Nothing But Horses

by Shannon Kennedy

  “Mezzo-soprano,” I said. “I can sing some soprano parts but I don’t have the range to hit the real high notes.”

  Mr. Haller turned from his work and met my gaze. “An honest singer. I can work with that.” He pointed out a spot on the risers between the altos and the sopranos. “Stand there, Sierra. We’ll do warm-ups and then start with some oldies but goodies.”

  “Sounds great.” I went over to stand with Dani and she put my music in order. “He seems nice.”

  “He is as long as you’re straight with him,” Dani said. “Don’t be late to class, bring your bottle of water and you’ll do fine. Mess with him and your life is over, but that’s the Lincoln High way.”

  “Sounds just like home,” I said.

  Two classes later, after Drama and History, it was lunch time. I was more than ready to hunt down friends in the cafeteria. I spotted Robin at a table and went to join her. “My brain is full,” I said. “And I still have Math, Science and Select Choir.”

  “And basketball practice this afternoon,” Cedar said behind me.

  “Yeah, that too.” I sat down across from Robin and pulled my sack lunch out of my backpack. “I can’t believe how fast-paced the classes are here. Do we really have to read an entire chapter for History tonight?”

  “Only if you want to be prepared for tomorrow.” Robin waved at Vicky and Jack who had just entered the large room. “Since we’ll be doing vocab then and discussing some of the events that led up to the Civil War, I’d read tonight.”

  “I will,” I said. “This is going to take some adjustment. At Mount Pilchuck, we barely got through one section of a chapter during my old history class. The teacher spent so much time policing the students and redirecting behavior we hardly managed to learn anything.”

  “Yeah, well don’t bring that up here,” Robin told me. “You’ll get the “we are not babysitters” lecture and then the teachers make you call one of your parents and explain why you “impacted the learning environment in a negative manner.” My dad said I’d be grounded past forever if I ended up phoning him. My mom would totally go ballistic and chew my ears.”

  I nodded, unwrapping a ham sandwich. My mother hated it when someone from the school contacted her. Maybe it was because Grandma had been a teacher until she retired, but Mom didn’t have a lot of patience for kids who screwed around when they were supposed to be working. Years ago when I was in kindergarten, she’d told me that school was my job. Running Shamrock Stable was hers. She couldn’t do her job if I didn’t do mine.

  That meant unless I was majorly sick, I didn’t get to leave class early. If I sassed a teacher, I’d be in real trouble when I got home. Even now, I didn’t disrupt the lessons or misbehave in school. I hadn’t when my coach benched me at Mount Pilchuck, or pitched a fit when Lauren stole my solo for the Winter Concert. I just tried talking to the people in charge and when they wouldn’t listen to me and things continued to be unfair, I decided it was time to find a better place. Lincoln High was different, but I already felt comfortable here.

  Who wouldn’t? I’d learned more about diagramming sentences in fifteen minutes from Mrs. Weaver than I had in an entire semester at Mount Pilchuck. We’d spent the whole hour singing in Mr. Haller’s class and I couldn’t remember the last time my class had done that at my old school. Even when we had a huge recital coming up, it still took forever for people to settle down and focus on the music.

  I’d barely taken a bite of my sandwich when Olivia showed up, Kanisha beside her. They sat down next to me. Dani arrived and pulled up a chair on the other side of Cedar. We had forty minutes to eat, so conversation swirled around the table. I heard more about rules at Lincoln High and decided I wasn’t going to break any of them.

  When I finished eating, Cedar went with me to the gym so I could get a practice jersey and shorts for basketball this afternoon. I definitely didn’t want to get on the wrong side of Coach Norris. I remembered him from Mount Pilchuck. He hadn’t had an ounce of patience there. Once when he coached my team, I ended up running back and forth from the base line to the far end of the gym for ages because he didn’t like my attitude.

  It wasn’t that I said anything snarky. He claimed he could tell by the way I rolled my eyes that I was disrespectful. If I’d actually told him that he was a major idiot, I’d probably still be running lines a year later. But, this was a new place and I wasn’t going to get into a contest with him. As long as I got to play basketball and made point guard again within the month, we’d be fine.

