Initiation (4 page)

“And keep in mind the stable's not always like this,” Khloe said. “It's usually a lot calmer. Everyone's here at once because they're moving back in. This . . .” Khloe unlatched a stall door and motioned for me to follow her inside. “. . . is Ever.”

“Oh, wow.”

Khloe's mare was gorgeous.

The big bay mare's dark brown coat gleamed evidence of meticulous grooming. Her beautiful face had a star— the white stark against her coloring—and her black muzzle looked velvet soft. I reached out a hand.

“She's a Hanoverian,” Khloe said. “And the sweetest.” Khloe wrapped her arms around the mare's neck. Ever
leaned into Khloe, blowing out a breath of contentment. Their bond was evident. I couldn't wait until Whisper and I were that close. We were closer every day, but we weren't Khloe and Ever. Not yet.

The mare reached her muzzle toward my hand and I stroked her face. “I love her,” I said. “I can tell how tight you guys are. She's in amazing shape, too.”

The mare's muscles were taut and toned in all the right places. She had the look of a dressage horse.

“She's my baby,” Khloe said, kissing the mare on the cheek. “I want to meet your horse.”

We stepped out of the stall and turned toward Whisper's.

“KK!”

Khloe and I'd barely turned around before a girl with wavy red hair and blue eyes grabbed Khloe in a hug.

“Clare!” Khloe threw her arms around the other girl. They almost knocked each other over.

“Omigod, I missed you all summer!” Clare said, stepping back from Khloe. Her pale skin was accentuated by bright blue eyes. Her clothes, preppy-chic, had a fashionable flair. She'd put a heather-gray three-quarters sleeve cardigan over a plum-purple tank top. Her black leggings were tucked into tall boots.
Magnifique.

“I missed you, too! Skype was sooo not enough. Oh,
Clare.” Khloe reached over and pulled me toward them. “This is my new roomie, Lauren. She's a rider.”

Clare shot me a smile. “Hey. Welcome to Canterwood.”

“Thanks. I'm excited to be here. Khloe's been showing me around.”

“Of course she has,” Clare said, shooting a sideways look at Khloe. “You never know when the role of ‘campus tour guide' will show up in the classifieds. Now Khloe's prepared for that part.”

Khloe punched Clare's arm. “Oh, puh-lease!” She raised her index finger in the air. “First of all, you don't find acting gigs in the classifieds. That's what
Backstage
magazine is for. Second, I wouldn't need to practice for that. And as if
I'd
try out for ‘tour guide.' When I start auditioning, it'll be for the role of a beautiful, young ingénue who falls in love with a guy she can't have and does anything she can to get him anyway.”

Clare and I looked at each other—a grin passed between us at the dreamy look in Khloe's eyes.

“Um, come back from soap opera land to Canterwood, please,” Clare said, waving her hand slowly in front of Khloe.

We all started giggling. I liked Clare, and if she was friends with Khloe, maybe we'd become friends, too.

“Clare!”

Clare, Khloe, and I turned as a petite Asian-American girl with long black hair in a French braid walked up to us.

“Riley!” Clare hugged the other girl. “When did you get here?!”

The girl smoothed her red and white striped, capped-sleeve shirt. “A few minutes ago. Mom forgot to set her alarm, shocker, so we left late.”

Riley didn't hug Khloe. The girls exchanged smiles, but there was
something . . .
odd between them—I could feel it. The mood changed from bubbly to flat.

“Is Adonis in his stall?” Khloe asked, her tone light. “I'd love to see him.”

Riley shook her head, shimmery light green eye shadow accenting her dark brown eyes. “He's being his difficult self about getting out of the trailer. Mr. Conner's unloading him—he told me to come and make sure his stall was ready.”

Riley's eyes turned to me as if she'd noticed me for the first time. She looked me up and down.

Slowly.

“You must be new,” Riley said.

“Oh, I'm so sorry, Lauren!” Khloe said. She smacked her forehead. “That was so rude. Riley, this is my new roommate, Lauren. Lauren, this is Riley Edwards.”

She didn't introduce Riley as her friend,
I noted.

“Hi,” I said. “Nice to meet you.”

Riley's eyes stayed on my face. It felt as though she was studying me. Sizing me up. Deciding if I was a possible friend, someone to ignore, or a potential enemy.

“I know we just met,” she said, tilting her head. “But you're so familiar. I feel like I've seen you before.”

Panicky beads of sweat formed on the small of my back.
Keep it together.
I scolded myself.
Riley could be mistaking you for anyone.

Besides, it would be
très
arrogant to think she knew me from the show circuit. Just because Riley thought she'd seen me before didn't mean she knew who I was or anything about my . . . secret.

I forced myself to smile. “I've moved around a lot. Where are you from?”

“Maine,” Riley said.

“I've never lived there,” I said.

Riley stared again for what felt like
forever
before a tiny smile passed over her face. “Hmm. My bad.”

She turned to Khloe. “Khloe, you hear about the auditions for
Beauty and the Beast
?”

Khloe straightened, pushing her shoulders back. “I got the notice from Mr. Barber over the summer. Practiced every day.”

Riley smiled. “Me too. My parents got me an acting coach and I had lessons twice a day. I'm going out for Belle. I mean, I
did
get the lead in
Into the Woods
last year.”

Clare shifted almost as if she was unsure who to stand closer to—Khloe or Riley. Khloe and Riley's eyes were locked. Both girls were smiling, but I'd been around enough competitors on the A-circuit to know what was going on.

This was Psyching-Out-the-Competition 101.

“You sure did,” Khloe said. Her mouth smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. “And you were great.”

