Rival Revenge (13 page)

“Did you get a bad math grade?” Heather asked,
looking over at me. “You looked like you wanted to strangle Utz.”

I took another bite before answering her. “I studied
so
hard and my grade was awful.”

“You can get tutoring or something,” Alison said. She pushed back her skinny black headband. “The semester just started.”

“What'd you get, anyway?” Julia asked.

I leaned down, grabbed the mangled paper and handed it to her. I was too mad to be embarrassed.

Julia glanced at the paper, then started laughing. “You're serious. For real?”

“What?” Alison leaned over Julia's shoulder and looked. “A B+? You're upset about that?”

“I should have gotten an A.”

Julia snorted and thrust the paper back at me. “If you'd gotten an F and you'd studied hard, you could have been upset. But not over a B+. That's just sad.” Julia stood, shaking her head. “I'm going to get another soda.”

Alison turned to me, her face full of sympathy. “A B+ isn't bad.” She looked at Heather. “Want to see the drawing I spent all summer on that I got back today with a B in art class?”

Heather nodded. “Show me.”

Alison pulled her art portfolio out of her bag and flipped through several drawings. I'd seen her horse sketches from last year and the ones in her room, but these were new and even better. Alison had lots of drawings of Sunstruck and I loved how proud the Arabian looked in some drawings and how gentle and calm he appeared in others. He was definitely hot-blooded, but he clicked with Alison and she knew just how to handle him.

Alison stopped on a page and turned the sketchbook sideways so both Heather and I could see. Three horses—Trix, Sunstruck, and Aristocrat—grazed in Canterwood's field. It was dusk outside and Alison must have spent hours shading every tree and fence rail to look as if the sun was hitting it just right.

“Alison, wow,” I said. “
You
should be upset that you got a B on that. It's really, really amazing.”

Heather nodded. “I agree. This is one of your best sketches. Did your teacher say why?”

Alison rolled her eyes. “She said I need to start ‘expanding my options' and drawing other things besides horses.”

“But you are, aren't you?” I asked. “Didn't you say you're working on a graphic novel?”

“Yeah, but it's about horses too,” Alison said. “So my teacher will get mad if I submit it.”

Heather sighed. “That's dumb. Can you sketch horse-related things? Like stables or riders or something?”

Alison sat up straighter. “Oooh, I haven't drawn people before. My teacher would love that—I could totally get away with it if I drew riders.”

Heather, Alison, and I half-smiled at each other and I realized just how much one sleepover had kind of changed everything among all of us.

AIRBORNE

CLASSES FINALLY ENDED FOR THE DAY AND
when I got to my room, I dropped off my stuff, changed, and headed for the stable. All day, I hadn't been able to shake the B+. I knew it was dumb and Alison was right—it
was
just a B+. But what if that B became a C? Or a D? Then, I'd go back to old Sasha from last fall—the girl who struggled with her grades.

That couldn't happen. I'd finally found my footing at Canterwood and I wasn't about to lose it. After this lesson, I'd go back to my room and study until lights-out.

I gathered Charm's tack, groomed him, and felt like I was going through the motions of tacking him up. I was on total autopilot. Not as if I needed to pay such close
attention when tacking up a horse—I'd done it a thousand times—but I still needed to focus.

I tried to shake off the worries about grades and everything else going on and fastened my helmet. I felt a little dizzy and nauseous. But I was riding no matter what. I couldn't afford to skip even one lesson before Mr. Conner taped a class for Mr. Nicholson. Charm and I walked to the arena and I paused before I mounted. I took a long breath, squeezing my eyes shut for a second.

When I reopened them, the dizziness was gone. Phew. My stomach still felt gross, but maybe I'd eaten something bad at lunch. I mounted and started Charm in slow circles. Mr. Conner had set up the camera at the far side of the arena, so I walked Charm past it a few times. He didn't even look at it once. He loved having his picture taken, so I hadn't worried about him being freaked by the camera.

“Move, loser!” Jasmine said, cutting between Charm and the camera. She cantered Phoenix past us, and Charm, annoyed at Phoenix moving faster, tried to break into a canter. But I held him back to a walk. He fought me for a few seconds before listening.

“Is that as fast as you're going to warm up?” Jas asked, riding back over to us. She slowed and walked Phoenix by
Charm and me. “If that's true, then we won't be starting the lesson for hours while we wait for you.”

“Omigod,
you're
not going to start at all if you don't stop talking because I'll make you want to leave the arena,” Heather said, riding over to us.

I'd had enough. I let Charm into a trot and got him away from Jasmine and Heather. We warmed up without another word from Jasmine and I was glad when
Mr. Conner finally entered the arena. All I wanted was for the lesson to be over so I could go back to my room and study. Maybe I'd ask Mike or Doug to cool and groom Charm for me just this once. I'd never asked them for a favor and I was sure they wouldn't mind.

“Hi, girls,” Mr. Conner said. “If you're all ready, let's start with a sitting trot.”

Heather, Jasmine, and I let our horses into trots. I sat to Charm's smooth gait and tried to keep my eyes between Charm's ears. It kept me from looking at Jas or Heather. I needed to stay focused on my riding and not think about anything else. But the B+ started nagging me again.
Stop
, I told myself.
You're going to study after riding.

“Reverse directions,” Mr. Conner said. I pressed my leg against Charm's side and guided him away from the wall.

