’s up? I texted back.

  OMG, if ur gonna ask 20 ?s 4get it.

  Sry, jeez. B rite over.

  I was too intrigued to pass up a visit to the Trio’s suite. Heather never asked me over just because. There was always a reason.

  I slid on silver flip-flops, applied a quick coat of orange-strawberry gloss, and grabbed my purse.

  When I got to Orchard, I hurried to their room—eager to get inside and minimize any chance of seeing Callie. I knocked on the door and Julia let me in. She actually smiled at me. It was a nice change from the usual look of disgust on her face when she saw me. But I wondered how long she’d be nice to me before she went back to Old Julia.

  “Hey,” Alison said, walking out of her room. She looked cozy-chic in a white cotton sundress with a half dozen plastic bangles on her wrist.

  “Heather’s got something to show you in her room,” Julia said.