Best Enemies (Canterwood Crest) (9 page)

I sat up, glancing at the phone and then at Callie.

“You can get it,” she said. “It’s gonna take me another minute to pick something.”

I snatched up my phone. “Hello?” I asked, pretending as if my caller ID was broken.

“Uh, hey. It’s Jacob.”

“Hi,” I said. Callie looked over at me, then back at the list.

“Sorry to call if you’re busy or something, but I really need to talk to you.”

“Why?” For a second, I forgot Callie was even here. Jacob sounded superstrange.

“Look, I’m sorry about how weird things have been. There’s just… something I need to tell you. I—”

Whoa!
This was not going to be a good conversation to have right in front of Callie.

“Callie’s here!” I half shouted. “Callie’s here and we have to watch our movie.”

Callie glanced up from the list, looking at me with a why-are-you-yelling face. I turned away from her, letting my hair fall into my face.

“Oh.” Jacob paused and took a breath. “Never mind. It was nothing. Can you e-mail me the homework from film?”

“Yep,” I squeaked. “I’ll e-mail it to you.”

“Thanks. Bye.” Jacob hung up and I shut off my phone before putting it beside my bed.

“That was Jacob,” I said. I wasn’t going to lie to Callie about who was on the phone. “He wanted the homework for film.”

Callie nodded, her eyes lingering on my phone for a second before she pulled her hair into a high ponytail. “Okay.”

I waited for her to be upset that Jacob had called me, but she seemed cool. “So, what did you pick?”

“The new Bryce Oliver movie. For sure.”

“Let’s get into PJs, grab sodas and popcorn, and start the movie.”

We got into our pajamas and fuzzy socks. For the first time in months, it felt like Callie and I were BFFs pre– The Jacob-and-Eric Mess.

You totally overreacted about Jacob’s phone call,
I told myself. Whatever he’d wanted to tell me—it didn’t matter. There was nothing he had to say that was important right now. Callie and I were having fun together and it was about time.

A couple of hours later the movie was over and my eyes kept fluttering shut.

“Ugh, I feel like such a grandma,” I said. “It’s not even midnight and I’m exhausted.”

“Me too.” Callie yawned. “I’m ready to crash.”

I turned off the TV and we got settled into our beds. “What are you doing tomorrow?”

“I’m not hanging out with Jacob till the afternoon,” Callie said. “So I’m on my own. You?”

“Eric’s got a bio lab session with his partner in the morning, then he’ll be practicing for the advanced team.”

“Want to do something together?” Callie asked.

We looked at each other and I
knew
we were thinking the same thing.

“Trail ride!” we said at the same time.

“No practicing,” I said.

“And no worrying about the YENT,” Callie finished.

I turned off the light and fell against my pillow with a happy sigh. In seconds, my eyes closed and I drifted off to sleep, glad to have Callie as my friend again. One hundred percent.

13
SHOWDOWN

BY EIGHT THE NEXT MORNING, CALLIE AND
I were at the stable. We hurried through tacking up the horses, chatting and laughing the whole time. We led them outside and I squinted from the bright sunshine.

“I’m still disgustingly full of junk food,” Callie said, as we walked beside Charm and Jack. We stopped the horses and mounted.

“Me too. I think we should stick to a walk for a while.”

We let the horses amble toward the woods. I gave Charm a loose rein and relaxed in the saddle.

“Trail riding was only the best idea ever,” Callie said. “I was getting bored with practicing.”

I nodded. “Imagine how Charm and Jack feel. They…” I let my sentence trail off when the small outdoor arena
came into view. Heather and Jasmine were at opposite ends of the arena, cantering Aristocrat and Phoenix.

Callie and I halted the horses, stopping before Jas or Heather noticed us. Heather, sneaking a glance at Jasmine, turned Aristocrat sharply toward the arena’s center. Jasmine guided Phoenix in the same direction. Both girls cantered the horses down the center of the arena, only feet apart from being on the same track. They swept past each other and turned when they reached the ends of the arena. Phoenix kicked up a clump of dirt as Jasmine pulled him to a halt.

The girls stared at each other before Jasmine urged Phoenix into a trot. She sat to his smooth gait and moved him around the outer edge of the arena, heading for Heather. Heather let Aristocrat trot and sat, too, mirroring Jasmine’s actions. Jasmine eyed Heather and collected Phoenix’s trot. Heather did the same. It was turning into an all-out arena battle.

“I know we should go before they catch us,” Callie whispered. “But I can’t stop watching.”

“Me either.”

Heather halted Aristocrat and backed him in a perfect straight line. Jasmine stopped Phoenix, asking him to back up, and took him three steps farther back than Heather had done with Aristocrat.

Heather trotted Aristocrat up to Phoenix and halted him when she was side-by-side with Jasmine.

“Uh-oh,” I said. Charm pointed his ears toward the arena and raised his head. He didn’t want to miss a word, either.

“Not good,” Callie said.

“Let’s go!” I said. “Just trot them past the arena and talk and pretend we didn’t see a thing.”

Callie started to nod, then stopped. “Forget that.”

I glanced back at the arena. Heather’s eyes were on us.

“Go!” I whispered.

Callie and I trotted the horses and stared at the woods, not wanting to look at Heather or Jasmine.

“Wait a sec,” Heather called out to us. “You two were obviously waiting for a show. You should stay.”

“It’s okay,” I said quickly. “We’re going on a trail ride.”