We turned our horses and started them in the opposite direction. Charm felt a little stiff going this way, so I made a mental note to work with him more.

“Halt,” Mr. Conner called.

Heather, Jasmine, and I brought our horses to halts.

“Trot,” Mr. Conner said.

We let the horses move forward and within two strides, Charm was trotting. I posted and even though I knew Charm's trot was smooth, it made me feel nauseous as I posted.

Mr. Conner made us canter, work through a few
circles, and then he held up a hand. “Bring your horses over,” he said.

I rode Charm up to him and stopped. Rain was just starting to fall and it pinged lightly against the roof. It darkened outside by the second and it was my favorite kind of weather to curl up in bed with a book. Maybe I'd relax tonight and get up early and do my homework tomorrow.

What are you thinking?
I argued with myself. I had tons of work to do. The fact that I'd even considered taking the night off was ridiculous. It had been bad enough that I'd spent the night before goofing off with the Trio when I should have been doing homework.

“We're going to take a few jumps,” Mr. Conner said. “Heather, I want you to go first. There are two verticals and then a triple combination.”

Heather nodded. “I'm ready.”

She trotted Aristocrat toward the course and Jas and I followed at a walk. We stopped our horses next to Mr. Conner and we all watched as Heather urged Aristocrat forward and over the first vertical. He jumped it easily, not even looking at the blue-and-white rails. The second vertical, a couple of inches higher, didn't make him pause for a second.

Heather gathered him before the triple. They took the first jump, then two strides later Aristocrat launched into the air for the second. Their timing was perfect and Aristocrat was ready for the third obstacle. He jumped, landed cleanly, and Heather slowed him to a trot, then a walk. She rubbed a gloved hand down his neck and the dark chestnut arched his neck. He knew he'd done well.

“Collecting Aristocrat before the triple was exactly what you needed to do,” Mr. Conner said. “Great job.”

Heather smiled.

Mr. Conner nodded to Jasmine. “Go ahead.”

Jasmine and Phoenix made it over the verticals without a problem. As she approached the triple, Jas gave Phoenix
more rein and he rushed the first jump. The gray made it easily over the jump, but landed only a stride away from the second. He wasn't prepared to take off and neither was Jasmine. Phoenix jumped too late and his knees knocked the rail. His focus was broken and his ears flicked back and forth, waiting for a signal from Jas.

Instead of trying to steady him, she checked him to slow his stride to give both of them more time. But Phoenix was off. He made a huge effort to clear the last part of the triple, but this time his hind legs brought down the rail. They landed and I watched through one eye—afraid that Jasmine was going to yank him in a circle and make him take the course again.

But instead, she rode him back to us, her face red. If Mr. Conner hadn't been in the arena, she would have made Phoenix take the course a half dozen times after that round. But she knew better now—Mr. Conner wouldn't tolerate her rough handling of Phoenix.

“I don't have to tell you why he knocked two rails,” Mr. Conner said. He looked at her expectantly.

Jasmine's eyes flickered to Heather and me, then she looked at Mr. Conner. “I gave him too much rein because I wanted to let him out more, but I should have kept him collected.”

“I agree,” Mr. Conner said. “Remember to keep working on not rushing him.”

“I will,” Jasmine said.

Mr. Conner looked at her for a second before turning to me. “Sasha, whenever you're ready, please begin.”

I squeezed my legs against Charm's sides and urged him forward. He moved from a trot to a canter and we started toward the first vertical. I rose into the two-point position at just the right second and Charm cleared the jump. My legs shook a little on the landing and I tried to grip the saddle tighter with my knees. But my head started feeling weird again—like everything was rushing by me way too fast.

Charm's hoofbeats pounded in my ears. I grasped Charm's mane to keep my balance.
Just four more jumps
, I told myself. Then I would be done. Charm cantered to the second vertical and I swayed in the saddle, almost falling off the side. He leaped into the air and my hands slipped off his mane. His launch threw me backward and my fingers couldn't hold onto the reins. I felt like I was sailing through the air.

There was a thud.

And everything went black.

BLACKOUT

“SASHA? SASHA?”

My eyes fluttered opened and dozens of black spots swam in front of my eyes as I stared at the ceiling of the indoor arena.

I shifted my gaze and Mr. Conner, Heather, and Jasmine were kneeling beside me. I'd never seen Jasmine look like that—worried. Her eyes were open wide and she'd lost the color from her face. Heather's fingers were shaking as she held her cell up to her ear.

“Don't move, Sasha,” Mr. Conner said. “Heather's calling the nurse.”

I sucked in a breath—the wind had been knocked out of me, but I didn't think I was hurt.

Jasmine looked down at me. She started to touch my
arm, then pulled back her hand. “Um, want me to take off your helmet or something?”

“No, thanks,” I said. I eased up on my elbows, undid my chin strap, and put my helmet beside me. “I'm fine, really. I just got dizzy and fainted, I guess. No big deal.”

Mr. Conner touched my arm. “Sasha, it
is
a big deal. Don't get up yet. Does anything feel broken or sprained?”

I moved my arms and legs. “No,” I said. “I'm fine.” Mr. Conner watched as I rolled my shoulders and tilted my head from side. Jasmine disappeared and came back a few minutes later with a soda. She handed it to me.