“I can’t believe it!” I hugged her, then shoved her. “How long were you up there?”
“Long enough to know that Melissa needs some major cheering up. She seriously seems depressed!”
Even I had to laugh at that one.
Khloe approached a girl and boy—definitely high school students—who were headed into the theater.
“OMG! Khloe!” But it was too late. I put my hand over my eyes, spreading my fingers just enough to see a tiny bit.
“My roomie, Lauren.” She pointed at me, and I felt my face go watermelon pink. “She just got into glee club!And she rides horses!And speaks French!And? Boys luuurve her!”
My watermelon face turned into a tomato.
“I’m not kidding,” she told them, laughing. “Boy magnet. We’re going to celebrate! By the way, my name is Khloe Kinsella, and you have just been given a PSA about my new roommate. And,” she said, with a serious and sincere expression, “she is my new best friend.”
“Congratulations,” the older girl said. “Enjoy your celebration with your new BFF.” She winked at me, heading inside. “And nice to meet you, Khloe Kinsella!” she shouted.
“Khlo!” I said, laughing harder and harder. “They were probably sophomores!”
She rolled her eyes. “Please. I’m so happy for you that I would have said the same to the headmistress herself.”
I looked at her, an eyebrow arched.
“Okay,” Khloe said, rolling her eyes playfully. “Maybe not the headmistress.”
“I have to text my sister!” I said. “She’ll be so excited that I got into glee!”
I sent Becca a BBM. Made it!!! J First glee club practice is nxt Weds!
Becca, really the best sister ever, must have been waiting by her phone. KNEW IT! YAY! So proud of u, LaurBell. Do u want 2 tell Mom & Dad?
Lauren: Mom & Dad. Tell them. Riding lesson. Tell them I’ll call ltr.
Becca: Will do. OK. Have a good lesson JJ Mom & Dad will b so xcited!
I locked my phone and my eyes misted. “I wish you could meet Becca.”
Khloe smiled. “If she comes to Family Day, we have to meet. Know about Family Day?”
We turned down the sidewalk. “No,” I said. “What is it?” A slight breeze picked up. The scent of horses, hay, and freshly cut grass wafted through the air.
“It’s late in the fall,” Khloe said. “Parents, siblings, grandparents, et cetera, come visit. It’s usually the first Friday of November. The family gets to shadow the student. Please note: The food in the caf gets mysteriously better the very week of Family Day. Coincidence? I think not.”
Khloe and I laughed.
“Last year,” Khloe said, “I was so excited to see my mom and dad. They got here, met my roommate, and came to science class with me. Then my lab partner passed me a note. Dad saw the note and ‘whispered’ to me about it. Side note? My father damaged his hearing when he was young and at war. Roadside bomb, thank God no one got hurt . . . well, except his eardrums. So now he’s superloud about everything.”
“What did he say?” I asked.
“Nothing. He yelled, ‘You like this boy? He passes you notes in class?’”
My mouth dropped open.
Khloe continued, “So, after the whole class finished laughing hysterically —oh, and did I mention that yes, I was crushing on him?”
“Oh, Khlo . . . ,” I said, “What’d you do? Who was it?”
“Well, I stood up, unfolded the note, and said, ‘Hi, everyone. I’m about to read something my father wants to hear.”
“You didn’t!”
“Sure did,” she said. “So I read it. ‘KK: Do you have any extra paper? I ran out.’ Really romantic, huh, Dad?”
“No!” I said, giggling.
“I got sent to the headmistress’s office. And when I got there and explained what had happened word for word? She stared at me for thirty whole seconds before laughing like a hyena for five then ten minutes. So, see? No matter how much you love your family . . .”
“Be prepared for disaster on Family Day.”
Khloe nodded.
“Oh, Khlo. Who,” I asked my new BFF, “was the guy?”
Khloe blushed. She covered her face with both hands. “Drew Adams.”
MISS YOU, LOVE YOU, MEAN IT!
BACK IN MY ROOM I ERASED AN ANSWER ON my multiple-choice English take-home quiz for the sixth time. I rubbed so hard, a hole appeared in the paper.
