Off Course

by Georgina Bloomberg

  “Hmm.” Zara grabbed her bridle and grooming kit and headed out of the tack room. She didn’t bother to check whether Summer followed. She knew she would.

  She headed for the nearest grooming stall. Summer was still blathering about her party, but this time Zara didn’t even bother pretending to listen. She’d spent most of the car ride up stressing over how to keep her Stacie scam going for that key final day and a half. She hadn’t had any brilliant ideas yet, so instead she let her mind drift back to last night. Specifically, Marcus.

  Marcus. Sigh. She was pretty sure that little hearts and butterflies fluttered up from her when she even thought about him. That didn’t happen too often, and she wasn’t sure how long it would last. But for now, she’d take it. At least it kept her mind off the whole stupid Stacie situation.

  “Do you have a lesson with Jamie today?” Summer asked as she set Zara’s saddle on the rack in the grooming stall. “He wants me to do a couple before we leave for Washington Crossing. But I’m not sure I’ll have time, what with all the party planning. It’s crazy! I have so many tastings and stuff I can barely fit them all in.”

  “No lesson. Just hacking.” Zara hung up her bridle—specifically, Keeper’s bridle. She’d planned to do a fun, easy ride on him today. Until Summer had mentioned it, she’d almost forgotten that the Washington Crossing show was coming up so soon.

  Zara frowned, realizing that the horses would be leaving for the show in just a couple of days. She’d barely ridden Ellie in the past week, and she was sure Jamie had noticed. He noticed everything that went on at his barn. Maybe she should change her plans, ask Jamie if she could do a quick schooling session on the mare instead of hacking Keeper? The trainer would probably eat that up.

  Her phone buzzed, interrupting her thoughts. Zara smiled when she saw who the text was from.

  Last night was fun. Can we get together again sometime? Marcus

  Zara smiled. Major hearts and butterflies.

  “What?” Summer peered at her. “Are you okay? You look weird. Did you get a text from your parents? Are they coming to my party?”

  “Nope, sorry,” Zara said. “It’s just a friend.”

  Shoving her phone back in the pocket of her breeches, she headed out of the grooming stall. Minutes later she was clipping a lead shank onto Keeper’s halter. Okay, so she knew Jamie would probably love for her to school Ellie instead. But since when did Zara do what anyone else wanted her to do? She just wasn’t in the mood for practicing relaxed canter departs and counting strides and stuff like that today.

  She led her horse into the grooming stall and clipped him into the cross-ties. Summer was still chirping away about her party, but her soliloquy about the guest list or whatever was interrupted by a breathless call of “Sorry, sorry, I’m here!” from farther down the aisle.

  Glancing out of the grooming stall, Zara saw Kate jogging along. She was pink-faced, and her hair was a total wreck. Not that that was anything new. The girl was cute, but she seriously needed a personal stylist.

  Summer saw her, too. “Where were you?” she demanded. “I was looking for you earlier to clean up this really gross bird poop on my horse’s stall window.”

  “Sorry, I’m way late today,” Kate said. “Have you guys seen Jamie? Did he get tacked up for the first lesson okay?”

  Zara didn’t bother to listen to Summer’s reply. For one thing, she was too surprised. She was pretty sure this had to be the first time ever that she’d arrived at the barn before Kate. She wouldn’t have been surprised to find out the girl actually slept in a spare stall.

  “So, Little Miss Tardy,” she said with a smirk. “Hot date last night or something? We’ve all been there.”

  Kate shot her a startled glance, then smiled uncertainly. “Um, no, just, um, you know. Overslept.”

  “Whatever.” Zara could tell from Kate’s expression that there was probably more to the story, but she wasn’t going to push it. Turning toward Keeper, she clucked for him to lift his hoof so she could pick it out. Time to get him tacked up so she could get away from Summer and go back to thinking about Marcus.

  “Good boy.” Zara gave Keeper a pat, then swung down from the saddle right outside the barn doors. She’d had a nice ride, starting off in the ring and then going for a short hack around one of the pastures. She was running up her stirrups when Miguel bustled past pushing a wheelbarrow full of shavings.

  “Have a good ride?” the head groom asked, pausing. “Need any help untacking?”