  When the last bell rang, I headed for the locker room. Cedar, Olivia and Kanisha were already there. I changed into my new practice uniform. Picking up my water bottle, I followed them into the gym. I put my backpack near theirs. They started stretching out so I did too. Coach Norris was over unlocking one of the supply closets and I waited until he came back before I went to introduce myself.

  He had a few inches on me. I didn’t think he was much more than six foot tall. His brown hair had continued to thin, but he hadn’t started shaving his head yet. He narrowed brown eyes and studied me for a moment. “So, you’re my new player.”

  “Yes, Coach.” It wasn’t a question. I guessed those would come in a while. He gave me another onceover and I kept waiting.

  “What position do you play?”

  “Anything,” I said. “I can do it all. Point guard, forward or wing. Where-ever you want me.”

  “Are you messing with me?”

  “No, Coach. I’m being straight with you. I’m that good.”

  Another long look and then he said abruptly. “You’re good, but you aren’t a team player, Sierra. You’ll learn to be one and that will make you great. Go warm up.”

  I jogged over and sat down by Cedar to finish my stretches. I didn’t tell her that the coach didn’t like me. I’d win his respect sooner or later, sooner if he was fair, later if he wasn’t.

  Two hours later, I was dragging, but I hoped I didn’t show it. We’d started with lay-up drills, then we’d run lines to build our stamina before we began practice plays. We finished with scrimmages during the last half-hour. Coach kept substituting players constantly so I never could figure out anyone’s strengths.

  When I dribbled in and shot a basket from mid-court, he sent me to run lines by myself. He claimed it was because I needed to learn to pass to someone closer instead of acting like a star. Okay, so he had a point, but I did too. If I didn’t play with the same girls all the time, how would I know who was able to score and who wasn’t? I decided not to bring that up until later. He already thought I was some sort of diva. I didn’t want to prove it.

  Finally, practice ended. Coach blew his whistle and signaled for all of us to cluster around him. He passed out the game schedule, then followed that up with a list of our practices. Next, came the rules. They were pretty much the same ones we had at Mount Pilchuck, so I could deal with them. No missing practices unless you were dead. Dress to play. Bring water. Be on time. Don’t argue with the coach or each other.

  Before he dismissed us, Coach Norris looked at all ten of us. “You’re a team, a good one and you’ll get better by the end of the season. Everybody plays for me. If something happens and you can’t, let me know right away. Good job. See you tomorrow. Now, cool down before you head home.”

  I was jogging laps with Cedar, Olivia and Kanisha when he waved me over to him. I hustled across the gym. “Yes, Coach.”

  “Will you be here tomorrow, Sierra?”

  “Sure. I mean, yes.”

  He smiled then and I felt the ice start to melt between us. I didn’t blame him because he sent me to run lines. He wasn’t mad because I was new and didn’t know how he liked to do things. We’d work it out. I went back to walk with the other girls. He went to put away the equipment.

  When I arrived home, Mom had just finished her last lesson. I grabbed a banana and went to change clothes. Then, I joined her, Grandma, Grandpa and Autumn out in the barns. While we mucked stalls, watered and fed, I told G
randma about my day. She said that my school sounded wonderful. It was almost enough to make her want to return to teaching.

  “Small classes, good students, no behavior issues. It sounds like teacher heaven to me.”

  “It’s not easy,” I said. “We work from the moment the first bell rings until the last one. There’s no herding up to the door early. I have a chapter of History to read tonight, three pages of Algebra and I have to write Cornell notes for Science.”

  “Cornell notes?” Grandma stopped pitching horsy stuff for a moment. She glanced at me over the stall wall. “I don’t think your mom learned how to do those until she was at the University of Washington. Is that something you did at your old school?”

  “No, I learned today. Vicky taught me. I’m supposed to do the notes in my comp book for Science.” I described the way I had to divide the page into a table and then write down important details in the big column. The narrow side was for page numbers, headings and things the teacher wanted us to add later. “It’s going to be different, Grandma. My journals are part of my grades so I have to take them serious.”

