Home Sweet Drama (12 page)

“I will,” I said. And he was right. A while ago I would have been embarrassed that Heather had done something with Charm that I hadn't been doing as well. But now I didn't feel like I wanted to knock her off my horse.

“Good,” Mr. Conner said. “Whenever you're ready, Sasha, go ahead and take the course with Aristocrat.”

My fingers were a little slippery on the reins. I didn't want to mess up—especially not on Heather's horse. But Aristocrat was a total pro and I was sure he'd listen to me, even if he'd much rather have Heather riding him.

I didn't want to spend too much time circling him and making myself nervous, so I closed my legs around his sides and urged him into a trot. After a few strides, I gave him more rein and the chestnut flowed into a canter without hesitation.

I pointed him at the first vertical and didn't have time to think before he flew into the air and soared over the fence. It was almost as if I was along for the ride and he didn't need me to do anything. He gathered himself and I rose into the two-point position just before taking off over the second vertical. Aristocrat jumped with ease, landed, and moved with confidence to the next jump.
Despite the fact that he and Charm didn't get along, I couldn't help but appreciate him. His movements were gorgeous and he was easy to handle. Even though he was a top-notch Thoroughbred, an inexperienced rider would probably be safe on him.

We finished the verticals and I sucked in a breath just before the first jump of the triple. Timing was everything. If we messed up one part, we could knock the rest of the rails. Aristocrat jumped the first vertical with room to spare, shortened his stride and two seconds later we were in the air and clearing the middle jump. We landed and he didn't need me to do anything—he left the ground at the right second and we jumped the final part of the combo. We circled back to Heather and Mr. Conner.

“Nice job, boy,” I said.

Mr. Conner smiled at me. “Good ride, Sasha. Aristocrat is an experienced jumper, but that's sometimes a curse for his rider.”

I tilted my head. “What do you mean?”

Mr. Conner's eyes focused on me. “Did you pay as much attention while riding Aristocrat as you would have on Charm? Did you relax because you knew Aristocrat had more experience?”

Ugh. I didn't know it had been obvious!

“A little,” I said. “But Aristocrat didn't need as much guidance. He knew what he was doing and I didn't feel like I had to give him as much direction.”

“But you also cannot go on autopilot,” Mr. Conner said. “Every horse needs instruction from his rider. You cannot let the horse make the decisions about when to jump and how fast or slow to go even if you think the horse is capable of deciding.”

I nodded, realizing I'd made a huge mistake. “You're right,” I said. “I shouldn't have let his experience level factor into how much attention I paid to him.”

“Good,” Mr. Conner said. “You'll be ready the next time you ride another horse. Great lesson, both of you, and see you next class.”

Heather and I dismounted and swapped reins.

“So tell me now,” I said. “What did you hear?”

Heather shook her head. “Can we at least cool the horses? And I'm not telling you here where anyone could overhear it. Just chill. Meet Julia, Alison, and me in the hayloft in half an hour.”

“Are you kidding me?! You're going to make me wait even longer?” I wanted to shake the secret out of Heather.

Heather rolled her eyes. “Silver, with your ridiculous record about not knowing what's going on around
campus, you probably wouldn't hear about this for a week if it wasn't for me.”

And she led Aristocrat out of the arena and away from me before I could say another word.

Heather never got any less infuriating. Ever.

I hurried through cooling, untacking, and grooming Charm. I checked the time on my phone. Still five more minutes before I could meet them. As much as I wanted to hear what Heather had to say, I'd already made myself look desperate for news. So I wasn't showing up until exactly thirty minutes after she told me to meet her.

Thirty-
one
minutes later, I climbed the ladder and stepped onto the platform of the hayloft. No one but Mike, Doug, and Mr. Conner were supposed to come up here, but I'd seen Mike and Doug trimming the grass in an empty pasture and Mr. Conner was teaching a lesson.

“You're late,” Julia snapped, peering at me from behind a stack of hay bales. “Get back here, already.”

I didn't argue, I just followed her. Alison and Heather were waiting, each seated on a hay bale. I took an empty bale next to Alison and she was practically bouncing.

“Ohhhhmiiiigod,” Alison said. “You'll
never
ever guess what we heard just before your lesson.”

I looked around at them and suddenly felt a little
nervous. Whatever it was, I didn't want it to have anything to do with me. Or Homecoming.

“Heather's been taunting me with it for forever,” I said. “So just tell me.”

Heather leaned closer and I knew it was something big. They hadn't called me up here for nothing.

“We were walking down the side aisle to the tack room to chat before we got our stuff,” Heather said. “We heard people talking inside and when we stopped to listen, we realized it was Callie and Jacob.”

I grasped a fistful of hay. Part of me didn't want to ask, but I couldn't help it. “What was going on?”

“Jacob apologized to Callie for being so busy lately,” Alison said. “He said he'd been unfair to her and he was sorry.”