  “It’s okay, I’ve got it,” Zara told him. “Thanks anyway.”

  Miguel nodded and moved on. Zara led Keeper inside and into one of the wash stalls. Someone had turned on a radio somewhere nearby, and it was playing that crazy catchy “Forgive Me” song that was topping the charts right now. Zara smirked, knowing how her father would grumble if he heard it—he hated that kind of bubblegum pop, though he’d never admit it in public.

  She hummed along with the song as she quickly pulled off Keeper’s tack and hosed him down. She was in a good mood. Not only had the ride been fun, but she’d spent much of it imagining all the ways she and Marcus might “get together,” as he’d texted. It was definitely a nice change of pace from thinking about Stacie all the freaking time.

  Soon Keeper was back in his stall, munching on the handful of baby carrots Zara had swiped from the barn fridge. She turned the horse’s fan up to high, then gave him a pat. When she turned away, she saw Ellie watching her from the next stall.

  “Hey, girlie.” Zara stepped over and fished one last carrot out of her pocket. She felt a pang of guilt as the mare crunched down on it. Should she take Ellie out for a quick flatwork session at least? Maybe even see if Jamie could squeeze her in for a lesson today?

  Before she could decide, she heard a shout from around the corner. Then a burst of loud laughter.

  “Better go see what’s going on.” Zara gave Ellie one last pat, then hurried down the aisle.

  When she rounded the corner, she saw a small crowd gathered outside the tack room. In the center of it was Dani. She was leaning on her crutches, grinning as Marissa, Fitz, and Summer chattered at her excitedly. Oh, and Kate was there, too, right inside the tack room—it took Zara an extra moment to notice her, since she was just standing there with a broom in one hand, smiling at Dani but being quiet as a mouse. As usual.

  “Hey,” Zara said, hurrying over to join in. “How’s it going, Dani?”

  “Great, now that I’m here!” Dani hobbled over and threw her arms around Zara, squeezing her into a tight hug. “I’ve missed all you guys so much! I even missed the smell of horse manure!”

  “Are you saying I smell like horse manure?” Zara joked, a little breathless after the girl’s super enthusiastic hug.

  “Ha!” Dani barked. “No, not you, sorry. Just—just everything! I’ve been so bored at home!”

  Zara smiled. “I hear you.” It was cute how excited Dani was to be back.

  “Guess what, Zara,” Summer said. “Even though Dani obviously can’t ride in the show, she’s still coming to my party.”

  “Wouldn’t miss it.” Dani grinned. “It’s, like, the social event of the season, right?”

  “Totally!” Summer replied, though Zara caught Fitz rolling his eyes in the background.

  “Come in here, you guys,” Fitz spoke up, cocking his head toward the tack room. “Marissa and I were just helping Kate knock the cobwebs out of the corners.”

  Zara drifted into the room along with the others. Fitz and Marissa grabbed the other two brooms, so she just perched on the bandage trunk next to Summer. “So what have you been doing while you can’t ride?” she asked Dani, who was carefully lowering herself onto a stool.

  Dani sighed. “Being bored to death, mostly,” she said. “My parents want me to, like, get started on my school’s fall reading list. Can you believe it? I told them I’m not that bored.”

  Marissa laughed. “Seriously!”

  “Anyway, I’ve mostly just been r
eading magazines and messing around online and stuff.” Dani shrugged. “But enough about my boring life—what’s been going on with you guys? It’s so so great to be at the barn again! I feel almost like our group lesson just finished and we’re waiting for the pizza to come …”

  “Yeah, except that Tommi’s not here,” Summer pointed out.

  Zara realized she was right. “She’s probably out schooling one of her horses or something,” she said.

  “Nope.” Marissa shook her head. “She’s away this weekend. Went to help one of her friends from school move into college down in Philadelphia.”

  “Oh.” Zara shrugged. “Sorry, must have missed that. I’ve been a little, um, distracted lately.”

  “Do tell!” Dani’s eyes lit up, and she leaned closer. “Have anything to do with that cute guy you were seeing? What was his name again—Greg or something?”

  Zara wrinkled her nose. “You mean Grant? Nah, he’s history.” She hesitated, half tempted to tell them about Marcus. But she held back, not wanting to jinx things.

