Comeback (9 page)

Lexa reached out an arm and hugged Clare. “You're brave.
It's not easy to do what you did.”

Clare shook her head. “I should have done that a long time
ago.”

I hugged Clare too. “Again, I'm sorry things happened this
way. Remember that we're all here for you, and maybe we can get Riley on board
with the idea that it's easier to be civil than to talk nasty about each
other.”

Clare squeezed me. “We'll see, huh?”

The four of us looked at each other. Khloe was the first to smile, and
soon the rest of us did too.

“Maybe Riley and I will be friends by my
birthday party and she'll give me a treat and not a trick!” I said.

We giggled.

“I think that's a good goal, Laur,” Lexa said.

Clare got off the floor, stretching, and started to make her bed.
“Breakfast, change clothes, then head to stable?” she asked.

“Done,” I said.

Khloe and Lexa added their yeses. By the time we walked to the common
room, it felt as though a piece of Clare had disappeared. It had been replaced by
confidence that was trying to break through the surface of the girl who'd always
followed at Riley's heels.

“Oh, check your Chatter, everyone,” Clare said as we walked
into the common room.

We pulled out our phones. I smiled as I read the update.

CutieClare: Ready 4 trail ride w @DramaRama, @Lexaaa,
@LaurBell, & @SwmerGuy. Xcited 4 @OfficiallyRiley 2 b back tmrw!

I SNAPPED A LEAD LINE TO WHISPER'S
HALTER
and kissed her cheek.

“Ready for new shoes?” I asked. “They'll be all
shiny and pretty.”

Whisper made wide eyes at me. She wasn't a huge fan of being shod,
but she always seemed to prance in her new horseshoes when the process was over. Since
she needed new shoes every six to eight weeks, I was glad Whisper seemed happy in the
end. We were next for the farrier. I'd made it to the stable in time to groom
Whisper before her turn.

After a breakfast of Lucky Charms and tea, the girls and I had gone back
to Clare's room and cleaned up our stuff. We'd changed, and I'd told
everyone I'd let them
know when Whisper was finished and ready
to be tacked up for our trail ride.

I'd found a message from Drew when I'd checked my phone after
breakfast.

Drew:

Glad u guys want 2 trail ride. If u don't c me,
msg me when Whisper's ready & we can meet out front 20 mins afr
that.

I led Whisper out of her box stall to the front of the stable where Mr.
Farley, the farrier, had his tools set up. He and Mr. Conner were talking.

“Ah, Lauren,” Mr. Conner said. “Brent, this is Lauren
and her mare, Whisper. They're new to Canterwood.”

“Nice to meet you,” Mr. Farley said, rubbing his hands on his
leather apron. “You'll be seeing a lot of me.” He smiled, showing tan
lines on his face. I had a good feeling about him, which was critical whenever I let
anyone work on Whisper. Mr. Farley had kind brown eyes that matched his buzzed hair.

“It's good to meet you, too,” I replied.

“We want to make sure, Brent, that the hoof with a missing shoe
isn't tender,” Mr. Conner said.

“Let's get the mare into cross-ties and I'll take a
look,” Mr. Farley said, brushing a hand over his brow. He'd probably been
shoeing horses all morning. His forearms were
streaked with dirt,
and he had a trash can full of hoof clippings off to the side.

I cross-tied Whisper and stood near her head, keeping one hand on her
halter.

Mr. Farley walked over to the hoof in question, murmuring soothing words
to Whisper.

I'd seen a few bad farriers on the show circuit—some who were
impatient when horses acted up and others who lacked proper training. Even though Mr.
Farley seemed nice, I was
très
protective of
mon amour
(my love!), and I was going to watch every
second—as much as I trusted Mr. Conner to have a top farrier on call.

Mr. Farley picked up her hoof and cradled it between his knees. He reached
into his apron pocket and pulled out a pair of tongs. I tried to cross my toes, since my
hands were busy. I peered to the side and saw Mr. Farley run his thumb over her hoof,
pressing on the frog, or V-shaped part. Whisper didn't react to his touch. Nor did
she move when he applied more pressure with the metal tongs.

“Looks fine to me,” Mr. Farley said. “I don't see
any hint of soreness.”

“Yay,” I said quietly, stroking Whisper's cheek. In my
gut, I hadn't thought she was sore, but I knew I'd never feel at ease until
Wisp got a once-over from a professional.

Mr. Farley kept her hind leg in his grasp and trimmed
her hoof with a pair of nippers. Whisper didn't mind this part. After trimming, he
used a hoof knife to slice and trim around the frog and sole of her hoof. Then he picked
a shoe out of his apron, eyeing the fit. He released Whisper's hoof, moved to the
portable forge, and stuck the shoe inside. Soon the metal shoe was red-hot. Mr. Farley
used his anvil and a hammer to shape the shoe, then dunked it into a bucket of cold
water, making the metal sizzle. Many farriers I'd watched would place the hot shoe
on the horse's hoof for a few seconds to see if the fit was right, but I liked
that Mr. Farley was doing a mix of hot and cold shoeing.

Whisper's ears had gone back when the hammering started, and she
swished her tail when the horseshoe sizzled.

“It's okay,” I said. “None of this hurts,
remember?”

Mr. Conner stood, silent, watching the process. I wondered if he was
sticking by in case I needed help with Whisper.