Riley put a hand over her heart. “Aw, thank you, Khlo. But remember, you were
so
close to getting the lead. Too bad I'm so healthy. As my understudy, you would have gotten a chance to be onstage if I'd gotten sick. Maybe next time! We'll see each other this Friday at auditions, right?”

Clare cleared her throat, giving Riley and Khloe a smile. “And I'll be in the wings silently cheering you on.”

Riley shifted to lean against Ever's stall. “And Lauren, you've got a big day tomorrow. Omigosh, are you
so
nervous?”

“About what?” I asked. I wasn't going to let this girl scare me.

“Testing for the riding team. You
did
know about it, right?”

I nodded. “Of course, and—”

“Most riders practice all summer before they come here,” Riley said, cutting me off. “And they barely make the beginner team.”

“I'm glad I trained so hard, then,” I said. “I'll just have to do my best and see what happens.”

Riley nodded. “Anything
can
happen during testing. Advice?”

I wasn't going to turn her down. But that didn't mean I'd believe every word she said.

“Sure,” I said cautiously. “I could use any tips you've got.”

“I was so nervous at my testing last time,” Riley said. “Mr. Conner is
super
nitpicky, he looks for any little mistake. I never get rattled, but I did during my testing at the most important part.”

“What's that?” I asked.

“Jumping,” Riley said.

It took every ounce of control I had not to drop to my knees.

I'd been working hard—so hard—since my secret accident. The one I couldn't even think about. The one
I couldn't even start to remember when I had so much to master at Canterwood. But Riley had shaken me with one word.

Jumping was how it had happened.

Stop thinking about it,
I told myself.
Not in front of these girls. Not in front of my potential new teammates.

“Oh,” I said, keeping my cool. “I like jumping, but dressage is my specialty.”

Riley gave me a tiny smile with a sour hint about it. “At Canterwood,
everything
better be your specialty.”

Clare's eyes shifted between Riley and me like she wanted to save me. “Riles, let's go see if Adonis's stall is ready, 'kay?”

Riley nodded and gave Khloe and me a little wave. “Later.” Riley paused, looking back over her shoulder. “And Khloe, can't wait for Friday.”

The two girls disappeared down the aisle. I waited for Khloe to speak. I didn't want to be the one to say something wrong if I'd completely misjudged the dynamic.

“Ooomiiigod!” Khloe shrieked.

I JUMPED, LOOKING AT HER. HER HAND WAS
across her forehead. “She's trying to take over
everything
! Riding
and
acting.”

“So . . . I'm guessing you and Riley aren't BFFs?”

Khloe leaned up against the stall door. “It's a really uncomfortable situation.
Clare
is my best friend and Riley is her other best friend. Riley and I have been competing against each other for years—everything is about mind games and winning for her. I've tried to put it aside for the sake of my friendship with Clare, but Riley's even competitive about that.”

“That's too bad,” I said. “Clare seemed so nice. And I can tell that Riley's a little . . . territorial.”

Khloe rolled her eyes. “Don't let her psych you out—I
noticed that she didn't waste two seconds trying to scare you about tryouts.”

“Is jumping really what I should focus on?”

“Riley
lied
. Everything's equally important to Mr. Conner,” Khloe said. “I have no clue why she said jumping was so important, but she knows better.”

Just hearing Khloe debunk Riley's advice about jumping being key slowed my racing heart. She was right— Riley was just trying to psych me out!

“Thanks, Khloe,” I said. “So . . . you want to stop talking about someone you don't like and come meet Whisper?”

Khloe's eyes sparkled.
“Definitely.”

I shook Riley off with every step toward Whisper's stall. Once we were just steps away, the mare poked her head over the door.

Her brown eyes widened when she saw me. My entire body felt warm. I'd never loved anything as much as I did Whisper. Just knowing something that special was
mine
made me feel incredibly lucky.

“Oooh, Lauren! She's so beautiful.”

“Thanks.” I grinned. “We haven't been partners for long, so we've got a lot of work to do. But I love her.”

I stroked the mare's cheek while Khloe scratched under her forelock.

“How did you find her?” Khloe asked.

Khloe had spoken the magic words. There was nothing I loved to talk about more than Whisper.

“My old riding instructor, Kim, knew someone who had a good reputation for buying and selling horses. I tried a
lot
of horses before Whisper. None of them were right for me. I was so worried! I didn't even know if I'd find the right one in time for school.”

“That had to be a ton of pressure on top of starting Canterwood,” Khloe said. She was a great listener. She listened just as enthusiastically as she spoke.

I nodded in agreement. “I was really down about it— worrying about finding a horse, questioning my decision to even come to Canterwood, even whether I was doing the right thing by leaving my boyfriend.”

Khloe held up a hand. “Stop. Right. There.”

“What?” I said, laughing.

“You said
boyfriend.
I know you just met me, but you don't mention a ‘boyfriend' to a girl and expect not to have a bigger conversation about that. You're so not getting away with dropping that detail. We're
so
having that convo later!”

I giggled—I loved Khloe's honesty. “Deal,” I said. “But you have to spill in return.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Khloe asked, grinning. “Let's go to The Sweet Shoppe—a place you will get to know
very
well—grab dessert, then go back to our room. We can talk boys, compare class schedules, and maybe do some unpacking and decorating?”

“Sounds perfect.”

I gave Whisper a final pat and we started down the aisle.

Khloe waved to a bunch of people on our way out. She seemed like the
It Girl
of the stable. But not in a way where everyone was afraid of her or sucking up because they felt like they
had
to. The people who flashed smiles at us seemed to genuinely like Khloe.