Off Course

by Georgina Bloomberg

  Jamie had a little frown on his face as he listened, but then he nodded. “Fine,” he said, running a hand over his hair, even though every strand was gelled perfectly into place as usual. “See that it doesn’t. But apology accepted—this time.”

  “Cool.” Zara let out a sigh of relief as Jamie checked his watch.

  “Got to go,” the trainer said. “Got a lesson in the indoor in five.” He reached over to pat the tall, gangly chestnut Fitz was leading. “Glad I got to see this guy go.”

  Tommi watched Jamie hurry off, then turned to Zara. “You got off easy,” she said. “He was pretty pissed when you didn’t show yesterday.”

  “Yeah.” Zara shrugged. “So what’d I miss?”

  “Kind of a lot, actually,” Fitz said. “Dani’s horse pitched her into the fence and broke her leg.”

  Zara rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right.”

  “No, Fitz is telling the truth for once,” Tommi said. “See, they were doing this tricky four stride line, and …” She went on to describe the accident, with Fitz jumping in to add a few gory details. Kate didn’t have much to say, as usual, though she nodded along with the story.

  “Whoa,” Zara said when they finished. “That’s a serious bummer.” She didn’t know Dani all that well, but the girl seemed pretty hyper. Being stuck in a cast for however many weeks couldn’t be fun for someone like that. Or anyone, really.

  She drifted along as the others led the horse down the tidy stone dust path toward the barn.

  “So where were you yesterday, anyway?” Fitz asked. “Is that true about your mom?”

  “Every word, believe it or not.” Zara grimaced. “Although I may have left a few things out. Like my idiot cousin, for instance …”

  She quickly told them the rest. How Stacie had fooled Zac into thinking she was some paragon of responsibility. How as soon as he was out of sight, she’d traded in her khakis for skankwear and started hitting the clubs and throwing parties at the loft every night. How she’d taken off with some random guy over the weekend, leaving Zara to cover for her.

  “So do you really think you can pull it off?” Tommi asked when she’d finished. “Hide the whole Stacie thing from your mom?”

  “We’ll find out, I guess.” Zara was tired of talking about it. It was bad enough she had to live it. “Anyway, I figured I’d better come see my horses just in case I end up grounded for life or something.”

  Fitz grinned and gave a light tug on the lead line as the tall, skinny chestnut stretched his long neck toward the grass growing beside the path. “Come on, Kate, let’s get our big boy inside and cleaned up.”

  “Yeah.” Kate smiled and rubbed the horse’s face as it turned and nuzzled at her. She looked even spacier than usual, and Zara wondered if she’d heard anything the rest of them had said in the past five minutes.

  The barn’s big double doors were standing open to catch any stray breeze that might cut the stifling August heat. Zara hung back to let the horse and his little band of groupies enter the barn first, then peeled off in the direction of Keeper’s stall.

  “Later,” she called to the others, not bothering to wait for a response. Even though she was starting to think of them as friends, at least sort of, she didn’t like to count on them feeling the same. Too easy to get knocked on your ass that way, and she had enough problems right now as it was.

  As she rounded the corner, Zara checked her watch. Two thirty already. She’d have to hurry if she wanted to squeeze in a ride today. Or maybe she should just feed Keeper a few carrots and call it a day. She definitely wanted to be there when her mother got home that evening. Not that she had any clue what she was going to tell her this time …

  “Zara! Oh good, you’re here!”

  Zara winced. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Summer rushing toward her with a big, goofy grin on her face.

  Summer skidded to a stop beside her. “Where were you yesterday?” she exclaimed. “You totally missed my big news! I’m having a Sweet Sixteen party at the Washington Crossing show! We’re renting out the old mansion, and there’s going to be a band and like a million guests and really awesome food and—”

  “Yeah, I heard,” Zara cut her off, putting as much excitement as she felt into her voice. Exactly none.

  As usual, Summer didn’t seem to notice. “Oh, you heard about it already? That’s cool.” She beamed. “I guess word spreads fast around here. Especially huge news like this, right? Anyway, you probably heard that, like, the whole barn is invited. But I wanted to make sure to invite you personally, you know? Oh! And there are going to be lots of adults there and stuff, so like, if your parents wanted to come they’re totally welcome, too.”