  “So why are you so distracted?” Marissa asked Zara.

  Zara shrugged again. “My mom’s in town for a few days.”

  “Really?” Summer said before she could go on. “Wait, I thought you said she was out of the country, and that’s why she can’t come to my party?”

  “She is,” Zara said. “I mean, she was—and she will be again soon. She flies back to Vancouver on Monday.”

  “Oh.” Summer’s face fell. “Well, speaking of my party, Dani, you’ll never believe the menu the caterers have planned …”

  Zara was saved from paying attention to any more of that by the buzz of her phone. She pulled it out and saw that it was a text from Grant. Speak of the devil.

  She scanned the message:

  I need to talk to u. pls give me 1 more chance?

  Zara frowned. The guy didn’t give up, did he? She deleted the text, then stuck the phone back in her pocket.

  “Hey Dani,” she said, interrupting Summer’s usual party blather. “Got a pen? We should all totally sign your cast.”

  Kate finished decobwebbing and set aside her broom. She’d only been half listening to Summer talk about her Sweet Sixteen party. When everyone started clamoring to sign Dani’s cast, Kate took advantage of the distraction and slipped toward the door.

  “Where you going, gorgeous?” Fitz asked, stepping over and touching her on the shoulder.

  She forced a smile. “I’ll be back in a bit. Just need to take care of a few other quick chores.”

  Ducking out before he could respond, she hurried down the aisle without looking back. It was true—she really did have about a million things to do. And no wonder, considering she’d arrived at the barn a full hour and a half later than usual. As sweet as Fitz was being, she couldn’t help feeling a flash of annoyance about that. Why had he let her sleep so late, knowing she was supposed to be at work? In any case, while she was glad to see Dani back at the barn, Kate definitely didn’t have time to hang out all day.

  Besides that, she really needed a few minutes alone. It was weird being with Fitz 24/7. He took up a lot of space in a room, leaving her feeling like she barely had time to breathe, let alone think.

  Stepping into an empty stall, she pulled her cell phone out of the back pocket of her jeans and flipped it open. She hesitated for just a second before punching in a familiar number.

  “Katie?” Her father’s voice sounded weary and a little distracted. “Hey, everything okay?”

  “Sure. I was just calling to, um, check in.” Kate bit her lip. “You know—find out how everything’s going.”

  “It’s going.” His clipped tone told her all she needed to know.

  “Oh. Well, I was thinking, since I’m leaving for this next show early Tuesday …” She took a deep breath. “Uh, Nat wants me to stay for the rest of the weekend and take off straight from her place. Is that all right?”

  “Hmm.” There was a pause, and Kate was pretty sure she heard the sound of shuffling papers in the background. Was he even paying attention? “Natalie’s parents okay with that plan?” he asked.

  “Yeah, they’re fine with it.” Kate hated lying to her father. Actually she hated lying, period. But in this case, it definitely beat the alternative.

  Another pause. “Okay,” her father said at last. “Might as well get in your fun before school starts, eh? Tell Nat and her folks I said hi.”

  “I will. Thanks, Dad.” Kate clutched the phone to her ear, a sudden wave of something—regret? nostalgia?—washing over her. “See you next Sunday.”

  She hung up, then stared at her phone for a second. What if her father decided to call Nat’s house to check up on her? Normally it wouldn’t be an issue. Kate had covered for Nat zillions of times when she wanted to sneak around with a guy or something. Should Kate try calling her, tell her what was going on? It had been almost a week, and Nat had a short attention span. Maybe she’d calmed down about the whole Flame thing by now.

  Then again, maybe not. When it came right down to it, Kate didn’t quite have the nerve to find out. Not now, with so much else on her mind. She’d just have to take her chances. Anyway, her father trusted her. And with everything else that was going on, he probably wouldn’t even remember she was gone.

  She stuck the phone in her pocket and stepped out of the stall. Thinking about Nat had reminded her—she hadn’t visited Flame yet today. Checking her front pocket for the peppermints she’d stuck in there earlier, she hurried down the aisle.

  Tommi leaned on her elbow, texting with one hand.