Mr. Farley lifted her back hoof again and placed the shoe on the bare
hoof.

“Perfect fit,” he said. “I'm going to hammer it
into place now.”

“Okay,” I said. I grasped Whisper's
halter a little tighter. “We're going on a trail ride after this.” I
raised my voice so she could hear me above the hammering. “It's going to be
really fun,
and
it'll be practice for the show. Sound
like a plan?”

I kept talking and was deep in conversation with Whisper about my newest
beauty find from Sephora when I looked up. Mr. Farley and Mr. Conner were standing
together by the forge, smiling at me.

“Lauren, what was the name of that nail polish you were about to
share with Whisper?” Mr. Conner asked. He laughed kindly, and Mr. Farley joined
in.

“You're finished?” I asked.

Mr. Farley nodded. “She's good to go. She was so well behaved,
Lauren. I look forward to shoeing her again.”

Pride made me smile. “Thank you, sir. I appreciate your time and
being gentle with her.”

I unclipped Whisper from the cross-ties and led her back to her stall.
Then I took out my phone and BBMed Drew, Khloe, Clare, and Lexa.

Lauren:

Whisper has new shoes & I'm gonna tack up.
Meet u outside soon?

While I gathered Whisper's tack, I got messaged back from everyone
that they'd be ready soon.

Since Whisper was already groomed, I tied her to the
inside of her stall and picked up the bubble-gum-pink saddle pad that I saved for fun
occasions. It took minutes to get her saddled and bridled.

Whisper lifted her hooves high as we went down the aisle to the main
entrance. I was glad she'd have time to get used to the new shoes before the
show.

“Knew it!” I said. “You heart your shoes.”

We exited the stable and stopped at the side of the double doors. It was
the perfect day to trail ride. The late September air had the slightest hint of
coolness. The stickiness of summer was gone, but the midmorning sun blazed in the sky. A
few thin, wispy clouds lingered in the sky, allowing most of the brilliant blue sky to
be as visible as possible.

I put on my helmet and mounted. I'd just raked my fingers though my
wavy hair when a horse and rider emerged from the stable.

“Hi,” Drew said, looking up at me. “Ready to
ride?”

“HEY,” I SAID. I LOOKED INTO HIS
BLUE
eyes—bluer than almost anything I'd ever seen. I got goose
bumps and was glad I'd thrown on a light gray jacket.

Whisper reached her muzzle toward Polo. The gelding stretched his muzzle
back, and they huffed at each other. Whisper blinked, batting her long eyelashes and
turning her head slightly to the side.

My horse was a better flirt than I was!

Drew mounted, swinging a leg over Polo's back and settling into the
saddle. He looked
parfait
. His ease with Polo made it hard to
look away, not to mention the T-shirt that matched his eyes, black zip-up jacket, and
tan breeches.

“I'm glad you were free today,” Drew said. “I
needed
to get out of the stable. Trail riding is like
running—it's a stress buster.”

“Same for me,” I said. “I'm glad you asked me and
my friends. We kind of need a break too. Stressful week.”

Drew made a face. “Sorry. But this will make you forget about
it.”

“Hellooo!” Lexa said, leading Honor. She was flanked by Clare
with Fuego and Khloe with Ever.

All three of them shifted their eyes between Drew and me. I shot them a
say-anything-and-die
look, and when Drew's eyes
weren't on me, I made a slashing motion across my throat.

Khloe started to laugh but covered it with a cough.

“Thanks for inviting us,” Clare said.

“Yeah,” Khloe added, mounting Ever. “I would have a
mental breakdown if I had to do one more spiral in the arena right now.”

“Mental breakdown, huh?” Drew said, looking mock serious.
“We better get on the trail fast.”

“Def,” Lexa said. “Khlo, you know I love you, but
you're already
this close
to crazy. I don't want
to see what happens if Khloe Kinsella is pushed over the edge.”

We all laughed.

“Let's go!” I said.

The four of us turned our horses away from the stable
yard and headed for the woods on the outer edge of the campus.

I somehow (ahem, thanks, Khloe) ended up next to Drew, with Lexa to my
right and Clare beside her. Whisper's body language changed the second she
realized we weren't going into the arena. I felt her muscles loosen, a swing fell
into her stride, and she shook her head, sending her mane scattering.

I laughed. “Someone's happy not to be practicing.”

“I'd shake my mane too,” Khloe said, grinning.
“This feels so good!”

The four of us let our horses trot, and we posted as we left the stable
behind and headed for the trees and the woodland area. The campus, beautiful from every
angle, looked especially
très belle
from here. We were
headed down a gentle slope, and all that was visible of the campus were tops of
buildings and streetlamps.

“I'm so glad to leave everything behind,” I said.

“Me too,” Drew said.

“The campus is like its own city,” Clare said. “Know
what I mean? Our entire lives are contained in this one spot where we do
everything.”

Everyone nodded at that.

“We can't escape the people we're
with.
Ever.
We may have separate dorm halls or rooms from
people we see in class or whatever, but it's like living in a small town. It feels
like there's always the possibility of running into someone.”

“I get that,” I said, easing Whisper to a walk as we
approached the line of trees that flanked a dirt trail. “It's like everyone
knows
everything
that's going on with each other. Like
sometimes we're all a bunch of gossipy older women I've seen at salons,
sitting under dryers with their wet curls.”