Take the Reins (12 page)

MIDTERMS CAME WITH A FURY.

And when Paige and I weren't studying, we were party planning. We barricaded ourselves in our dorm for days. We had piles of notebooks, papers, flashcards, and books. Ms. Peterson uploaded a couple of helpful online video tutorials, all of which I watched at least twice.

Paige had baked two dozen cappuccino fudge brownies in the communal kitchen and I had raided the vending machines for sodas and study snacks. Being inside wasn't too bad, since there was an unexpected cold front that had frozen over the entire campus. The horses were stuck inside—just like the riders.

I felt torn between the stable and studying. When I rode Charm, I felt like I should be back here. But when
I started to study, guilt crept over me because I wasn't practicing. I had ridden when I could with Callie, but had little time to practice on my own. Maybe Callie was riding while I was pouring over Spanish verbs.

Now, Paige and I were dissecting the Heather conversation for the thousandth time.

“Do you really believe Heather, though?” Paige asked. “I mean, it's
Heather
. You know she's a liar.”

“I know, but Callie
was
practicing without me,” I said, putting down my pink highlighter. “I'm probably way behind everyone on practice time.”

Paige shook her head. “I doubt it. I'd think you'd notice if your riding wasn't up to par.”

“I never thought there was a rivalry with Callie and me, but maybe I'm wrong,” I said.

Paige closed her worn history textbook and headed for the minifridge. “I wouldn't worry about it. Even if she does practice without you sometimes, so what? I don't think it's that she's trying to outdo you.”

“I really hope not.”

“Why don't you stop wondering and just call her?” Paige handed me my phone. “Ask her and get it out in the open.”

Paige was right. I picked up the phone before I could chicken out.

“I'm so glad you called,” Callie said when she answered. “Heather just tripped in the common room and dumped a huge frozen hot chocolate all over Alison! It was awesome.”

“Oh,” I replied flatly.

“Are you okay?” Callie asked. “I thought you'd love that!”

“What are you doing this afternoon?” I asked her.

“Riding.” Her tone sounded like it should be obvious.

“So, you're practicing without me.”

“What are you talking about?” Callie asked.

“You just said you were riding,” I said. Heather had been right all along.

“Yeah, I'm riding with you!” Callie said. “Didn't you see the note on your door?”

I yanked the door open and glanced up and down. No note. Just our whiteboard with the pink daisy Paige had drawn last night. “I don't see anything.”

“It was a blue star sticky note,” Callie said. “I was passing by Winchester, so I left you a note asking if you wanted to ride with me today.”

I looked up and down the hallway in case it had fallen on the floor. “There's nothing here,” I said.

“You're my friend,” Callie said, sounding hurt. “You don't think I'm lying…do you?”

I didn't say anything for a minute.

“You don't want to come out and ride with me?” Callie asked.

“No, I do. I'll meet you in a couple of hours,” I said, still unsure, and hung up.

“She swears she left a note,” I said to Paige.

“I never saw it,” she said. “But maybe it fell off and someone threw it away.”

There was no sign of the note, but no time to dwell on it, either. I had to fit in some more party-planning time before our ride. Paige made hot chocolate for us, and I grabbed two boxes of raisins from the cabinet. Last night, when Paige and I had been chatting until we had fallen asleep, we'd decided on a blue, white, and silver icy winter theme. I pulled out my checklist. Wow—it looked like a lot of things were already checked off! I scanned the list for what was left to do.

The sleighs. Mr. Conner had agreed to order them after I had showed him the weather station's prediction that we'd get an early snow. November didn't come with many snow days, but everyone had their fingers crossed that we'd be enjoying sleigh rides on party night. Luckily, the temperature had been hovering just above thirty degrees for the past couple of days.

I switched on my computer and printed. I read it aloud to Paige. “‘What: Winter Wonderland Party for the riding team. When: the Saturday before Thanksgiving break at seven p.m. Where: the Canterwood Equestrian indoor arena. Come dressed in your best and be ready for a night of snow, horses, and fun!'”