Heather twisted in the saddle to stare us down. “Well then, you need to wait. I want you both to hear exactly what I’m going to say to Jas.”

Now I was too curious to ride away. Callie and I slowed the horses and rode them up to the fence.

Heather turned Aristocrat away from us and stopped him next to Phoenix. Jasmine, sitting tall in the saddle, readjusted her grip on Phoenix’s reins. Callie and I traded glances.

“I have a few things I wanted to say,” Heather said, her voice sharp. “And
you
need to listen.”

That
was the old Heather I loved to hate. Jasmine’s shoulders slumped a little and she seemed to lose a bit of her cockiness from minutes earlier.

“Heather,” Jasmine moaned. “Stop being such a drama queen and just talk.”

Heather’s eyes zeroed in on Jasmine’s face. “Unfortunately for you, the drama’s just getting started. We all know that you’ll make the advanced team tomorrow. Given.”

Jasmine rolled her eyes. “Obvi.”

“But we’re not going to hand you a spot on the YENT. Callie, Sasha, and I are going to make sure that we ride so well, the scouts won’t even
consider
you.”

“You really think you’re better than
I
am?” Jas asked.

Heather smiled. “I don’t think. I
know
.” She dug her left heel into Aristocrat’s side, spinning him away from Phoenix. Within three strides, he broke into a canter and they made their way down the center of the arena and out the exit.

“I guess that’s our cue,” I said to Callie.

Jasmine glared at us as we turned the horses away from the arena and trotted them toward the woods. We didn’t
say a word until we were yards down the trail and the trees closed in behind us.

We pulled the horses to a walk. “
That
was intense,” I said.

“No kidding,” Callie said. She rubbed Jack’s neck with one hand. “But in a weird way, I’m kind of glad to see her like that.”

I nodded. “The
old
Heather.”

We guided the horses down the dirt trail and I pushed up the sleeves of my royal blue jacket. “Maybe she’ll rattle Jasmine enough that she messes up the YENT tryouts. We both know Heather’s right about Jas making the advanced team.”

“For sure. And I have to admit… I feel sorry for Julia and Alison. It’s awful that they had to give up their spots.”

“And they already hated Jas. It has to be killing them that they can’t ride, but she can.”

Callie gave Jack more rein and let him stretch his neck. “
I’d
die. But I don’t think Jack would miss the crazy workouts.”

“Charm wouldn’t either. He’s just a laid-back guy.” Charm snorted and I patted his shoulder.

Callie and I exited the woods and walked the horses along the grassy lane near the stone wall.

“But, worst-case scenario,” Callie said. “We have to think about it.”

“No, we don’t. No. Don’t even say it.”

“We have to. It could happen,” Callie said. “What if…”

“Ugh—I sooo don’t even want to think about this!”

Callie looked at me. “What if Jasmine makes the team and none of us do?”

For a few seconds, the only sound I heard was Jack’s and Charm’s hooves striking the grass.

“If she’s the only one who makes it,” I said, “it’s simple.”

“It is?” Callie asked.

I nodded, looking nonchalant. “Yep. We transfer to Wellington.”

Callie laughed and I shook my head. “You think I’m kidding?” I tried to look serious, but my smile gave me away.

“It’s a deal,” Callie said, holding out a pinky finger. “If Jas is the only one to make it, Wellington here we come.”

I linked my pinky to Callie’s, desperately hoping we’d never call Wellington our home.

We reached a wide part of the creek and I pulled Charm up.

“C’mon,” Callie said. “You have to get him over his water fear before the YENT cross-country.”

“I know, but he
really
hates it. I feel bad making him get in the water when he doesn’t want to.”

Callie walked Jack toward the creek. “Don’t get soft on me, Sasha Silver. Let’s go!”

“Okay. Let’s walk them side by side.”

I let Charm catch up with Jack and the horses bobbed their heads, relaxed and content, as they walked toward the creek. Strides before we reached the water, I tensed in the saddle, expecting Charm to balk. Jack, not even looking at the creek bed, stepped into the water. Charm leaned back and dug his heels into the soft dirt.

“Charm, c’mon.” I tapped him with my heels and tried to push him forward with my seat.

Callie turned Jack around and walked him back across the creek to us. She steadied him beside Charm and leaned over, taking the left rein.

“I’ll pony you across,” she said. She clicked to Jack and she led Charm. Charm’s ears flicked back and forth and he trembled as he stepped into the water with his right foreleg. Then he bounded ahead, taking huge strides to get out of the creek as fast as possible. He jerked the rein out of Callie’s hand and I snatched it up.

“Easy,” I said, gripping his mane so I didn’t slip backward.

He trotted up the bank and shook his head, his chestnut mane flying. Callie and Jack followed us calmly.

“That was awful!” I said.

Callie shook her head. “It wasn’t awful. He’ll get over it—we’ll help him. But…” She stopped.

“But what?” I adjusted the stirrup I’d almost lost when Charm had made his mad dash.

“I think Charm would have gone over the creek, but you tensed before he hit the water. I think he could feel your nerves.”

“Oh.” I nodded, thinking. “You’re right. I did tense up. I knew he was scared and I should have made him feel confident.”

Callie leaned forward, adjusting Jack’s mane. “You’ll get it. No worries.”

But I couldn’t stop worrying as we finished our ride. I
had
to help Charm get over his water phobia before the YENT trials. There was no way we’d make it if Charm refused to go through a creek.

14
TEAM ERIC