  “What are you doing? Checking in with the boyfriend?” Abby asked lazily, barely flicking her dark brown eyes toward Tommi. All five girls were hanging out on College Green, the grassy open area at the center of campus. The humidity that had been hanging over the entire Eastern Seaboard had lifted, resulting in a perfect late-summer day. Dozens of people were reading, sleeping, or sunbathing on the grass, while others wandered along the pedestrian walkways that crisscrossed the green.

  “Not even close,” Tommi told Abby. “I’m just texting my friend Kate. You know—seeing how everything’s going at the barn.”

  Court rolled her eyes. She was deathly afraid of the sun, so she was wearing a wide-rimmed straw hat and a gauzy long-sleeved linen shirt.

  “You are seriously addicted to that place, Aaronson,” she commented, fanning a gnat away from her face. “There’s more to life than horses, you know.”

  Tommi just shrugged, not bothering to explain that she wasn’t texting to check in on her horses. She knew Jamie and his staff were on top of that. She just wanted to touch base with Kate, make sure she was okay and remembering to eat. She sent the text, then sat up and stretched.

  “So what are we going to do later?” she asked the others.

  Brooke glanced up from the course catalog she was flipping through. “I told Jon and Rashad we’d meet up with them before dinner,” she said. “Until then, guess we’re on our own. Anybody have any brilliant ideas?”

  Tommi shook her head, and Court just shrugged.

  “I’m happy staying here and working on my tan,” Abby said.

  Mariah didn’t answer. She was watching a guy walk past. He was clean-cut and broad-shouldered, dressed in khaki shorts and a Penn Lacrosse T-shirt.

  “Be careful, M,” Court told her with a smirk. “You’re drooling.”

  “What?” Mariah swiped at her mouth, then frowned. “Very funny.”

  Abby laughed. “Hey, I don’t blame you. Plenty of eye candy around here.” She glanced over at a bookishly handsome guy in his twenties reading on a bench nearby.

  Tommi nodded. It was so easy to get caught up in her little worlds of barn-school-friends, so easy to forget there was a whole other world out there. Even living in a city the size of New York.

  “I could hang out here all day,” she commented, turning to squint at a trio of guys playing Frisbee nearby. “I love people watching.”

  “Me
too. At least when those people are hot college men.” Court grinned.

  Tommi didn’t answer. One of the Frisbee guys had just turned to retrieve a wild kick and caught her staring. Oops. Tommi almost turned away.

  But she shrugged off the impulse. What the hell? This weekend was about trying new things, right? That included meeting new people.

  “Nice moves!” she called out, waving to Mr. Frisbee.

  He looked surprised. His buddies turned to see what was going on, and almost immediately started ribbing him.

  Brooke giggled. “Nice work, Tommi. I think you just made that nerd’s day.”

  “Shut up, he’s not a nerd.” Tommi watched the guy’s cheeks turn red. “Okay, maybe he’s a little nerdy, but that’s cool. I like smart guys.”

  Moments later, Mr. Nerd and his two friends were standing over the girls. “Hi there, ladies,” one of the other guys said. “How’s it going? Gabe here wanted to come over and say hello.”

  He shoved Mr. Nerd—aka Gabe—toward Tommi. Gabe stumbled over Court’s Diet Coke can, spilling it onto the grass, then shot all the girls a sheepish grin.

  “Uh, yeah,” he said. “That is, I was just about to head over to the University Museum for this lecture, right? It’s about ancient Egypt. I thought maybe some of you might want to go. It should be really interesting—I had the prof who’s giving the talk for Anthro last semester, and he’s a really good speaker.”

  “So you’re upperclassmen?” Abby sat up, suddenly looking more interested.

  “Sophomores,” Gabe said. “This is Jared, and that’s Keith.”

  “Are you an anthropology major?” Tommi asked Gabe. “I always thought that kind of stuff sounded really interesting.”

  “You did?” Mariah asked. “Funny you never mentioned it before.”

  Tommi ignored her, smiling at Gabe. “Anyway, I’d love to check out that lecture. When’s it start?”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Zara yawned as she wandered into the barn office the next morning. There was a coffeemaker in there, and she was in serious need of caffeine. Jamie was sitting behind the desk, bent over some paperwork.