  “It sounds like you chose the right school,” Grandma said. “That’s good. Everything they teach you will make it easier when you head for college in a few years.”

  * * * *

  The next day, my classes were pretty much a re-run of Monday’s. I was glad I’d done my homework. I managed to suck it up during basketball practice so I didn’t have to run extra lines back and forth, up and down the gym. Kanisha and Patricia did because they both arrived late and continued to snipe at each other during drills. I knew I shouldn’t feel better because Coach nailed them for their attitudes, but I did. It meant he was fair and wouldn’t be putting his favorite players on the court for games. Everyone really would get a chance to play.

  Since I had the at-risk group tonight, I didn’t head for home. I drove to the Burger Palace instead. Despite the name, it wasn’t a fast food place. I could get a regular dinner and the booths were big enough that I’d be able to do my history while I ate. Tonight, I had to re-read the chapter and take Cornell notes on the first section, then answer the six review questions. My waitress was an older woman, somewhere around Grandma’s age.

  I was still looking over the menu when she brought me a huge glass of water and a cup of coffee. I smiled at her. “How did you know I needed those? Are you psychic?”

  She laughed. “No. You have a friend. Tom told me you just finished basketball practice.”

  “Tom?” I looked around, but didn’t see him anywhere. I knew he worked at a restaurant, but I didn’t remember it was this one. “Where is he?”

  “Setting up the salad bar.” Another smile. “Don’t worry. He’ll be off on time for your meeting.”

  “I wasn’t worried,” I said. “He’s super responsible. I figured he had it handled.”

  Frankly, I didn’t care at all. I wasn’t about to say that to her. Instead, I asked how long it would take to get an order of my favorite chicken fettuccini. She promised it would be quick. I drank some water and dove into history until Tom showed up with my salad.

  He didn’t linger. He had work to do and that was fine with me. I kept my attention on the food and my homework. I deliberately didn’t watch him coming back and forth from the kitchen with bowls of veggies for the long ice-filled cart near the far wall of the room. When I finished eating, I paid my check and headed out to the parking lot. I spotted him coming out the back door. He jogged over to me. I looked him up and down, like he hadn’t impressed me. “What’s going on?”

  “I hoped you’d give me a ride to group.” He glanced at his watch. “If I walk, I’ll be late.”

  “Why should you walk when we’re going to the same place?” I hit the button on the key fob. “Just don’t think this is a date thing.”

  “I won’t. When it’s a date, you’ll know the difference.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Marysville, Washington

  Tuesday, January 7th, 5:45 pm

  Ingrid went around the group asking everyone to report back about their holidays. Since it was a whining, whinging moment for the majority of what I considered the loser brigade, I kept my mouth shut. I ended up feeling bad for them. One of the girls had to deal with a drunk father and a boy talked about the family fights. Tom just said he worked a lot and then passed to Harry who listed all the movies he’d seen at the local theater. He’d pretty much hung out there for hours rather than go to the Army base with his sister or visit the relatives who hadn’t wanted him when she was in Afghanistan.

  How could I say anything? Okay, so I had to deal with the Jamisons, but they weren’t a big deal. I had an amazing holiday. I wasn’t the only one. I noticed Vicky didn’t have much to say either. Finally, our therapist got to me. “Sierra, do you have anything to share?”

  I shook my head. “Nope. Ask Vicky.”

  “Thanks a lot.” Vicky giggled. “My stepdad barely showed up so we had a great time without him. I got a puppy. My brothers and sisters gave me a ton of presents for him. And my little sister got a kitten so our house is a total menagerie. Sierra got one too.”

  “A puppy?” Ingrid asked. “Or a kitten, Sierra?”

  “Both, I guess,” I said. “My mom’s new guy brought in a stray cat and her kittens to live in the feed-room to control the mouse population. And I got Charlie.” I took out my phone and pulled up the picture, then passed around my cell. “He’s majorly cute, but he totally hogs my bed.”