“Sounds great to me,” Paige said. “When you make copies, save me some and I'll hang them up.”

“Great idea—thanks!”

“How's the rest of the list coming?” she asked, holding out her hand.

I handed it over to her.

“
Packaged
cupcakes?” she shrieked. “
Chips and dip
?!”

“No good?” I asked her.

Paige wrinkled her nose.

“Ugh—you're right,” I sighed. “It's totally lame. I just—” Then inspiration hit. Paige Parker was
the
girl for the job.

“What?” Paige asked. “You have a weird look on your face.”

“Are you interested in planning the menu for the winter party?” I asked her.

“Are you kidding?” Paige squealed. “Of course!”

“Are you sure you have time?” I asked her. “The party is less than two weeks away.”

“It'll be just like The Food Network,” she said. “I'll have a short time to prep for a big bash. This is great practice for the next casting call! I'll start planning the list right now. What do you think about snowflake sugar cookies with royal icing?”

“Perfect!” I said.

“And,” Paige continued, “according to Martha Stewart's
Three Thousand Treats for Any Party,
we've got to have homemade ice cream, a hot drink, and some type of wheat crackers with cheese.”

 

With most of my list taken care of, I headed for the stables. No one was roaming campus, since studying seemed to be this week's top priority.

The indoor arena was locked up until the party started in a few days, to encourage students to spend their time studying rather than riding. Mr. Conner had left me the
key so I could check on my decorations and store other supplies for the party, so I decided to take inventory before I met Callie.

My paddock boots thumped on the concrete on my way to Mr. Conner's office. I swiped the arena key from under his coffee pot (his idea for a secret key location).

When I got closer to the arena, I saw a light peeking out from under the arena door. Someone was inside! Either Mr. Conner was still around or someone else knew about Mr. Conner's secret hiding spot.

I pulled the door open.

Black Jack cantered around the arena, his royal blue leg wraps flashing, and Callie guided him around the banquet tables and decoration boxes. If she got caught riding in the supposed-to-be-locked arena, she'd be on serious probation. What was she thinking?

“Callie!” I yelled.

Callie's head snapped around as she looked at me. She slowed Jack from a posting trot to a walk.

“Hey!” Callie exclaimed with a smile.

“You're not supposed to be in here!” I said. “Mr. Conner would freak if he found out. How'd you get in, anyway?”

“Mr. Conner has been hiding keys under that coffee pot for months,” Callie said, laughing.

“But we're not supposed to ride in here,” I said. “I thought we were going to practice in the outer aisles.”

Callie shook her head. “We'll only be here for half an hour. Besides, we need the bigger space.”

“Okay,” I grudgingly agreed. “Be right back.” I'd worry about the party after our ride. And anyway, wasn't Mr. Conner the one who kept telling us to practice? He knew midterms were upon us and he'd cut back our riding schedules. But he also kept saying it was up to us to practice when we could.

Still, I couldn't help but wonder why Callie had gotten here so much earlier than we were supposed to meet. And I wanted to believe her about the note, but she had been acting pretty strange lately. Was she just as stressed as I was or…was my best friend lying to me?

PAIGE AND I WALKED OUT OF THE MATH
building and adjusted our backpacks on our shoulders. “That was almost too easy,” Paige said. “Aced it for sure.”

“I'm hoping for at least a B plus in algebra,” I said. “The last set of equations tripped me up.”

“Did Callie do okay?” Paige asked.

“I'm sure she did fine,” I said. Things had been okay between Callie and me lately, almost like normal again, but I still wondered about that note. “But I walked by Heather's math class. She wasn't even writing anything. She looked like she wanted to cry.”

“You'd think her parents would understand that they're putting way too much pressure on her,” Paige said.

“If she fails, she won't be able to ride,” I said. “It's not just her parents.”