  Yeah. Of course they were. Zara could only imagine how over-the-top, wet-her-pants psyched Summer would be if Zac Trask and Gina Girard showed up at her dorky little birthday bash.

  “Better not alert the paparazzi on that one,” Zara told Summer. “They’ve both made plans to be in other countries to avoid your party.”

  “What?” Summer’s smile faltered. Zara could almost see the little wheels in the girl’s head turning as she tried to figure out whether Zara was joking.

  Even though Summer was getting on her nerves as usual, Zara felt a flash of guilt. A tiny one, anyway.

  “Kidding. Duh,” she said, rolling her eyes. “But yeah, they’ll both be out of town then.”

  “Oh.” Summer giggled. “Good one, Zara! You’re coming, though, right? I mean, you’ll be at the show already, so obviously you’ll come. Right?”

  Before Zara had to answer, there was a sudden shout from the other end of the barn. It sounded like Fitz.

  “What’s going on?” Zara wondered. “Hope the new racehorse didn’t decide the wash stall looked like a starting gate.”

  “I know, right?” Summer wrinkled her nose. “What was Fitz thinking, bringing some scrawny half-trained thing like that into the barn?”

  Not really the point, but Zara didn’t bother explaining. “Let’s go see what’s up.”

  She headed down the aisle, not bothering to see if Summer was following. The wash stalls were located in the center block of the barn at the opposite end from the feed room. They consisted of several large, airy bays with drains in the floor and hoses on overhead booms.

  At the moment only one of the stalls was occupied. Fitz’s new Thoroughbred was watching with pricked ears as Fitz, Kate, and Tommi surrounded someone in the aisle just outside the stall. Zara’s eyes widened when she saw who it was.

  “Is that Dani?” she said in surprise. “Whoa, didn’t think we’d see her around here so soon.”

  “No kidding,” Summer said. Then she rushed forward, shoving Kate aside to grab Dani. “Oh wow, Dani! Welcome back!”

  Dani grinned sheepishly, leaning on one crutch to awkwardly return Summer’s hug. “Hi, Summer. I figured I’d better stop in and show you all I’m still alive,” she joked. “I also want to visit Red and let him know it wasn’t his fault and I still love him.” When she noticed Zara behind Summer, she lifted one hand. “Hey, Zara,” she added. “You totally missed my involuntary dismount yesterday.”

  “Yeah, I heard it was pretty spectacular.” Zara stared at Dani’s cast, which covered her left leg from just above her toes to just below the knee. “You okay?”

  “She got a nine on the somersault from the Russian judge, but then completely blew the landing,” Fitz said.

  “Very funny.” Dani stuck out her tongue at him.

  “Don’t listen to him. We’re all glad to see you,” Kate said softly. Shooting Dani a smile, she ducked under the cross-ties and started working on the horse’s far side with a sweat scraper.

  “So Marissa said you had to have surgery,” Summer said to Dani.

  “Yeah, that was fun.” Dani grimaced. “But I guess it went okay. I’m not supposed to put any weight on it for a while, but the doctors say I should be okay in about six weeks.”

  “Six weeks? That’s not too bad,” Tommi said. “Yo
u could be back in the saddle in time for Harrisburg.”

  “I hope so.” Dani leaned on her crutches. “Anyway, I’ll probably need all six weeks to convince my parents that I’m not going to—”

  “There you are!” a loud voice rang out, cutting her off.

  A girl Zara had never seen before stomped toward them. She was about their age, with overprocessed reddish-brown hair and hoochie-mama cutoffs. The girl ignored Zara and the others, her angry gaze focused on the horse in the wash stall. She jabbed a finger at it.

  “I can’t believe you stole him right out from under me!” she yelled.

  Kate took a step out of the stall, gripping her sweat scraper so hard her knuckles were white. “Nat!” she exclaimed.

  Kate felt frozen in place. It was like one of those dreams where terrible things happened and she had no idea how to stop them.

  Only this time, it was way too real.