“Ugh,” I groaned, tossing my pencil down and massaging my scalp. (Dad always did it soo well—mine was puny compared to the awesome scalp massages he gave me. Mom said it’s one of the reasons she married him.)
Khloe played with the edges of her script. “Have you thought about seeing the guidance counselor?”
“Why would I do that?” I asked.
“You’re so stressed over classes, and you have every right to be—you’re taking a lot of advanced ones. I know I keep bringing it up, but have you thought about dropping any?”
“Not once,” I said. “I expected classes to be this hard! It’s only the first week. Soon I’ll figure out how to balance everything.”
“It is the first week,” Khloe said. “And you’ve been up all night once, and it seems like you will be again tonight. I wish you’d have time to enjoy Canterwood a little, too.”
“I am. I just made glee club! And the riding team is great. I promise, if I still feel overwhelmed in a week or two, I’ll go talk to Ms. Utz.”
Khloe smiled. “Good.” She went back to reading her script.
When my phone buzzed on my desk, I answered instantly.
“Bri!”
“Laur!”
I wanted to hug her through the phone.
“Why does your phone sound all echoey?” I asked.
She laughed. “You caught me. I just finished homework and I’m putting the finishing touches on my new clean room.”
Brielle and I had been two of a kind—both neat freaks and overachievers. I felt like I was there in her room. I could smell the vanilla cupcake candles she always burned. I imagined lying on her bed, our stomachs down, our feet wrapped behind us as we watched Sin City Celebutantes.
“I miss you so much,” Bri said. “I’m so glad we’re finally on the phone.”
“Me too. And it’s only been a couple of days!”
“How’s everything?” Bri asked. “You sound . . . meh.”
“Meh” was the word we’d all come up with at Union to describe a bad mood when we didn’t even know where it came from.
And Brielle was right—I felt “meh.”
“Well,” I finally said, “I had a bad riding lesson today.”
“What happened?” Brielle asked.
“Whisper started responding to verbal cues again. She cantered when Mr. Conner said ‘canter,’ and today she trotted when he said ‘trot.’ Remember how she did that over the summer?”
“Right,” Brielle said. “You and Kim worked with her on that. She started up again?”
I rubbed my forehead. “Yes! And I don’t even know when she’s going to do it, and she’ll catch me off guard every time. It throws off everyone’s focus during the lesson. I don’t know what to do.”
Bri was quiet for a moment. “Remember what you and Kim did together?”
“Kim called verbal commands and I made sure Whisper waited for my signals and if she didn’t, I held her to another gait.”
“Have you tried that?”
“Not in my lesson,” I said. “There are five other people who are there to learn.”
“What about someone from your class?”
I turned my head to look at Khloe. “Khlo, do you have any free time this week?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” Khloe said, clearly having eavesdropped the whole time. “Of course I’ll help.”
I smiled at her and then turned back to the phone. “Thanks, Bri. That was a genius idea. I’m going to work with Whisper and kick that habit.”
“I know you can,” Brielle
said. “You did it before. You know, I’m glad I called you.”
“Me too. So, what’s going on at Yates?”
“Oh. My. God. So much. You won’t believe it! So, Ana and Jeremy are, like, totally into each other. Seriously. It’s PDA every five seconds! You’d be so grossed out. And plus, Will is . . .”
I let Brielle talk until she ran out of breath. Everything she said made me miss home and Yates. I wasn’t there to see Ana and her first boyfriend. I wouldn’t see Tay’s swim meets. Brielle and I wouldn’t be shopping together. The three of us used to know every bit of school gossip. We were on the inside. Now, I was barely keeping my head above water.
Finally, I stopped Bri by saying I had a lot of homework to do, which was true. We hung up and I went back to work. This time, I was able to concentrate because I finally had a plan for Whisper.
I was not going to use my desk as a pillow tonight.
E-VITATION AND TGIT
7:12 a.m.: TGIT
It’s only Thursday, but I’m grateful for that! This week has been so intense that I’m basically counting down the minutes until the end of classes tomorrow. I managed to finish all of my homework last night and I woke up early this morning with time to blog.
The two things I’m looking forward to the most today?
