Callie took a long sip of Diet Coke, then looked at me. “Well, at least you’re still not a total liar since your story matches what I heard in the bathroom during the Homecoming Dance. And what Paige told me.”
I almost choked on my soda. It took me at least half a minute before I could say anything. I was surprised not to feel too emotional about Callie. What bothered me the most was Paige.
“You—you overheard Paige and me talking about my party?” I asked.
Callie nodded, taking a casual sip of soda. “Yep. I was in one of the back stalls. A couple of days later, I went to Paige with what I’d heard and asked her to tell me the truth. As my friend, she did.”
“I can’t believe this,” I said. “This whole time, you acted as if I was guilty—like I’d been the one who’d gone after Jacob.”
I turned to Paige. “I know I messed up. But you could have told me that Callie already knew. You knew how much I’d agonized over that.”
Paige blinked rapidly, trying to stop her tears. But she didn’t say anything.
I pushed down my emotions about Paige, knowing this wasn’t the place to deal with them. I was also determined not to turn this into yet another drama at The Sweet Shoppe revolving around me.
“Thank you for listening to me,” I said. “I’m really, really sorry about how all of this happened. No matter what happens with any of us, I’m just glad that everything is out there now. At least we’re all being honest.”
And, with that, I got up and left the table.
When I got back to my room, I was exhausted. I gave Brit a brief rundown of what had happened, promising to tell her more later, and fell asleep on top of my comforter before even changing into pajamas.
GIMME A “T”! GIMME AN “R”! GIMME AN “O”! “GIMME A “Y”!
LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON, MY BBM CHIMED. Heather was on her way back from the gym and I was lying in bed reading Teen Style.
Heather Fox:
Got a sec 2 chat?
Sasha Silver:
Sure. What’s up?
Heather Fox:
1st date w/Troy tonight.
Sasha Silver:
Yaay!
Heather Fox:
You should try out for cheerleading.
Sasha Silver:
Never mind—maybe u don’t want my help …
Heather Fox:
U tire me. I’m srs. I’m … nervous abt this.
Sasha Silver:
You’ll be fine—I promise. Troy really, really likes, you, H. I can tell.
Heather Fox:
Thanks, S. Alison’s helping me pick out clothes, so it’s distracting.
Sasha Silver:
Fun! I’m sure Julia will help too.
Heather Fox:
Doubt it. She locked herself in her room to do hmwk.
Sasha Silver:
Well, let me know what happens.
I put my phone away, glad to see a hint of the Heather I’d seen and liked during fall break.
GOOD NEWS AND BAD
LATER THAT NIGHT, BRIT AND I WERE watching a comedy on TV when her phone beeped. She picked it up, looked at it with one eye on the TV screen and then turned her full attention to the phone.
“Gossip blogger,” Brit said. “Grab your computer.”
“Not again,” I groaned. I opened my laptop and there it was.
So, it seems like the new girl on campus thinks she’s the most amazing student to ever to grace Canterwood.
So.
Not.
True!
This small-town girl acts like she’s from NYC or LA and has managed to charm everyone with her wide, dark eyes.
But she doesn’t have a chance at overtaking the cliques already running this school. New Girl, give up and crawl back home.
“Who is doing this?” I asked. “It’s awful!”
When I looked over at Brit, her eyes were teary.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Brit?”
Brit’s finger hovered over one sentence. This small-town girl …
“The blogger is talking about me,” Brit said.
“No,” I said. “No. They can’t be.”
But when I read the message again—“small-town” and “wide dark eyes,” I knew Brit was right.
And things had finally gone too far.
I calmed Brit and we sent an e-mail to Headmistress Drake with the blog post.
“There,” I said, when we pressed send. “That’s got to make you feel a little better.”
“It does,” Brit said, finally smiling again. “Let’s watch another movie.”
“Done. We’ll find the funniest comedy ever made and forget about … huh, I already forgot.”
That made Brit grin. “I’ll start looking for a movie,” she said.
I started to follow her, then my phone buzzed and I picked it up. All that was there was a thumbs up symbol from Heather.
I smiled to myself. Sounds like her date had gone better than she’d expected.
WORRIED?
WHEN I GOT TO THE STABLE FOR MY AFTER-noon lesson, everyone was talking. Some students were whispering, others were yelling down the aisle.
“Everyone!” Mr. Conner’s voice boomed down the aisle. “Indoor arena, now.”
I spotted Julia and ran over to her.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Gossip blogger,” she said. “He or she targeted the Haunted Trail Ride this time.”
“No way!”
This was getting to an insane, borderline scary level. Headmistress Drake had sent out an e-mail to the entire student body warning them that whomever was in charge of the blog would be suspended and possibly expelled if caught.
I pulled out my phone to look up the blog post.
Do you dare?
Whispers of a haunted trail ride are all over campus. Trails are being marked, decorations are being placed, and lighting is being strung.
But could what’s supposed to be a night of harmless fun turn into a nightmare?
Now I understood why Mr. Conner had called this meeting. He strode into the arena, a paper in hand and, scowling, turned to us.
“Whomever is writing these posts should know that they are having no affect on our plans. The Haunted Trail ride will continue as scheduled and it will be safe, I assure you.”
I’d been worried that he’d cancel the ride.
“Extra security measures for both horse and rider will be put into place. None of you are in any danger and the night will be just as fun as we intended. Now, for those of you who have lessons, please go get your horses ready. We’re not giving this blogger any more attention.”
As we walked out of the arena, I noticed Julia had already disappeared, leaving Heather and Alison behind.
“You worried?” I asked Heather.
She shook her head. “Nope. Not when Mr. Conner’s involved.”
NOW, THIS IS HALLOWEEN!