  “I can’t believe it!” Nat exclaimed again, her face bright red as she stared from Flame to Kate and back again. “I mean, even when they told me he was here, I was sure there was some mistake. My so-called best friend wouldn’t do that to me. No way.” Her words dripped with acid.

  “Listen, Nat.” Fitz stepped forward and touched her arm, gingerly, as if trying to soothe a skittish horse. “Maybe you and I and Kate should go somewhere and talk this out. Because really it’s all my fault. I just couldn’t resist—”

  “Get off of me.” Nat shook her arm free, her glare still fixed on Kate. “Ain’t it sweet that your rich boyfriend wants to cover for you, huh, Katie? Guess you’ve really got him and his wallet wrapped around your finger.”

  “Nat!” Kate gasped, her face flaming. She didn’t dare look around at the others. But out of the corner of her eye, she could see Zara and Dani trading a look. Fitz was biting his lip, seeming at a loss for words for once. Summer was just staring with open curiosity.

  Tommi cleared her throat. “Look, that’s enough,” she told Nat. “You don’t know what you’re—”

  “Shut the hell up,” Nat snapped. “I’m talking to Katie, not any of you rich bitches, okay?”

  “Don’t talk to her like that,” Kate said. She meant it to sound stern, but the words came out weak and soft, flopping into the tense moment and just sort of lying there.

  Nat stalked toward her. “You knew how much I was into this horse,” she hissed. “And you stole him out from under me anyway. I was supposed to buy him, you know. Was already working out a deal with the Tanners.”

  “R-really?” Nat hadn’t mentioned that before, and Kate wasn’t sure whether to believe her. Why would she spend her hard-earned pennies buying a horse she could ride for free anytime she wanted?

  Then again, why wouldn’t she want to buy a horse like Flame? He was special—one in a million. Not that she’d imagined Nat realized it …

  “Yeah, really,” Nat spit out. “But you were just too jealous to let me keep him, weren’t you? Couldn’t stand to see me with a nicer horse than the overpriced dumbbloods at your fancy-schmancy barn.” She waved a hand to encompass all of Pelham Lane. “So you sweet-talked Richie Rich here into snagging him out from under me.”

  “Hey,” Fitz spoke up again. “That’s not true. Kate didn’t even know I was buying him until he was already here. So if you’re going to scratch someone’s eyes out, it should be mine.”

  “Whatever.” Nat’s eyes flicked over to him before settling on Kate again. “Your girl made her choice, and she’ll have to deal with it. So have a nice life, Katie. It’s been real.”

  She spun on her heel and pushed past the others, banging into one of Dani’s crutches on her way and practically knocking her over. A second later she was gone.

  “Whoa,” Zara breathed. “What the hell was that?”

  Tommi stepped toward Kate from one direction and Fitz from the other. Both looked concerned.

  “You all right, beautiful?” Fitz asked.

  “Kate …,” Tommi began.

  But Kate could feel her eyes filling with tears, and she knew that if she tried to speak they’d spill over. She’d had enough humiliation today; she didn’t need to add to it.

  Shaking her head, she turned and raced blindly down the aisle.

  Chapter Six

  Ludlow Street was crowded and raucous, with blaring music pouring out of multiple storefronts—rock, hip-hop, alternaweird. It was only ten o’clock, so there were still plenty of tourists and people walking their dogs mixing with the early-bird portion of the nighttime contingent, giving the entire block a strange sort of chaotic energy. The Middle Eastern restaurant around the corner emitted regular whiffs of exotic spices that hung in the humid air and tickled Tommi’s nose as she stood in line outside the club where Alex was DJing that night.

  “You okay?” Parker asked, nudging her in the side.

  Tommi realized she hadn’t heard anything her friends had said for the past five minutes. She’d shared a couple of cabs down here with Parker, Court, and their other friends James and Duckface.

  “Huh?” she said, glancing at Parker. “Oh, yeah, fine. Just thinking.”

  “I know what she’s thinking about,” Court put in, tugging at the hem of her too-short minidress, which she’d bought on the shopping spree with Tommi the previous day. “She’s still mad at me for tattling to Daddy about our trip down to Philly this weekend.”