1. Fashion class.
2. Riding. Duh!
I’ve got a lesson and then K’s going to help me with Whisper.
Oh! When I finished talking to B last night, K and I talked about what a long first week it had been. We decided to have a . . . wait for it . . . sleepover on Friday night. K volunteered to send e-vites today. The only bad part? We have to invite R. K obviously wants C to come and we can’t not ask R. Hopefully, she won’t want to come and she’ll say no. On the invite list: C, R, L, and J.
Posted by Lauren Towers
BEWARE OF SHARKS IN INDOOR POOLS
TWEEEET!
The whistle blew and I pushed off with my toes, diving into the pool. I slid into the cool water and began racing toward the opposite end of my lane. Today, Mr. Warren had us swimming relays. Through my goggles, I could see Riley in the lane next to mine, matching me stroke for stroke.
I squeezed my eyes shut so I’d stop looking at her and pushed myself, my lungs burning. I kicked harder and after two more strokes, I opened my eyes. My fingertips touched the end of the pool and I lifted my head, breathing hard. Next to me, Riley yanked off her goggles.
“Excellent, everyone,” Mr. Warren said. “Lauren, you reached the end just a second before Riley, followed by Drew Adams.”
I grinned.
Riley traced the top of the water with her fingertips. “Wow, good one. Maybe you should switch to the swim team instead of riding, LT. You’re definitely a better swimmer than you are an equestrian.”
“Maybe I should do both, Riley. I’ll think about it!” I smiled at her and swam to the stairs to get out of the water. The swim had loosened my muscles and it had taken tension out of my shoulders. I’d been thinking about this afternoon—riding with Khloe—all day. I felt a little nervous. Khloe was on the advanced team. I wasn’t. She didn’t know about my show circuit past, championship titles, or my accident. I wanted her to see me as a good rider. A feeling I hadn’t felt in a very long time bubbled at the surface:competitiveness.
But I knew better than to be competitive with Khloe . She was my roommate and fast becoming a good friend. Sometimes, though, I couldn’t think about her riding on the advanced team—doing dressage moves that I’d used to do every day. Moves that, now, I couldn’t let anyone see.
INSTRUCTOR KHLOE
AT THE STABLE KHLOE HEADED TO EVER’S stall while I went to change. I almost rounded the corner when hearing sniffling. I stopped. I didn’t want to intrude on whoever was upset.
“I love him so much,” a girl’s voice whispered. “I want to be there for him.”
It took one moment, but then the familiar voice eventually registered. Riley.
She murmured one last thing I couldn’t make out, then moved, her boots tapping on the concrete. I left quickly, but we saw each other anyway.
Riley looked at me, mascara smudged around her eyes. “What?” she accused.
“Just heading to the bathroom to change,” I said, trying to be cool.
But once I was all dressed, I couldn’t stop wondering what—or who—she’d been talking about.
Riley definitely had a secret.
After our riding lessons, Khloe and I met at the small arena behind the stable. We were both on foot, leading our horses with one hand and sipping sodas with the other.
“Thanks again for offering to help,” I said. “I totally owe you a trip to The Slice.”
Khloe took a long sip of Diet Orange Zest and nodded. “You do. I think I’ll take you up on that tonight.”
“Sounds good to me. I’m dying for pizza and the restaurant sounds cute.”
“It is. Plus, their pizza is so good. You’ll never want Pizza Hut again.”
We walked the horses through the entrance and stopped at the fence. Khloe and I climbed it, sitting on the top rail next to each other. Khloe put Ever’s reins over the mare’s head and let go.
“Aren’t you afraid she’ll wander away?” I asked.
“Nah,” Khloe said. “She always stays nearby.”
Khloe was right. Ever took a few steps to inspect a yellow and black butterfly, reaching her black muzzle toward it. The butterfly flew away, toward the setting sun, and Khloe and I smiled as Ever ambled back over and nuzzled Whisper.
I took a sip of my orange soda and loosened my hold on Whisper’s reins so she could reach Ever. I loved her so much and she’d been perfect in today’s lesson, but I couldn’t wait until we had a relationship like Khloe and Ever’s. One of complete trust and an unbreakable connection with the other. I wanted to let Whisper loose, too, but I didn’t know if the mare would head for the arena’s exit.