Whew. I let go of the hay.

“He said his parents are making him crazy about his grades and he's juggling a lot with track and everything else going on with school,” Julia added. She picked at a piece of hay.

“I'm glad he explained to her what was going on,” I said. “I'd seen them together and he was being weird. At least Callie knows what's up and she won't be worried.”

“Sasha,” Heather interjected. She paused and shifted,
crossing one leg over the other. “Callie won't be worried anymore because … Jacob broke up with her.”

I stared at her. It was all I could do. It was like I forgot how to speak or move.

“What?”
I finally said. “He did
what
?”

“Shhh,” Heather said. “Don't be so loud. He told her the timing was wrong and he was sorry, but they couldn't be together.”

It was almost too much. My brain couldn't process what Heather was saying.

“What did she say?” I managed to ask.

“Callie was crying,” Alison said, her voice soft. “She wanted to work things out so they could stay together, but Jacob insisted they had to break up.”

I looked at Heather and her eyes met mine.

“Callie and Jacob are over,” she said.

14

HIDE OUT

FOR THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON I HID IN the library. On the top floor. In one of the locked study rooms. Without telling anyone where I was.

Every five seconds my emotions changed. At first all I could think about was looking for Callie and comforting her. Jacob was her first boyfriend and she had to be a wreck. I knew she was in pain and it killed me not to be able to be there for her as she went through her first breakup.

After I thought about Callie, my mind went to Jacob. His claims about school, parents, and sports were probably all true, but it wasn't the reason he'd broken up with Callie. I knew it. And it made me feel so guilty. But when that melted away, just for a second, I wondered what
would happen if we
ever
tried again. I knew we couldn't—not after everything we'd gone through to protect Callie from the truth the night of my party.

I sat in the library until just before dusk. My phone buzzed and I opened it to see a text from Paige.

Where r u? need 2 get ready 4 bonfire!

Oh, my God. I rubbed my eyes. I'd completely forgotten about that. Callie, Jacob, Eric, and I along with the other nominees were all forced to go to the bonfire since we were junior royal court nominees. Headmistress Drake would be there so there was
no
way I could back out.

B rite there,
I texted Paige.

I left the library and walked back to Winchester. I had to tell Paige what was going on before we got to the bonfire. I had no clue how she'd react to the news. I knew she'd be upset for Callie, but I wondered if that would raise more questions from her about what really happened between Jacob and me at my party.

I opened the door to our room, barely realizing that I'd even walked down the Winchester hallway, and stepped inside. Paige turned around from her spot in front of our mirror and looked at me.

“What's wrong?” she asked. “Something happened—I can see it in your face.”

I sat at the edge of my bed and pulled off my riding boots.

Paige sat on her desk chair and swiveled it to look at me. “You can tell me—whatever it is.”

“I know,” I said. “It's just hard to talk about.” I paused, taking a breath. “I was at the stable and just before my lesson, Heather told me she needed to tell me something.”

“Uh-oh.”

“I know. I had to go through the entire lesson just waiting for her to tell me and I thought I was going to die. Then when it was finally over and I asked her, she told me to meet her at the hayloft with Julia and Alison in half an hour.”

Paige shook her head. “So typical Heather. Dangling something in front of you and then saying wait. Again.”

“Agreed. So after half an hour I met them. They said they'd overheard Callie and Jacob in the tack room.”

I watched Paige's face, but her expression gave away nothing. She sat still—waiting for me to finish.

“Jacob told Callie that his parents were on him about his grades and he was feeling tons of pressure with sports. He knew he wasn't being a good boyfriend and he apologized to her.”

Paige leaned back into her chair. “She must feel better now, right? I mean, if he had all of that going on, she must
have sensed that things were off and he was going through something.”

I wrung my hands together. “I doubt she feels better. Jacob broke up with her.” I whispered the last sentence.

“Oh, no!” Paige's shoulders slumped. “Poor Callie! She must be a mess. Her first boyfriend.”

“I know. She's got to be so upset and I really do feel bad for her.” I had to choose every word carefully so that Paige didn't think I still cared about Callie and missed her as my BFF. If Paige knew that, it would totally blow my cover story with Jacob.

“The last thing she probably wants to do is come to the bonfire,” Paige said.

And it's the last thing
I
want to do,
I wanted to say.

“You're probably right, but she has to,” I said.

I pulled a jean skirt, platform wedge sandals, and a V-neck sweater from my closet. I couldn't talk about Callie and Jacob anymore.

“I'll be ready to go in half an hour,” I said. “You can wait or go without me, if you want.”

“I'll wait,” Paige said, shrugging. “You won't be too long and it doesn't start till it gets dark, anyway.”

In the bathroom I closed the door and sat on the edge of the bathtub. It was going to be a long night.

15