“HAPPY HALLOWEEN!” THE SENTIMENTS had been called across campus all day. Since the holiday had fallen on a Sunday this year, the school had made the entire day Halloween themed.
We’d started the morning with a “Spook-Tacular” breakfast. The menu choices were insane. Pumpkin muffins with faces on them, peeled grapes, and pancakes with chocolate chips stuck in them to look like eyes, mouth, and teeth.
I spent breakfast with Jacob, did a little homework and talked to my parents, then met Brit for a “gory” lunch. Brit chose tomato soup and I picked spaghetti with sauce.
But all day, I was counting down the hours to the gazebo party and the Haunted Trail ride. The school had filled the day with optional Halloween activities from horror movie screenings to storytelling around the campfire. Brit and I watched Scream together at the media center then spent the rest of the afternoon watching scary-but-funny movies like Hocus Pocus and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. It was my favorite Hallowwen movie that I watched every year. I owned it on DVD, but still watched it every time a station aired it du
ring October.
Finally it was time to get ready. Brit and I dressed for the occasion. I pulled on an orange hoodie and black breeches. Brit chose blood red breeches and a black sweater. Almost too excited to talk, we walked down to the lake and saw orange and purple twinkly lights decorating the gazebo.
“I can’t wait to get there!” I said.
Brit nodded. “Me too. It looks sooo amazing!”
We reached the giant wooden gazebo and it was overflowing with riders and students who weren’t from the stable.
Mr. Conner, Mike, and Doug had outdone themselves with decorations. If they’d done this much with the gazebo, I couldn’t imagine how the trail ride was going to look. I’d BBMed Jacob to meet me there and he said he couldn’t wait.
Brit and I walked up the stairs, tilting our heads back to look at the ceiling that had a cluster of orange and black lights that came down in strands and were tied to the railing. Eerie music with howling wolves, cackling witches, and flapping bat wings played softly in the background.
A circular table in the middle held chips, dip, soda (lots of orange), cookies made from every cookie cutter possible, and cupcakes with Halloween themed toppers and sprinkles. Immediately, I reached for an orange plate and picked up a chocolate cupcake with a ghost on it.
“Starting without me, huh?”
I turned to see Jacob.
“Hi!” I threw my arms around him. It felt so good to share my favorite holiday with him.
“Let’s party!” Jacob said.
And we did. We stuffed our faces with at least one of everything and downed cups of orange soda.
I went back for another mini-cupcake, hoping I could find room, and spotted Julia and Alison talking to Ben. Even though she was with her boyfriend, Julia had a scowl on her face. I wondered if they were having a problem. But where was … there. Heather and Troy had found a private spot in the gazebo and were standing close, whispering in each other’s ears. I loved seeing them together. Heather deserved to have a guy in her life and Troy was a good one.
Mr. Conner stepped into the gazebo all dressed in black. “The Haunted Trail ride begins in twenty minutes for anyone who would like to participate.”
Jacob pulled me into a hug, putting his lips close to my ear. “I wish we could have spent more of the night together.”
“Me too. I had an amazing time with you.”
And, under the twinkle of the lights, Jacob gave me my first Halloween kiss.
LIKE A LOSER
BACK AT THE STABLE, THE HORSES WERE already tacked up. I mounted Charm and led him out of the stable.
“Happy Halloween, boy,” I said. “We’re going on a special trail ride. Are you excited?”
Charm nodded.
Laughing, I patted his neck and mounted.
We waited for all of the riders to gather in front of the stable. The Trio and Brit rode up beside Charm and me. Mike, Doug, and Mr. Conner joined us.
“If you’re all ready, let’s go,” Mr. Conner said. “Stick to the lighted path only and if you feel your horse or yourself getting nervous about any of the surroundings, please speak up and Mike or Doug will escort you back to the stable.”
“Like a loser,” Heather whispered.
We got into line and followed Mr. Conner. I was behind Brit with Heather, Julia, and Alison following me.
Immediately, I noticed the black lanterns with candles inside that looked like real flames.
“Wow,” I whispered to myself.
The entire path was lined on either side with orange twinkly lights. Skeletons, ghosts, and witches hung from various tree branches. Mr. Conner had made sure everything was at the right level so it wouldn’t spook any of the horses.
A zombie walked in front of us, weaving around the horses, and everyone laughed. This was scary-silly and I loved it.
“Hey,” said a familiar voice. Eric rode by, waving back at me as he passed us on Luna to catch up to his friend. “Happy Halloween.”
“You too,” I called.
The trail widened and I turned to Brit to say how much fun this was. But Brit wasn’t beside me.
A rider, all dressed in black, with a crimson colored mask over his face, rode toward me.
Omigod, omigod! The gossip blogger was actually right!
I started to scream, but I froze.
“Don’t be scared,” said a voice I knew. “I just wanted to say Happy Halloween again.”
The rider pulled off his mask.
“Jacob?”
He grinned back at me, the moon and the lighting casting shadows on his face.
“How did you—what are you doing out here? And you’re riding!”
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
“Well, Eric and I might have told you a little white lie,” Jacob said. “Remember how we were tutoring?”
I nodded, still confused.
“Well, it had nothing to do with math. Eric was tutoring, well, I guess teaching me about riding. He taught me enough so that I’d be able to go on this trail ride with you.”
“I can’t believe you did this! You’re terrified of horses and you’re out here at night.”
“I did it for you, Sash. I wanted this to be an amazing Halloween.”
I leaned toward him, so our faces were close. “This is the perfect Halloween.”
And for the second time on Halloween, we kissed.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Twenty-three-year-old Jessica Burkhart is a writer from New York City. Like Sasha, she’s crazy about horses, lip gloss, and all things pink and sparkly. Jess was an equestrian and had a horse like Charm before she started writing. To watch Jess’s vlogs and read her blog, visit www.jessicaburkhart.com.
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