We finished our sodas and tossed them in the trash can behind us. The temperature had cooled in the twenty something minutes we’d sat on the fence. Both horses swished their tails, standing together.
“How was your lesson?” Khloe asked, swinging her legs back and forth.
“Great,” I said. “We did flatwork—exercises like spirals and serpentines. Mr. Conner said we’re going to spend the rest of the week taking it easy to get the horses used to daily lessons. Next week, we’re starting normal classes.” I grinned. “Jumping and dressage. I can’t wait to work though dressage with Whisper.”
“I bet,” Khloe said. “I feel the same way. Mr. Conner’s making us ease into lessons. Ever’s probably missing dres-sage as much as I am.”
“I can’t wait to see you two in the dressage arena,” I said. “I’d like to come watch your lesson sometime, if that’s okay.”
Khloe smiled. “I’d love that. I wish we were in the same class, but at least we can watch each other ride sometimes. We should practice together during the weekends, if you want.”
The competitive vibe I’d felt pulsing through my body evaporated. Khloe wasn’t competition. She was my friend and roommate. I was embarrassed that I’d even felt the slightest bit of competitiveness when I thought about riding with her. Khloe was here, offering to help, and I just knew she wasn’t looking at me as a rider beneath her.
I looked at our horses, blowing into each other’s muzzles. I wanted to be honest with her. But I couldn’t. Not yet.
“We definitely have to ride together,” I said. “I’d love that. We should trail ride this weekend.”
“And invite Cole and Lexa. It would be the perfect ending to our sleepover.”
“Did you get RSVPs yet?” I crossed my fingers that Riley had said no.
“Everyone texted me back a yes,” Khloe answered. “Including Lady Edwards.”
We exchanged looks.
“Maybe she’ll be nice since we extended an invite to her. Lexa, Clare, and Jill will be there, so at least we won’t be alone with her.”
&
nbsp; Khloe hopped off the fence, her boots making a small puff of dust when she landed. “I doubt she’ll be nice, but you’re right—it won’t just be the three of us. It’s worth inviting her to have Clare over.”
Khloe put on her helmet, and I got off the fence and did the same. Khloe didn’t like talking about Clare and Riley. I wondered if it made her sad that her bestie friend was best friends with someone she couldn’t stand.
“I was thinking that we could do the same exercises you did with Whisper over the summer,” Khloe said.
“Sounds great. I’m ready.”
We mounted and Khloe moved Ever to the center of the arena. “I’m going to keep her still and call out instructions like I’m Mr. Conner. I’ll ride with you after a while.”
“Good idea. I think riding with us is smart—it’ll add pressure to Whisper. Plus, she’s never worked with Ever before.”
“Exactly. Sometimes I’m going to give commands with a different inflection in my voice like I’m talking to Whisper.”
“Perfect, Khloe.”
I walked Whisper to the edge of the arena. She was already warmed up and loose from our lesson earlier.
“Trot,” Khloe said. She used a tone as if she was lunging a horse—her word had an edge of command to it.
Whisper didn’t respond to Khloe. She walked until I squeezed my legs tighter against her sides. I posted, rising and falling with her shoulder.
“Canter,” Khloe said.
Again, Whisper didn’t even flick an ear in Khloe’s direction. I slid my boot behind her girth and nudged her side. I could have drifted asleep to her smooth canter. Khloe called out various commands, but Whisper didn’t respond.
Khloe edged Ever out of the center of the arena and joined Whisper and me as we cantered.
“Trot,” Khloe said, her voice louder over the two sets of hoofbeats.
Whisper’s ears flicked back and she slowed. Before I could push her forward, she changed gaits to a fast trot.
Khloe, on purpose, let Ever canter around us. Whisper’s ears flicked back and forth as she eyed Ever. The mare’s black tail streamed behind her as the distance between her and Whisper lengthened with each stride. I held Whisper to a trot and she fought my hands, the reins rubbing on her neck, as she strained to catch Ever.
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