  “Uh-oh, girl fight!” Duckface crowed, pumping his fist. A couple of college-age girls in line ahead of them glanced back at him over their Spandex-clad shoulders and giggled.

  Tommi just rolled her eyes, not bothering to respond. Sure, she’d been a little annoyed with Court yesterday—but hadn’t she maybe been secretly a little bit relieved, too? After all, it had taken the decision about whether to go or not out of her hands.

  Anyway, it was done now. Once her father got an idea in his head, there was no changing his mind. And ever since Tommi had told him she wanted to become a horse pro after high school, he’d been determined to convince her of the value of a more traditional career path, which definitely started off with a college education. That meant Tommi was going to Penn this weekend, and that was that. No question, no guilt.

  In any case, that wasn’t what was distracting her right now. She was worrying about Kate. That had been quite a scene at the barn today. Tommi still couldn’t believe Kate’s so-called friend Natalie had crashed in like that and reamed her up one side and down the other in front of everyone. Even Fitz hadn’t been able to cheer Kate up after that; she’d spent the rest of the afternoon moping around the barn, working even harder than usual.

  “’Scuse me,” Tommi mumbled to her friends. “I just need to make a quick call.”

  Stepping out of line, she found a relatively quiet spot in an apartment doorway and hit Kate’s number on her phone. It rang four or five times, then went to voice mail.

  “Damn,” Tommi whispered, hanging up without leaving a message. She hoped Kate wasn’t still at the barn. Okay, so it sounded like things were pretty tense for her at home. That didn’t mean she needed to burn herself out working 24/7. At least she’d eaten the sandwich Tommi had brought her from the diner. That was something, anyway.

  She rejoined her friends. “Everything okay?” James asked.

  “Sure. Just checking in on a friend.” Tommi heard someone calling her name. Glancing that way, she saw Alex winding through the crowd in their direction.

  “You made it!” he exclaimed when he reached her, sounding breathless and happy and looking cuter than ever with his light brown eyes glittering with excitement and his slim torso encased in a vintage punk T-shirt.

  “Wouldn’t miss it.” Tommi tipped her head back, letting her eyes fall shut briefly as he kissed her. She did her best to let her worries about Kate fall away. It wasn’t as if she could do anything to help her right now, so she might as well enjoy the evening. “Someone who knows the DJ told me this is the place to be tonight.”

  Alex grinned. “Oh, yeah? I’m just here f
or the cute girls myself.”

  “Really? See any around here?” Parker pretended to peer off into the distance until Court punched him in the shoulder, which made Duckface and James laugh until they snorted.

  “Don’t pay any attention to them,” Court told Alex. “We’re all psyched to be here.”

  “Awesome. Thanks for coming, guys.” Alex ran a hand through his spiky dark hair and glanced around at the crowd before his eyes came to rest on Tommi again. “Your friend Zara decide not to come?”

  Tommi felt a twinge of annoyance. Alex was a huge Zac Trask fan. He’d been totally geeked when he’d found out that Zac’s daughter rode at Tommi’s barn. At first Tommi had thought it was kind of cute. After about the third time he’d buttonholed Zara and talked her ear off? Maybe not so cute anymore.

  But hey, nobody was perfect, right? And one of the things she liked most about him was his serious passion for music. So she let it slide. Again.

  “Nope, she couldn’t make it,” she said, not bothering to tell him that she hadn’t even invited Zara tonight.

  “Too bad.” Alex shrugged and peered up and down the line again. “Looks like a pretty good crowd so far, though, huh?”

  “Yeah.” Duckface wriggled his skinny hips. “It going to be a par-tay!”

  Court rolled her eyes. “Really?” she said. “Par-tay? What is this, nineteen eighty-five?”

  Duckface just grinned and grabbed her, spinning her into a weird little square dance while Parker and James watched and cheered.

  Tommi took advantage of their distraction to press up against Alex and lower her voice. “So what song are you going to play for me tonight?” she murmured.

  “Ah, ah, ah!” he scolded, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her toward him. “It’s a surprise. You’ll just have to wait and see.”

  “Hey, break it up!” Duckface said as Tommi and Alex kissed again. “Too much PDA.”