Paige linked arms with me. “I know if she had asked you for help, you would have helped her.”

We walked up to the science building. Bio. Breathe in, breathe out. In, out. In, out. Okay, this wasn't helping. I felt less like I was “centering” myself and more like I was about to hyperventilate. Paige let go of my arm. “Good luck,” she said. “It's your last midterm!”

“Yeah, but this it's the hardest one,” I grumbled.

“You'll do fine,” Paige assured me. “See you in the dorm.”

Every subject was easy for Paige. I envied her. Sure, she studied hard, but it felt like I had to study twice as hard just to keep up with her.

I stood outside room 207 and waited. Parts of the cell, kingdoms, and anatomy ran through my brain. Were there four stages of mitosis or five?

“Sasha?”

I turned and saw Jacob.

“Science midterm?” I asked, cheered up momentarily.

He nodded and adjusted his black messenger bag with a tiny pirate skull and crossbones sticker on it. “Just finished. You?”

I looked toward room 207. “Any second now.”

Jacob smiled. “I know you'll do great.”

People started streaming out of the room. “I better go in and get a seat.”

Jacob looked like he wanted to say something. “Sasha?”

“Yeah?” I asked.

He hesitated. “Nothing,” he said. “Good luck.”

I slid into my seat and read my notes while Ms. Peterson shuffled some papers on her desk. The rest of the class, including Alison and Julia, filed in and took their seats.

Julia turned to hang her backpack off the back of her chair. Our eyes met, but she turned around without saying anything.

I put away my books and then Julia craned her head back around. “Good luck,” she said.

Alison nudged her. “Um, hello?” she said.

“You, too,” I said to Julia.

“All right, class,” Ms. Peterson said. “Quiet. This test is worth twenty-five percent of your grade, so I hope you're prepared.”

THE DAYS AFTER MIDTERMS FLEW BY IN A
flurry of practice for testing and party planning. I'd left Ms. Peterson's biology midterm feeling as though I'd done well. The endless hours of studying
had
to pay off. We wouldn't get our midterm grades until after we came back from break, so Paige had convinced me not to worry about them.

Instead, we focused on the party! Paige had scrapped about a dozen possible menus before narrowing it down to a select few choices.

It was time for my last riding lesson before Saturday's testing—tomorrow! After I tacked up Charm, we joined Callie, Nicole, and the Trio in the indoor arena.

“How does everyone feel about testing tomorrow?” Mr. Conner asked.

“Terrified,” Callie said, looking like she was only half joking.

“I'm not
that
tough, am I?” Mr. Conner grinned. “Let's relax and run through a few exercises. I want you to sleep well tonight and feel ready for tomorrow. Let's start with a walk.” Charm was excited to be practicing, I could tell.

“Kick your feet out of the stirrups and do a sitting trot,” Mr. Conner directed.

Charm moved into a trot and I tried not to bounce on his back. We made a couple of circuits around the arena.

“Slow to a walk, put your feet back in the stirrups and stand,” Mr. Conner called.

I grabbed Charm's stubby mane to steady myself and stood in the stirrups as we walked.

Nicole lost her balance and plopped into the saddle. She shook her head and stood back up.

Mr. Conner put us through a few more exercises and then waved us over. “Let's run through how tomorrow's going to work,” he said.

All eyes rested on him.

“The intermediate team, as you're well aware, tests tomorrow,” he said. “The five of you and thirteen riders from the other intermediate groups are testing. I'll pass
around this clipboard in a second and you can sign up for time slots.”

Mr. Conner handed out the clipboard and Callie and I signed our names next to the two and three o'clock slots.

“You're all currently riding on a three point five level,” Mr. Conner continued. “You need to reach a four to make the advanced team. No one will be in the arena except for you and me during your test. Any questions?”

No one had any.

“Charm and Jack are going to be the only ones sleeping tonight,” I said to Callie.