  That got a lot of laughs and the subject became pets. Everybody had opinions as to which were the best ones, dogs, cats, fish, birds. The meeting wound up being one of the easiest I’d ever attended. Since everyone was talking about animals, I could think about Tom. Did he actually intend to ask me out? What would I say when he did?

  It wasn’t that I hadn’t been to dances or movies with guys. I had the occasional date. However, most of the boys at school didn’t much care for horses and the idea that I had to be home for chores was off-putting. None of them wanted to wait while I cleaned the barn or fed the stock before I could leave. And if one of the mares went into labor or a gelding colicked, then I had to cancel. It wasn’t a way to keep a boyfriend.

  Mom didn’t say I couldn’t date. She just wasn’t hyper-enthusiastic and after watching her series of men, I didn’t blame her. I got to where I thought of them as “Passing Through” or P.T. for short. I’d called my last stepdad that from the day he arrived to the day that his newest buckle bunny took him away. I didn’t go as far as Autumn and tell him that he wasn’t the boss of me, but I ignored him when he tried to tell me what I could and couldn’t do.

  The meeting wound down with Ingrid’s words of wisdom and then she went around the group again. Each of us had to share a goal for the next week. When it got to me, I said, “I’m going to stay on top of my school work and try to show my new basketball coach that I’m a good player.”

  “Doesn’t he already know that?” Tom leaned forward to look at me. “You got a scholarship to play ball at Lincoln.”

  “Yeah, but Coach Norris has a different style than what we did at Mount Pilchuck.”

  “Why don’t you talk to Robin?” Vicky asked. “He coached her cross-country team and they’re the district champions.”

  “Sounds good,” I said.

  When the meeting ended a few minutes later, Vicky and I started cleaning up. Tom grabbed the vacuum and did the floor. Ingrid saw the other kids out and then came back as we finished. “Sierra, why didn’t you want to talk about your holidays tonight?”

  “Why would I? Eleanor’s dad got blitzed and passed out under the tree. Ron’s family had so many knock-down fights that the cops had to come. What was I supposed to say, Mrs. Claus? Gee, I got a ton of great presents, not just a puppy. My grandparents gave me a car and they’re paying the insurance. My family and friends are awesome and I had the best break ever. Nobody needed to hear that.”

  “Don’t forget the parties up at Shamrock.”
Tom started for the hall closet with the Hoover. “It made my New Year’s Day. I loved it when you dragged everybody out to the barn to sing “Happy Birthday” to your horse. That was hysterical.”

  “Hey if you want carrot cake and ice-cream, you have to pay the toll,” I said. “New Year’s is my horse’s real b-day, so of course we celebrate it.”

  “Did anyone make you uncomfortable during the holidays, Sierra?” Ingrid still did her helpful, snoopy routine. “Anything you want to share?”

  “My 4-H leader is a major witch and I want out of her club,” I said. “I need to talk to Mom about starting our own group up at Shamrock. I just haven’t figured out how.”

  “No way.” Vicky stopped bagging the leftover sandwiches. “Our own club? One for the pre-owners and boarders, right? This could be a major selling tool, Sierra. If the students want to join, they’d have to increase their riding time and choose favorite horses.”

  “How is your current leader a witch?” Ingrid asked. “What did she do?”

  I didn’t answer, unwilling to share what happened up at Salmon Pond or the way I lost my temper. I didn’t have a raging fit, but I still wasn’t willing to admit that I’d been snarky toward an adult. Instead, I eyed Vicky. “You’re so brilliant. I can take that to Mom and tell her this would be a fantastic way to increase the income at the barn. My grandparents would be onboard because they can’t afford to support the place. Will you help me make posters?”

  “You know it,” Vicky said.

  “Great.” I glanced at my watch. “I’ve got to go. Tom, did you need a ride home? Come on, Vicky. I’ll drop you.”

  “Okay.” Vicky grabbed her coat and backpack. “Tom, where is your car?”

  “At my apartment. I had to pay my rent. I’m saving my gas to go to the college for Running Start classes. Marysville isn’t that big. I can walk around town.”

  “So, when do you gas up?” I led the way to the door. “On pay-day?”